Spouse Visa
What Is a UK Spouse Visa?
Understanding the UK Spouse Visa: Benefits and Requirements
You won’t automatically get the right to live in the UK through marriage to a British citizen.
If you need a family visa to live with a family member in the UK for more than 6 months, you must apply for a Spouse Visa to live in the UK with your partner.
A UK spouse visa enables an eligible foreign national to join and live with their partner in the UK if they are a British citizen or settled person. Eligible applicants include those who are married, in a civil partnership, or in a long-term unmarried relationship. Applicants must meet a set of eligibility criteria as outlined in detail below.
Who Can Apply for a UK Spouse Visa?
UK Spouse Visa Requirements: Are You Eligible?
To apply as a partner, you and your partner both need to be 18 or over.
As a foreign national, you can apply for a UK partner and spouse visa as long as your partner based in the UK:
- is a British or Irish citizen
- has settled in the UK and has Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), permanent residence, or EU Settled Status
- is from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and has pre-settled status (they must have started living in the UK before 1 January 2021)
- has a Turkish Businessperson visa or Turkish Worker visa
- has protection status (leave to remain as a refugee, permission to stay as a refugee or a person with humanitarian protection)
- has permission to stay as a stateless person
You and your partner must intend to live together permanently in the UK after you apply.
To make a successful application for a UK partner and spouse visa, you will need to meet a set of eligibility requirements, including providing evidence of:
- You are in a genuine and eligible relationship
- You and your partner’s combined gross annual income is at least £29,000
- You have suitable accommodation in the UK
- You meet the English language requirement: at least level A1 for your first visa application
Who Can Apply for a UK Spouse Visa?
Applicants should be very careful when using pre-prepared document checklists for Spouse Visa applications. If a required document is not provided, is in the wrong format or does not contain all mandatory information, then the application for a Spouse Visa may be refused.
The 'Genuine Relationship Test' for a UK Spouse Visa
You need to be able to prove that you are in a genuine and subsisting relationship. It’s important to demonstrate that it’s not a “sham” marriage or relationship.
To prove a Genuine Relationship for a UK Spouse Visa, you will need to show you are in an eligible relationship as follows:
- You are in a civil partnership or marriage that is legally recognised in the UK, or
- Have been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years, or
- Plan to get married or enter into a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months of arriving in the UK
Financial Requirements for a UK Spouse Visa
How Much Income Do You Need for a UK Spouse Visa?
If you apply for a family visa as a partner, you and your partner usually need to prove that your combined income is at least £29,000 a year. This is called a ‘minimum income requirement’.
If your partner is receiving disability or carer’s benefits, you do not need to meet a minimum income requirement. It is important to note, however, that in the event of a partner qualifying for exemption, the applicant will still need to show that they have enough funds to maintain themselves in the UK, as well as having adequate accommodation (while having no recourse to public funds).
What Sources of Income Count for the UK Spouse Visa?
Meeting the UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement: What Income Can You Use?
How you prove your income depends on how you received it. You may be able to use your savings instead of income to show you meet the requirement.
The following can count as income:
- Income from employment before tax and National Insurance (from P60 or payslips) – you can only use income earned in the UK
- Income earned from self-employment or as a director of a limited company in the UK – this will be shown on a Self Assessment tax return
- Cash savings above £16,000
- Money from a pension
- Non-work income, for example from property rentals or dividends
If you or your family member are self-employed, you need to base your income on how much you earned in the last 6 months or more, counting back from the day you apply.
Can You Use Benefits Income for a UK Spouse Visa?
Does Benefits Income Count for a Spouse Visa Application?
Yes, some types of benefits can count as income for a UK Spouse Visa application.
However, only certain benefits received by the UK-based partner, such as maternity allowances, bereavement benefits, and others like disability benefits, may be considered.
These benefits can be used to meet the financial requirement for the visa.
General public funds (like income support or housing benefits) typically do not count toward the financial threshold.
UK Spouse Visa English Language Requirement
How to Meet the English Language Requirement for a UK Spouse Visa?
As a partner and spouse visa applicant, you can prove your knowledge of English by passing an approved English language test. You must pass at least level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale for your first visa application.
If you wish to extend your stay in the UK, you will need to be able to pass at least a CEFR level A2 to show continuing improvement in line with the time that you have been in the country. You will also meet the English language requirements if you have a degree or other academic qualification which was taught in English.
UK Spouse Visa Accommodation Requirements
How to Prove Adequate Accommodation for a UK Spouse Visa?
An applicant must provide evidence that there will be adequate accommodation in the UK, without recourse to public funds, for the family, including other family members who are not included in the application but who live in the same household. This must be accommodation which the family own or which they occupy exclusively.
The applicant should provide evidence as to the basis on which the accommodation is or will be owned or occupied (including rented) by the family unit. The family unit of the applicant/sponsor and any dependants must have or will have exclusive use of at least the bedroom or bedrooms required for the number, age and gender of members of the family unit.
How to Apply for a UK Spouse Visa?
UK Spouse Visa Application Process: How to Get Approved?
You’ll need to have information and some evidence ready when you make your application. Check your eligibility for a partner and spouse visa.
- Complete the online application form
- Pay the application fee
- Upload any documents required to support your application (proof of your knowledge of English, your finances, your relationship)
- Arrange a biometric appointment to have your fingerprints and photo taken
- Attend an interview if invited
UK Spouse Visa Fees and Costs
How Much Does a UK Spouse Visa Cost?
The spouse visa UK fee (cost) is £1,938 if you are applying outside the UK and £1,321 if you are applying inside the UK.
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fee for each adult (18 or older) costs:
- £2,587.50 if you’re staying for 2 years and 6 months
- £3,105 if you’re staying for 2 years and 9 months
- £5,175 if you’re staying for 5 years
For each child (under 18), it costs:
- £1,940 if you’re staying for 2 years and 6 months
- £2,328 if you’re staying for 2 years and 9 months
- £3,880 if you’re staying for 5 years
UK Spouse Visa Processing Time: How Long Does It Take?
How Fast Can You Get a UK Spouse Visa? Processing Times Explained
If you apply outside the UK, you’ll usually get a decision within 12 weeks.
If you apply inside the UK and you meet the financial requirements and English language requirements, you’ll usually get a decision within 8 weeks.
If you apply inside the UK and you do not meet the financial requirements and English language requirements, it currently takes about 12 months to get a decision. You may be able to pay for a faster decision.
What Happens After Your UK Spouse Visa Is Approved?
UK Spouse Visa Approval: What Comes Next?
If your application is approved, you’ll get an eVisa (an online record of your immigration status).
Your decision email or letter will tell you how to get access to your eVisa. You’ll need to create a UKVI account.
You can work and study.
You cannot usually get benefits or other public funds for you or your dependants, or apply to settle in the UK until you’re eligible.
What Happens If Your UK Spouse Visa Is Refused?
The Home Office usually explains your options in the decision letter you receive. In that letter, you should be able to know if you can appeal and the process of appealing the decision.
You can appeal a Spouse Visa refusal under human rights grounds using Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
If you do not wish to appeal, you can file a fresh application. Before you do that, ensure that you meet the requirements and have addressed all the issues that led to the previous refusal.
Spouse Visa Appeal Process: Can You Challenge a Refusal?
How to Appeal a UK Spouse Visa Refusal?
A UK Spouse Visa refusal can be challenged through the appeal process.
If you wish to proceed with a visa appeal, the first step is to submit an appeal form within 14 days (if you applied from within the UK) or 28 days (if you applied from outside the UK) of receiving your decision letter.
You will also need to pay a visa appeal fee, which is £80.
When submitting your appeal form, you can add any information that proves you are eligible for the visa. This can include new information that you didn’t provide to the Home Office previously but adds to your evidence.
How Long Does the UK Spouse Visa Appeal Process Take?
UK Spouse Visa Appeals: How Long Will It Take?
The appeal process may take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
If your UK Spouse visa appeal is successful, the Home Office will reconsider their decision and, in most cases, grant you the Spouse visa. If the appeal is not successful, you may be able to bring a case to the Upper Tribunal.
Can You Extend a UK Spouse Visa?
UK Spouse Visa Extension: How to Stay in the UK Longer?
You can apply to extend your stay with your family member if you’re already in the UK on a family visa. You can extend at any time before your current permission to stay in the UK expires.
How to Settle in the UK on a Spouse Visa?
How Can You Get ILR After a UK Spouse Visa?
You must live in the UK for a certain amount of time before you’re eligible for settlement (‘indefinite leave to remain’).
The earliest you can apply to settle in the UK (called ‘indefinite leave to remain’) is after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years continuously on a family visa as a partner. You cannot include time you’ve spent in the UK on any other visa as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner.
Bringing Your Children to the UK on a Spouse Visa
Can Your Children Join You on a UK Spouse Visa?
You can add children to your application as dependants if they are under 18 when you apply, or were under 18 when they were first granted leave and they do not live an independent life.
Latest Spouse Visa News
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