Personal Immigration · IAA Regulated F201000109
Partner & Spouse Visas
If you plan to live with your partner in the UK, several routes may be open to you depending on your relationship status and circumstances. We identify the right one, evidence it properly, and take on refusals where the Home Office has got it wrong.
Partner applications are among the most heavily evidenced in the Immigration Rules. Whether you are married, engaged, in a civil partnership or in a long-term relationship, our IAA-regulated advisers prepare the application so that every requirement is met on the face of the documents.
Partner routes we handle
Each route has its own eligibility criteria, permitted activities and path to settlement. Choosing the wrong one costs time and money, so we confirm the correct route before anything is filed.
Spouse Visa
For those married to a British citizen or a person with settled status or qualifying leave in the UK. You must evidence a genuine and subsisting marriage, meet the financial requirement, and satisfy the English language requirement. Leave is normally granted in two stages before settlement becomes available.
Civil Partner Visa
For partners in a legally registered civil partnership with a British or settled person. The requirements mirror the Spouse Visa — relationship, finances, accommodation and English language — and the visa carries full rights to work and study in the UK.
Fiancé(e) & Proposed Civil Partner Visa
For those coming to the UK to marry or register a civil partnership. It is granted for a short, fixed period, does not permit work, and requires credible evidence of concrete wedding arrangements. Once married you switch in-country to the partner route.
Unmarried Partner Visa
For couples who have lived together in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years. Cohabitation must be documented across the whole period with correspondence in joint names or overlapping addresses — this is the point most applications fall down on.
The financial requirement
The sponsoring partner must show a specified minimum income, or savings in lieu of income, to support the applicant without recourse to public funds. The threshold has been revised more than once in recent years, so we always confirm the figure that applies on the date your application is submitted.
Just as important is how the income is proved. Appendix FM-SE sets out exactly which documents are acceptable, over what period, and in what combination — and the Home Office applies it strictly.
Income threshold
Income can come from salaried or non-salaried employment, self-employment, company directorships, pensions, certain non-employment income, or cash savings held for a continuous qualifying period. Sources can often be combined, but not in every permutation.
Where the sponsor receives certain disability or carer benefits, an adequate maintenance test may apply instead of the income threshold.
Acceptable evidence
- Payslips and corresponding personal bank statements covering the specified period
- Employer letter confirming role, salary, length of employment and pay frequency
- Self-employed: tax returns, SA302s, annual accounts and business bank statements
- Savings: statements showing the funds held continuously for the required period
Accommodation
You must show adequate accommodation is available to the couple and any dependants, owned or occupied exclusively, and not overcrowded within the meaning of the Housing Act.
Where you will live with relatives, a letter of permission and evidence of room occupancy is normally expected.
The relationship requirement
The Home Office must be satisfied that your relationship is genuine and subsisting, that you intend to live together permanently in the UK, and that any previous relationships have permanently broken down.
Strong applications tell the relationship story chronologically and back it with independent documents rather than assertions: how you met, periods spent together, visits, financial interdependence, communication over time, and the knowledge family and friends have of the relationship. Long-distance and short-acquaintance cases need particular care, as do applications following a previous refusal.
English language requirement
How the requirement is met
Applicants must normally demonstrate English at the level specified for the stage of the route they are applying under, with a higher level required at extension and settlement stages.
- An approved Secure English Language Test at the required level
- A degree taught in English, verified where obtained overseas
- Nationality of a majority English-speaking country listed in the Rules
- Limited exemptions on grounds of age or a physical or mental condition
Practical points
Tests must be taken with an approved provider at an approved centre — certificates from non-approved providers are a common and entirely avoidable cause of refusal.
If you are relying on an exemption, it must be evidenced independently and addressed expressly in the application. We prepare submissions that put the exemption beyond argument.
The route to settlement
Partners are usually granted limited leave in stages rather than settlement outright. Where you meet all the requirements of the partner route, you generally complete a five-year period of continuous leave — commonly an initial grant of around two and a half years followed by an extension — before becoming eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Where leave is granted outside the standard requirements, for example on the basis of exceptional circumstances or family life under Article 8, a longer ten-year route to settlement usually applies, with regular extensions along the way. Moving from the ten-year to the five-year route is sometimes possible once the standard requirements can be met, and is often worth pursuing.
Planning past the first grant
Decisions taken at the first application shape the settlement timetable for years. We advise from the outset on continuous residence, permitted absences, the Life in the UK test and the higher English requirement at settlement, so that each stage builds towards Indefinite Leave to Remain and, in due course, British citizenship.
- Since 2009
- Advising partners and families
- 16+ yrs
- UK immigration experience
- Appeals
- Refusal challenges and tribunal work
Our process
From first assessment to decision, handled by a named adviser.
- 01
Consultation
We assess eligibility, confirm the correct route and identify any risk factors before you spend money on fees.
- 02
Document review
A tailored schedule of specified evidence, checked line by line against Appendix FM-SE.
- 03
Application
Submission with a detailed representations letter addressing relationship, finances, accommodation and English language.
- 04
Decision
We manage correspondence and advise on appeals or administrative review if the decision is wrong.
Talk to us about your partner visa
Every partner application turns on detail. Speak to an IAA-regulated adviser and get a clear view of your prospects, evidence and timescales.