Do you need to apply for a UK Spouse Visa?
Speak to our experts to find out about our fast, friendly and affordable service
Spouse Visa is a category under the Partner Visa route under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules. This visa can be submitted from outside or inside the UK. In order to apply from inside the UK, you must not be on a visitor visa category or as an overstayer without immigration status.
We hold over 99% success rate in this category and are a spouse visa specialist.
Spouse Visa is mainly for people who are married and intend to join their husband or wife in the UK. The Husband or wife should be a British citizen or holding Indefinite Leave to Remain, or holding EUSS settled or pre-settled status, or have humanitarian protection or refugee status or have a right to stay in the UK under the ECAA Ankara Agreement.
In order to make a successful application for a UK Spouse Visa you must be able to meet all the Eligibility requirements, which means that the applicant must have met in person, have been married, their relationship continues to be genuine and subsisting, they have a valid marriage, which is recognised by the UK Government. You should also meet the financial requirement which is going to be £29000 from 11 April 2024. You must regularly check on the financial requirement as it is the intention of the Government to increase this over the years. It is also important to provide evidence that you have adequate accommodation and also meet the English Language requirement at the appropriate level.
At the moment the spouse visa from outside the UK is granted for 33 months and from inside the UK for 30 months. After completing 60 months on a spouse visa the applicant apply for indefinite leave to remain under the Appendix FM.
If you have children under 18 years of age from previous relationship they will also be able to apply with you provided you are able to establish that you have sole responsibility for upbringing of the children or there are compassionate and compelling circumstances.
Once the applicant has been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain as a Spouse, you do not need to wait for for applying British Citizenship, you can apply immidiately after receiving ILR for British Citizenship.
An application for spouse visa can be complete online via the www.gov.uk website. Once the application is completed you will need to pay for the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge fee.
In order to join the spouse, you should be married and hold a marriage certificate recognised by the United Kingdom Government. Generally, all marriage certificate recognised by the country where the marriage took place is recognised in the United Kingdom.
Proxy marriages in some cases are also recognised by the UK Government provided they are valid and recognised in the country issuing the marriage certificate and all relevant procedures have been followed according to the customary laws of the country where the marriage took place.
If a marriage has taken place in the UK, it must be according to the Marriage Act 1949
Your relationship must be proved to be genuine and subsisting. This depends on your circumstances and how you continue to keep in touch or travel to see each other. In order to apply for a spouse visa, you must have met your husband or wife in person at least once before applying for the Spouse Visa.
You and your husband or wife must intend to live in the UK permanently and be able to accommodate and maintain yourselves without additional access to public funds.
You must be considered suitable to enter the UK that means you should have any unspent criminal convictions or should not be considered to be a person not in public interest or shouldnot have an outstanding bill of £500 or more towards the NHS in the UK. You must also not fall for refusal under certain general Grounds for Refusal when submitting a spouse visa application under Appendix FM.
If you are applying on or after 11 April 2024 then you must be able to show earnings of £29,000. However, if you initially applied before this date then you need to continue with the earnings of £18600. If you had or have children the amount increases according to the number of children you have starting with £3800 for first child and £2400 each for any additional children. With the new rules in April 2024 you do not need to show additional income for children and only income of £29000 is sufficient.
You can combine some of your sources of income to meet financial requirement.
The specified evidence of financials needs to be provided according to Appendix FM SE of the Immigration Rules.
Certain applicants do NOT need to meet the financial requirement and rather only need to meet the maintenance and accommodation requirement at the levels of income support if their spouse is in receipt of either –
English Language requirement is applicable to you if you are not from an English Majority Speaking country – example – USA, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, etc. You should be able to meet the English Language requirement at level A 1 if applying Initially level A2 if extending spouse visa.
You must provide SELT test certificate which is UKVI recognised. You can also provide your degree if taught from English majority country or have a Ecctis letters of comparability and English language assessment.
The documents required depend on circumstances of the applicant. The applicant must make sure that all the evidence is being submitted in accordance with the Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules. You must make sure that all the evidence is provided to meet the Eligibility requirments.
You should submit -
It is your responsibility that you provide evidence in a legible format which discharges your burden of proof to satisfy the Eligibility requirement of the immigration rules. It is important to note that the documents requirments can be complex according to a relationship or the way you meet the financial requirment. It is advisable to seek immigration advise from an immigration lawyer or solicitor.
For an unlimited advice to achieve a successful outcome on your application you can contact Visa and Migration Ltd on 02034111261 or email us on info@visaandmigration.com
The application can be submitted form outside or inside the UK using an online application. The application from inside the UK is known as leave to remain and from outside the UK it is know as Entry clearance;
Once you have completed the online application you will need to book appointment with VFS or TLS if you are applying from outside the UK. If you are applying from within the UK then you will book an appointment with UKVCAS. You must upload your documents online or purchase the document scanning service.
You must attend the appointment to complete the process where you must submit your passport and provide your documents for scanning if not uploaded already.
The spouse visa application from outside the UK takes between 8 to 12 weeks in general, however, this can be extended to 24 weeks. The application inside the UK takes 8 weeks. You can also purchase priority service which costs £500 from outside the UK and £1000 inside the UK.
The UK Spouse Visa fee in 2024 for UKVI application from outside the UK is £1846 and the Immigration Health Surcharge of £3105, kindly note the UKVI charges 4% processing fee on top of their fees and is paid in currency depending upon your residence or nationality.
For applications from inside the UK, the UKVI fee is £1048 and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) of £2587.50.
In 2024 the IHS is £1035 per year and has been multiplied to the length of years the visa will be granted. If you meet all the above requirements and are able to provide us evidence which we will list for you upon instructions we will be able to guarantee a positive outcome on your application provided you have given us all information correctly and have not deceived us in any way or hidden any relevant information.
Once you have been granted the spouse visa, you are allowed to work in the UK or study in the UK. You cannot claim public funds or benefits in the UK.
If you have any dependent children from the previous relationship who are under the age of 18 years, they can join you in the UK provided your partner is able to meet the financial requirement and you can establish that you have the sole responsibility for the child or the child normally lives with you and not the other parent or there are compassionate and compelling grounds for the child to accompany you to the UK.
If you are extending your stay in the UK generally the rules at the time of your first application will continue to apply. It is important now because on 11 April 2024 the financial requirement will increase to £29000 and this will be appliable to all new applicants after 11 April 2014.
In order to apply for extension, you must prove that your relationship remains genuine and subsisting and provide relevant evidence to discharge the burden of proof. Additionally, you must meet all the eligibility requirements stated above.
In order to switch to the spouse visa, you must be in the UK lawfully, you will be unable to switch to the Spouse Visa, if you are an overstayer or in breach of immigration rules or on a visa which is issued 6 months or less or on a visitor visa. If you apply for the visa and not allowed to switch the visa the application will be considered as invalid or lead to refusal.
The most common for refusal for the spouse visa is that the applicant did not provide relevant documents in support of their application. It’s always better to consult a lawyer in order to verify that all the documents are in correct order so that there are no mistakes which lead to refusal of the application.
Some of the reasons are -
These are some of the reasons why your application can be refused, however, consulting a regulated immigratio lawyer or solicitor can avoid such reasons as we always cross check and provide you with a relevant list of documents according to your circumstances which avoids such reasons for refusal.
An application for spouse visa is generally considered with the Article 8 rights of a Family. If your application has been refused you will receive a refund of your Immigration Health Surcharge fee. On refusal of an application you may have three realistic options -
Make sure that you meet all the eligibility requirements. The documents must be in a clear readable format. Make sure all is arranged properly. Try to make a letter to explain your circumstances and list all the document being submitted with the application.
Provide all the documents in English Language, make sure that the documents are valid and latest to meet the requirements of the immigration rules
Yes, you must meet in person before applying for the UK Spouse Visa.
You should provide additional evidence to establish that your relationship is genuine and subsisting and can apply for UK Spouse Visa.
Yes, the child can apply with you provided the child is under the age of 18 and you have sole responsibility for the child's upbringing or compassionate and compelling circumstances exist.
Yes, nationals and residents of certain countries need to provide TB test certificate.
You need to provide documents in digital format.
The appointment are booked through VFS or TLS if you are outside the UK or with UKVCAS if inside the UK.
You will need Level A 1 English test SELT, this is a basic listening and Speaking test.
Yes, you both must be 18 years or above.
Yes, you can use money received as gift provided you have held it for 6 months or longer.
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Do you need to apply for a UK Spouse Visa?
Speak to our experts to find out about our fast, friendly and affordable service
