The Spouse/Partner Visa is for those who want to enter the UK to live long-term with their partner, who is British or who holds Indefinite Leave to Remain (the 'Sponsor'). How you make a spouse visa application from outside the UK depends on your circumstances. There are strict rules relating to this Visa and precise evidence must be provided or the application will fail.
There are two ways to come to the UK as a partner:
If you are not yet married or in a civil partnership, you can apply for an initial six month Fiancee Visa which allows you to come to the UK to marry or enter into a civil partnership with your partner. You must marry or enter the civil partnership before the six month period ends and apply for Permission to Stay as the Partner of a British Citizen or Settled Person. (See Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay)
If you are already married or in a civil partnership, you can apply for a Spouse/Partner Visa. You will be granted 33 months' permission to enter the UK and live and work here. You will need to extend your permission at the end of the 33 months (See Spouse or Partner Permission to Remain).
An unmarried partner must show that he/she has lived together in a relationship like marriage for at least two years with the person already in the UK.
For both Fiancee and Spouse/Partner Visa applications you must show:
It is vitally important that the evidence given to the Home Office to support your application is absolutely correct - otherwise your spouse visa application from outside the UK runs a high risk of refusal and you will lose your Home Office application fee.
The financial evidence in particular is complex and specific. We are meticulous when we prepare applications and will not submit the application until we are satisfied that there is no reason for the Home Office to refuse the application. That's why our success rate is very high.
We work on a fixed fee basis so we do not charge by the hour. The fixed fee covers ongoing advice and the entire preparation and submission of the application and supporting evidence.
We will take all the stress and work out of these applications. Our team knows how important it is that you are able to live with the person you love. We have successfully applied for a huge number of Spouse/Partner Visas.
We work with you and your partner to gather the evidence for your spouse visa application from outside the UK. We then submit the application online and arrange an appointment for you to attend your local visa application centre where you will present your passport and register your fingerprints and have a photo taken.
Once you have attended the appointment, it takes around 12 weeks to get a decision from the Home Office or perhaps a shorter time if you pay for the Priority Service.
"They made the process of bringing my husband to the UK painless. They advised us on exactly what we needed to do and once we'd gathered all we needed they completed the online application with us, then submitted the file to HM Immigration on our behalf, and within 30 days we got the approval!"
Lindy Pine
When you get your Spouse/Partner Visa, you will have one month to enter the UK where you will pick up your new Residence Card from a local post office. If you are on a Fiancee Visa you will have a certificate in your passport that gives you 6 months to enter and live in the UK.
The Spouse/Partner Visa allows you to work, study, rent property, open a bank account and drive in the UK. The Fiancee Visa does not allow you to do any of these things.
You will need to show that you have lived continuously with each other for two years if you are not married. The evidence you need will include correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address. If you are going to struggle to find this evidence, you may consider marriage or a civil partnership.
The Home Office will normally want to see evidence of a relationship before marriage. However, it does accept arranged marriages as genuine in certain cultures even though there is usually little evidence of a relationship before marriage.
There are ways of making up the shortfall in earnings using cash savings. Or your income from a pension for example, can be taken into account. It is always worth talking to us about the ways to meet the financial requirement.
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