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What Is The Spouse Visa UK ?
A Spouse Visa UK, also known as a Partner Visa UK, is a settlement visa that permits you to live in the UK with your British partner for up to 30 months. It is one of the visas which comes under the terms of Appendix FM: Family Members. It can be prolonged for another 30 months if you fulfill the requirements. Obtaining a Spouse Visa UK is the first step toward getting Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and, eventually, BRITISH CITIZENSHIP.
To apply for a UK Spouse Visa , you must be married to or in a civil union with a UK national citizen, a UK-settled person, or a UK refugee. The substantive requirements for a Spouse Visa UK are set out in Appendix FM, while the evidential requirements of a UK Spouse Visa are set out in Appendix FM-SE. The main eligibility criteria include demonstrating that you are in a genuine relationship and meet specific financial requirements.
We want to ensure you have the information you need to make informed decisions about your immigration case. Contact our immigration attorneys for professional advice on your UK Spouse Visa case and to learn how to enter the UK and obtain leave to remain with your partner if they are UK citizens. We have worked with many people from around the world who have been denied entry into the UK due to mistakes made by immigration officials during their initial application or at the interview stage.
Be aware that this Visa is not the same as the PROPOSED CIVIL PARTNER VISA.
which permits you to come to the United Kingdom to marry or enter into a civil partnership, irrespective of whether or not your companion is a citizen of the UK.
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What Are UK Spouse Visa Requirements ?
To successfully apply for a UK Spouse Visa, you must demonstrate to the UK Visas and Immigration that you meet:
- The suitability criteria outlined in Appendix FM annexed to the Immigration Rules;
- The Financial Requirements of an application for UK Spouse Visa, whereby you must have a gross annual earnings of at least £18,600 or savings of at least £62,500 if the applicant or the sponsor are unable to show income from employment or self-employment;
- Your partner is a British Citizen, a person with indefinite leave to remain or with limited leave to remain under Appendix EU;
- You and your partner are both over the age of 18 at the time of submitting your application;
- You and your partner have met each other in person and, you have entered into a legal marriage;
- You have a genuine and subsisting relationship with your partner, and that you intend to live together permanently;
- Any previous relationship that you or your partner may have been part of has broken down permanently;
- You and your dependent will be adequately maintained in the UK without recourse to public funds;
- You and your dependent will have adequate accommodation in the UK;
- You are able to satisfy the English Language requirement of a UK Spouse Visa.
The specific requirements, that may be applicable to you, will differ depending on your circumstances. You may wish to seek expert advice from an immigration lawyer.
1.What Are The UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirements ?
In order to succeed in your application for a UK Spouse Visa, you will need to prove that you will be adequately maintained in the UK, if granted a UK Civil Partner Visa, without recourse to public funds.
To meet the UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirements, you will need to demonstrate that your British or settled partner (or if you’re living in the UK with a valid visa, both you and your British or settled partner jointly) has a gross annual earning of at least:
- £18,600; plus
- £3,800 for your first child (who is not a British citizen or has settled status); plus
- £2,400 for each additional child (who is not a British citizen or has settled status).
2.How Do I Meet The Spouse Visa UK Financial Requirements ?
The Spouse Visa UK Financial Requirements application can be met through one of the following sources:
Income generated from salaried or non-salaried income of the British or settled partner (or your own or joint salaried or non-salaried income where you are in the UK with a valid visa);
- Non-employment income of your British or settled partner (or your own non-employment income where you are in the UK with a valid visa), e.g., income generated from property rental or dividends from shares, income from investments, bonds, trust fund or stock;
- Your cash savings or your British or settled partner’s cash savings above £16,000 which you/ your British partner must have held under your control for at least 6 months prior to the date of the application for a UK Spouse Visa;
- Payments from yours or your British partner’s pension (state, occupational or private);
- Income generated in the course of self-employment or as a director or employee of a limited company registered in the UK.
3.What is the Spouse Visa English Language Test?
In order to qualify for your Spouse Visa, you must be able to satisfy the UK Visas and Immigration that you speak and understand English at a required level depending on whether it is your first spouse visa application or an application for an extension of your spouse visa.
To meet the English Language Spouse Visa UK Requirements, you must demonstrate that you are:
- A Citizen of a majority English speaking country;
- You have passed an English Language test at Level A1 (if you’re applying for your first spouse visa) or A2 (if you are applying for an extension to your spouse visa) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR); or
- You have been granted an academic qualification recognised by UK NARIC to be equivalent to the standard of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD in the UK, which was taught in English; or
- You are exempt from meeting the English language requirement of a UK Spouse Visa application because you are over age of 65, have a disability that prevents you from sitting the English exam or that there are exceptional circumstances that prevent you from meeting the English language requirement prior to entry to the UK.
What Is UK Spouse Visa Validity Period?
If you are successful in obtaining a UK Spouse Visa from outside the UK, you will be granted a Spouse Visa with a validity period of 33 months. If you apply for a UK Spouse Visa from within the UK, you will be granted leave to remain as a Spouse for 30 months.
You must apply for an extension of your UK Spouse Visa before the expiry of your initial leave to remain as a Spouse. The earliest you can apply for an extension of your spouse visa is 28 days prior to the expiry of your initial spouse visa. Once you have lived in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years on UK Spouse Visas, you will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain, whereby you will be settled in the UK.
4.What are the UK Spouse Visa Adequate Accommodation?
5.What Is UK Spouse Visa Processing Times?
UK Visas and Immigration do not provide specific UK Spouse Visa Processing Time for reaching decisions on Spouse Visa Applications. However, it has historically announced that it aims to reach a decision on spouse visa applications submitted via the standard service within 6 months of the date of submission of the application.
Although in some cases, decisions can be made within 2 – 3 months of the date of submission of a UK Spouse Visa, it is advisable not to make travel arrangements or any other travelling commitments until you have received a decision from the UK Visas and Immigration on your application.
The UK Visas and Immigration also offers a priority service, whereby a decision on your application can be reached within 24 hours of submission of the application. The priority service naturally carries an extra fee in addition to the standard Home Office application fee. It is important to note, however, that a decision on your Spouse Visa application can only be reached within 24 hours if all of the necessary evidence is provided to the decision maker. Failure to do so will lead to a request for further documents and a subsequent delay to the decision making process.
Our lawyers are specialists in UK immigration law with almost a decade of experience. We have assisted hundreds of UK Spouse Visa applicants to prepare and submit successful UK Spouse Visa applications.
Our immigration lawyers can provide you expert advice on meeting the requirements of the Immigration Rules, carry out a detailed assessment of your prospects of qualifying for a UK Spouse Visa and can assist you with the preparation and submission of immigration applications from within or outside the UK.
Our lawyers combine creative energy with deep technical legal expertise to uncover innovative, out-of-the-box and unconventional strategies that help you succeed in your application even when you’re facing inherent challenges in meeting the requirements of a spouse visa application.
We do this by deploying the following:
- Taking a holistic approach to analysing every facet of each case and formulating strategies to comprehensively address every element of the case;
- Bringing deep technical and substantive legal expertise;
- Collaborative strategizing among specialist lawyers, who operate at different levels of seniority, bringing a wealth of technical expertise, tactical know-how and diversity of perspective on your matter;
- Using Design Thinking to reframe the challenges you face with a view to redefining value and opening up the scope of solutions;
- Designing customised strategy to meet your specific challenges.
Are you unable to satisfy the requirements of a Spouse Visa application?
If you are unable to satisfy all of the requirements of a UK Spouse Visa application and you are also unable to meet the requirements of an application under any other immigration categories, you may still be able to join or remain with your British or settled partner in the UK on compassionate and human rights grounds.
To succeed in an application, to join or remain with your partner, on human rights grounds, you must satisfy the UK Visas and Immigration that you and your partner would be unable to continue your family life outside the UK or that you will face significant difficulty in continuing your family life outside the UK.
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