A UK spouse visa, partner visa or UK marriage visa as it is sometimes called, allows UK permanent residents to bring their overseas partners and dependants with them to the UK. Your overseas partner must be over the age of 18 and you must be engaged, married to or in a civil partnership with them.
The UK spouse visa allows you to work and study without restrictions. This visa may also lead to indefinite leave to remain after you’ve extended your visa and have lived in the UK for five continuous years.
You can apply for a UK spouse visa if:
This is also known as the minimum income requirement. The UK government wants to make sure that you will be able to support yourself and your family without relying on public benefits.
If you want to be able to settle and gain indefinite leave to remain status within five years, then you and your partner must have a minimum gross annual income of £18,600.
If you are bringing children who do not have British citizenship, you will need:
Children under the age of 18 can enter the UK as dependants. You can make the application for any dependants at the same time as your spouse visa application.
You will need to use your income and bank statements to show you have met the minimum income requirements – this must be met at least six months prior to your application.
If your income alone does not reach the minimum requirements then you can also use cash savings (up to £16,000), income from stocks, shares, bonds, property or trust funds, pension income, insurance payments and maintenance payments to make up this amount of money.
Certain exceptions will allow you to gain a partner visa without meeting the minimum income requirements, such as having:
If your application is successful from outside the UK, your spouse visa will usually be valid for 33 months. From inside the UK, it will be valid for 30 months.
After five years you can apply for your indefinite leave to remain status – you will need to extend your initial visa.
We break down the costs involved in applying for a spouse visa in 2021
| Application requirements | Out of country application fee | In-country application fee |
| The spouse visa UK fee in 2021 | £1,523 | £1,033 |
| Immigration healthcare surcharge | £1,872 | £1,560 |
| Priority service for faster visa processing (optional) | £573 | £800 |
Applicants must prove that they will have adequate accommodation, without relying on public funds. It is a requirement that at least part of the accommodation must be exclusively owned or occupied by the family.
It will not be considered adequate if it is:
Children under the age of 10 can share rooms but past this age individuals should have their own bedrooms. Couples can share a bedroom.
You can apply if you and your partner are unmarried, as long as you meet all the requirements and your relationship is akin to a civil partnership or marriage.
You will need to provide information that proves you have been in a long-term relationship.
The average processing time is around six to eight weeks, however this could be delayed due to Covid -19.