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The UK Spouse Visa is for married partners of British or Irish citizens, persons who are settled in the UK, persons with pre-settled status, persons with a Turkish Businessperson or Turkish Worker visa, and persons with refugee status or humanitarian protection who wish to join, or stay with, their husband or wife in the UK.
The UK Spouse Visa leads to indefinite leave to remain or settlement in the UK after 5 years.
The requirements for a UK Spouse Visa
To qualify for a UK Spouse Visa, you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that you meet the following requirements:
- Your partner is British or Irish, is settled in the UK, has been granted pre-settled status, holds a Turkish Businessperson or Turkish Worker visa, or has refugee status or humanitarian protection;
- You and your partner are both over the age of 18;
- You and your partner have met in person;
- You and your partner are not within a prohibited degree of relationship;
- You and your partner are legally married in a marriage that is recognised in the UK;
- Your relationship is genuine and subsisting;
- You and your partner intend to live together permanently in the UK;
- Any previous relationship has broken down permanently;
- You meet the financial requirements,
- There will be adequate accommodation for you and any dependents,
- You hold a minimum of an A1 Level Certificate in English from the accepted institutions.
You will need to meet these general requirements to qualify for a UK Spouse Visa, but exact requirements may vary depending on your circumstances. For expert immigration advice, please get in touch with our firm.
UK Spouse Visa Relationship Requirement
The relationship in the Spouse Visa must meet the following requirements:
- You and your partner must not be within a prohibited degree of relationship;
- You and your partner must have met in person;
- You and your partner must be legally married;
- Your relationship must be genuine and subsisting;
- You and your partner must intend to live together permanently in the UK;
- Any previous relationship must have broken down permanently.
1. Requirement to Have Met in Person
You and your spouse must have met in person. The requirement to have ‘met’ means that you must be able to demonstrate a face-to-face meeting.
2. Requirement for Marriage to Be Recognised in the UK
To qualify for a UK Spouse Visa, you and your partner will need to be legally married in a marriage that is recognised in the UK.
3. Marriage in the UK
To be recognised as valid, all marriages which take place in the UK must be monogamous and must be carried out by the requirements of the Marriage Act 1949 (as amended), the Marriage Act (Scotland) 1977, or the Marriage Order (Northern Ireland) 2003.
A marriage in the UK must be evidenced by a marriage certificate.
4. Marriage outside the UK
• An overseas marriage will be recognised in the UK if:
• The type of marriage is recognised in the country in which it took place;
• The marriage was properly conducted to satisfy the requirements of the law of the country in which it took place;
• There is nothing in the laws of either person’s country of domicile at the time of the marriage that prevented the marriage from being recognised; and
• Any previous marriages of the couple had broken down permanently.
• Marriage outside the UK must be evidenced by a reasonable equivalent to a marriage certificate, valid under the law in force in the relevant country.
5. Genuine and Subsisting Relationship Requirement
To qualify for a UK Spouse Visa you will need to provide the Home Office with evidence that your relationship with your partner is a genuine and subsisting relationship.
Decisions on whether a relationship is genuine and subsisting are made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all available evidence and individual circumstances.
The following factors may be considered when the Home Office assesses your relationship:
• You and your spouse are in a long relationship,
• You live together as a couple,
• You may have children together and you hold parental responsibility for them,
• You and your spouse share financial responsibilities.
• You and your spouse intend to live in the UK permanently.
UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement
In order to demonstrate that you can maintain in the UK without recourse to public funds, you will need to satisfy the Spouse Visa financial requirement.
The financial requirement for a UK Spouse Visa application state that, unless exempt, you will need to demonstrate that your Spouse (or both of you jointly if you are in the UK with valid leave to remain) has a gross annual income of at least:
- £18,600; plus
- £3,800 for a first child (who is not British, holds indefinite leave to remain in the UK, has pre-settled status or settled status or is an EEA national with a right to reside in the UK); plus
- £2,400 for each additional child (who is not British, holds indefinite leave to remain in the UK, has pre-settled status or settled status or is an EEA national with a right to reside in the UK).
Different rules will apply if your Spouse receives certain state benefits or entitlements when the financial requirement for a UK Spouse Visa is that the sponsor can ‘adequately maintain and accommodate’ the family member being sponsored to enter or remain in the UK.
Financial requirements need to be met when you first apply to enter the UK, then when you apply to extend your stay, and when you apply for ILR as a spouse.
From 11 April 2024, the minimum income requirement per year for a five-year Spouse Visa (Partner Route) will be raised from £ 18,600 to £ 29,000. And also, the marginal income requirement for child dependents will be removed.
Spouse Visa Accommodation Requirement
Whether you are applying for entry clearance or for further leave to remain as a spouse, you will need to provide evidence that there will be adequate accommodation available to you and your spouse, without the need to rely on public funds, in accommodation that you own or occupy exclusively.
It is important that you provide evidence that you are legally and exclusively entitled to occupy the property and that the property will not be overcrowded or contravenes public health regulations.
Spouse Visa English Language Requirement
When applying for entry clearance or to switch into the Spouse Visa route you will need to demonstrate competence in the English language to at least CEFR level A1. When you apply for further leave to remain as a spouse you will need to demonstrate competence in the English language to at least CEFR level A2.
You can also meet the Spouse Visa English language requirement by:
- Holding the nationality of a majority English speaking country;
- Passing an approved English language test at or above the required CEFR level, with an approved provider as set out on Approved Secure English Language Tests and Test Centres; or
- Having an academic qualification which is either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD if awarded in the UK; or, if awarded outside the UK, is deemed by Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) to meet or exceed the recognised standard of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD in the UK, and Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) has confirmed that the degree was taught or researched in English at or above the required CEFR level.
To be exempt from the English language requirement you will normally have to prove that either:
- You are over the age of 65 at the date of application;
- You have a physical or mental disability which prevents you from meeting the English language requirement;
- There are exceptional circumstances that mean that you cannot satisfy the English language requirement before entering the UK.
If you are not able to demonstrate that you meet the English language requirement (or are exempt), then your Spouse Visa application will be refused.
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