Bringing your partner to live in the UK

What the partner route is

A family visa as a partner lets you live in the UK for more than 6 months with a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner who is British or Irish, settled here, or holds one of a small number of other qualifying statuses. It is the route GOV.UK refers to as applying “as a partner or spouse”, and it is also the category used by fiancé(e)s and proposed civil partners who intend to marry in the UK within 6 months of arriving.

A first grant from outside the UK lasts 2 years and 9 months. Extensions and in-country switches are granted for 2 years and 6 months at a time. You can work and study from the day your permission starts, but you cannot usually claim benefits or other public funds. After 5 years’ continuous residence as a partner you can apply for indefinite leave to remain, and British citizenship normally follows 12 months after that.

Eligibility in detail

Every one of these requirements must be met and evidenced. The Home Office does not weigh a strong relationship against a weak financial case — each limb stands alone.

• Both aged 18 or over

  You and your partner must both be 18 or older on the date you apply.

• Your partner’s status

  British or Irish citizen; settled (indefinite leave to remain, settled status or permanent residence); an EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein national with pre-settled status who was living in the UK before 1 January 2021; a Turkish Businessperson or Turkish Worker visa holder; a person with protection status; or someone granted stay as a stateless person before you became their partner.

• A qualifying relationship

  A marriage or civil partnership recognised in the UK; at least 2 years living together in a relationship; a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner who will marry in the UK within 6 months; or 2 years in a relationship without living together for work, study or cultural reasons.

• Genuine and subsisting

  Evidence less than 4 years old from a government body, bank, landlord, utility provider or medical professional confirming the relationship. You must also have met in person.

• Intention to live together

  You and your partner must intend to live together permanently in the UK after you apply.

• Financial requirement

  Combined income of at least £29,000 a year from the permitted categories, or cash savings above £16,000, unless your partner receives a listed disability or carer’s benefit or you fall within the pre-11 April 2024 transitional rules.

• Adequate accommodation

  Somewhere for you, your partner and any dependants to live without relying on public funds, and without being overcrowded. The caseworker looks at your income and housing costs together.

• English language

  CEFR A1 at the first application, A2 in speaking and listening at the extension if you only passed A1 first time, and B1 for settlement — or a degree taught in English, or an exemption.

• Suitability

  No falling foul of the general grounds for refusal in Part 9 of the Immigration Rules — criminality, deception, previous breaches of immigration law or unpaid NHS debt can all lead to refusal regardless of the relationship.

• Previous relationships ended

  You must give details of anyone you or your partner were previously married to, in a civil partnership with or had children with, with evidence such as a divorce certificate that earlier marriages have ended.

The financial requirement

The threshold and the categories of income are set by GOV.UK and Appendix FM. Which category you rely on determines the exact documents you must supply.

Minimum combined annual income (new applications)

£29,000

Cash savings that can count

Amount above £16,000

Transitional threshold (first applied before 11 April 2024, same partner)

£18,600

Transitional extra for first child

+£3,800 a year

Transitional extra for each further child

+£2,400 a year

Transitional total capped at

£29,000

The following can count as income under GOV.UK’s guidance:

• Income from employment before tax and National Insurance, shown on payslips or a P60 — only income earned in the UK can be used.
• Income from self-employment or as a director of a UK limited company, shown on a Self Assessment tax return, based on the last 6 months or more counting back from the day you apply.
• Cash savings above £16,000. Under the Appendix FM guidance the surplus is divided by 2.5 for an entry clearance or first in-country grant, so £88,500 held for 6 months meets the requirement on its own.
• Money from a pension.
• Non-work income, for example from property rentals or dividends.

If you rely on anything other than straightforward employment — running a limited company, savings, a pension, a period of maternity or paternity leave in the last 6 months, or a combination of sources — you must follow the extra evidential rules in the Home Office guidance “Appendix FM and Appendix HM armed forces: minimum income requirement”. Missing a single specified document is a mandatory refusal, not a request for more information.

If you cannot meet the financial requirement you may still be able to apply, or extend, where you have a child in the UK who is a British or Irish citizen or has lived here for 7 years and it would be unreasonable for them to leave, or where refusal would breach your human rights. In that case the earliest you can settle is after 10 years, not 5.

English language requirement

The level rises at each stage. Plan the test you sit at the outset so it carries you through.

First application

CEFR A1 or higher

Extension after 2.5 years (if you passed A1 first time)

A2 speaking and listening

Extension (if you passed A2 or higher)

Reuse your result

Settlement after 5 years

B1 or higher

First extension if you were exempt first time

A1

You can prove your knowledge of English in one of three ways:

• A degree-level qualification taught in English and awarded by a UK institution — the degree certificate is enough.
• A degree taught in English from an institution outside the UK, confirmed by an Ecctis assessment as equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree or higher. An earlier Ecctis certificate can be reused.
• A Secure English Language Test (SELT) at the required CEFR level from a provider on the Home Office approved list. A B1 or higher result can be reused at settlement provided the certificate has not been withdrawn.

You are exempt if you are over 65, have a physical or mental condition that prevents you meeting the requirement, have been in the UK on a family visa for 5 years and are extending as a partner, or are a national of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British overseas territories, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago or the USA.

Fees and costs

Figures as published on GOV.UK, last updated 3 August 2026. Each dependant added to your application pays the same fee and their own healthcare surcharge.

Application fee — applying outside the UK

£2,064

Application fee — applying inside the UK (extend or switch)

£1,407

Each dependant — outside / inside the UK

£2,064 / £1,407

Healthcare surcharge, adult — 2 years 9 months

£3,105

Healthcare surcharge, adult — 2 years 6 months

£2,587.50

Healthcare surcharge, child — 2 years 9 months

£2,328

Healthcare surcharge, child — 2 years 6 months

£1,940

Priority service (optional)

£500

Super priority service (optional, inside the UK)

£1,000

Biometric appointment

Required — no separate fee listed on GOV.UK

GOV.UK advises telling your bank that a large payment is coming out of your account, otherwise it might be cancelled. A fee waiver is available if you do not have a place to live and cannot afford one, have a home but cannot afford essential living costs such as food or heating, or have a very low income and paying the fee would harm your child’s wellbeing. English tests, Ecctis assessments, translations and any TB test are paid to third parties and are not included above.

Processing times

Family routes have their own, longer, standard times than work and study visas. The clock starts when you attend your biometric appointment or finish uploading documents through the ID Check app.

Applying outside the UK — partner or spouse

12 weeks

Applying inside the UK — meeting the income and English requirements

8 weeks

Applying inside the UK — income and English requirements not met

About 12 months (no service standard)

Priority service — family visas from outside the UK

Usually 30 working days

Super priority service — inside the UK

End of the next working day

Decisions can take longer if your information needs further consideration, documents must be verified, you are asked to interview, or demand is high. You will be contacted within the standard time if that happens. If you apply from inside the UK before your current permission expires you can stay while you wait for a decision.

Documents you will need

Adapted from GOV.UK’s “information and evidence you must provide”. You will be told exactly how to submit each item when you apply online.

The application also asks for your partner’s name, date of birth, nationality, passport and right to be in the UK; anyone your partner supports financially; details of all children of either of you, whether or not they are applying; and the countries you have lived in and visited.

Application process

Route to settlement and citizenship

Two tracks lead to indefinite leave to remain. Which one you are on is written in your decision letter.

Common reasons partner applications are refused

Each of these maps directly to a mandatory requirement in the rules. None is about the strength of your feelings for each other.

• The financial requirement is not met, or the specified evidence for the income category relied on is incomplete — for example payslips that do not cover the full 6 months, bank statements that do not show the salary being paid in, or an employer’s letter missing a required confirmation.
• Income that cannot be used has been counted, such as employment income earned outside the UK, or savings that have not been held for the required period.
• The relationship is not shown to be genuine and subsisting — the evidence is older than 4 years, does not come from an acceptable source, or does not show cohabitation or shared finances.
• Unmarried partners cannot document 2 years of living together, or couples living apart cannot show an ongoing commitment.
• The English test was not taken with an approved provider, was at the wrong level for the stage of the route, or the certificate has been withdrawn.
• A previous marriage or civil partnership has not been shown to have ended.
• Accommodation evidence is missing or the property would be overcrowded.
• Your partner does not hold a qualifying status — for example they are in the UK on a work or student visa.
• General grounds for refusal apply: false representations or documents, a criminal record, previous overstaying or breach of conditions, or an outstanding NHS debt.
• Mandatory information is missing — untranslated documents, no TB certificate where required, or a missed biometric appointment.

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Source note

Information sourced from GOV.UK (“Family visas: apply, extend or switch”, last updated 3 August 2026; “Visa processing times: applications outside the UK”, 26 June 2026; “Visa processing times: applications inside the UK”, 29 April 2026; and “Get a faster decision on your visa, settlement or citizenship application”, 20 July 2026), and reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Rules change; we verify requirements at the point of instruction.