The UK spouse visa in brief
The spouse visa lets you live, work and study in the UK with your British or settled husband, wife or civil partner. Unmarried partners of two years use the same route, and engaged couples have a six-month version of it. It is a family visa under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules, and you will also hear it called the partner visa or the marriage visa.
It leads to indefinite leave to remain after five years, and from there to British citizenship. Most refusals are not because the relationship is doubted. They are because money or documents were shown the wrong way.
Three guides go further than this page: the financial requirement, the documents checklist and how to prove a genuine relationship. This page is general information, not advice on your case.
Who can apply
You and your partner must both be 18 or over, and your partner must be:
- a British or Irish citizen;
- settled in the UK, with indefinite leave to remain or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme;
- in some cases, a holder of pre-settled status;
- a refugee, or the holder of humanitarian protection or another listed status.
You must be in a genuine, continuing relationship and intend to live together permanently in the UK.
Visitors and people on short-term permissions generally cannot switch to a partner visa from inside the UK, and overstayers are normally refused. If either applies, take advice first: see overstaying and re-entry bans.
The seven requirements
You must meet all of them.
| Requirement | In short |
|---|---|
| Relationship | A valid marriage or civil partnership, or two years living together; you have met in person; you intend to live together permanently. |
| Qualifying partner | British, Irish, settled, or another listed status. |
| Income | £29,000 a year gross, or savings that cover the shortfall, or an exception. |
| English | Level A1 in speaking and listening for a first application, unless exempt. |
| Accommodation | A home that is adequate, not overcrowded, and paid for without public funds. |
| Suitability | No serious criminality, deception or debt that requires refusal. |
| TB test | A certificate, if you have lived in a listed country in the last six months and are coming for six months or more. |
The relationship test
Married or in a civil partnership. The marriage must be valid where it took place and recognised in UK law, and you must both have been free to marry. If you married abroad, we check that the ceremony and registration satisfy both local law and UK requirements before you apply.
Unmarried. You must have lived together in a relationship like a marriage for at least two years. See the unmarried partner visa.
Engaged. The fiancé(e) visa gives you six months to marry in the UK. You cannot work on it, and the time does not count towards settlement.
In every case you must have met in person.
Showing the relationship is real
You are asked to prove it, not just say it. The strongest evidence comes from outside the relationship and covers the whole of it:
- tenancy or mortgage papers, and bills addressed to you both at one address;
- joint bank statements and other shared commitments;
- letters from a GP, bank or government body sent to you both at the same address;
- travel records showing visits;
- dated photographs, call and message records, and letters from people who know you as a couple.
A few strong official documents beat a pile of photographs. Evidence from a government body, bank, landlord, utility provider or medical professional should be less than four years old. Contradictions, such as two different addresses for the same month, are a common reason for refusal.
Some couples are interviewed. The questions test whether your accounts agree, so answer truthfully and consistently. Our guide to proving a genuine relationship covers arranged marriages, couples who met online, couples who live apart and how to write your statement.
Income: the £29,000 test
New applications need a combined gross income of £29,000 a year. That has been the figure since 11 April 2024, when it rose from £18,600. The further rises announced in 2023, to as much as £38,700, have not been brought in. The full rules, with each income category and its evidence, are in our financial requirement guide.
What counts
Your partner’s earnings in the UK, your own earnings in the UK if you already have permission to work, pensions, rental income, dividends, and savings. Each must be shown in the way the rules prescribe, and that is where applications fail. The category you fall into decides the documents and the period they must cover.
For an employee of six months or more, that means six months of payslips counted back from the application date, matching bank statements, and a dated employer’s letter confirming the job, salary and start date. Shorter or variable employment can need up to twelve months of evidence. Self-employment is shown through tax returns and accounts.
Savings
Cash savings above £16,000 can cover a shortfall. You need £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall. At £25,000 a year the shortfall is £4,000, so you need £26,000. With no income you need £88,500. Savings must have been held for at least six months in your name, your partner’s, or both.
Exceptions
You do not need to meet the income level if your partner receives certain disability or carer’s benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment or Carer’s Allowance. You then show that you can be supported without public funds. Couples whose first partner application was made before 11 April 2024, and who are extending with the same partner, are assessed against £18,600 plus amounts for children.
If you cannot meet it
An application can still succeed where refusal would have unjustifiably harsh consequences for you, your partner or a child. The Supreme Court accepted in MM (Lebanon) [2017] UKSC 10 that a minimum income is lawful but that these circumstances must be weighed. Such applications are harder, usually lead to settlement after ten years, and need a prepared legal case. See human rights and private life applications.
English, accommodation and your history
English. You need level A1 in speaking and listening at the start, A2 to extend and B1 to settle, shown by a Secure English Language Test. You are exempt if you are over 65, have a condition that prevents you taking the test, or are a national of a majority English-speaking country such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States. A degree taught in English also counts. See the English language requirement.
Accommodation. The home must be one you own, rent or may lawfully occupy, large enough to avoid statutory overcrowding, and affordable without public funds. Living with your partner’s family is fine if the owner agrees in writing and there is room. A tenancy or mortgage document and a landlord’s or owner’s letter are the usual evidence.
TB certificate. If you are coming for six months or more and have lived in a listed country for six months or more in the last six months, you need a certificate from an approved clinic, valid for six months from the x-ray.
Your history. Applications are refused for certain convictions, deportation, deception in an earlier application, and in some cases unpaid NHS charges or a poor immigration record. If anything in your past might matter, tell your adviser before you apply so it can be dealt with openly.
How to apply
From outside the UK:
- Work out how you will show the income, and gather evidence for the whole period.
- Apply online, up to three months before you plan to travel.
- Pay the £2,064 fee and the immigration health surcharge.
- Give your fingerprints and photograph at the appointment and submit your documents, with certified translations of any not in English or Welsh.
- Wait for the decision. A successful applicant receives an entry vignette and an eVisa, accessed through a UKVI account.
From inside the UK: people on work, study and other long-term visas that allow it can switch without leaving. The fee is £1,407, plus the surcharge. If you are not sure you are allowed to switch, ask before you apply, because a refused in-country application can leave you without status.
The paperwork
The bundle matters as much as the facts. In short: passports; your marriage certificate or evidence of two years together; proof of your partner’s status; payslips, bank statements and an employer’s letter, or the self-employment papers; any savings evidence; your English certificate; accommodation documents; the relationship evidence; a TB certificate if needed; and certified translations. Our documents checklist sets out each item, how translations must be certified, and what is most often missing.
What it costs in 2026
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application, from outside the UK | £2,064 |
| Application, from inside the UK | £1,407 |
| Immigration health surcharge | £1,035 a year: £3,105 for 2 years and 9 months |
| English test, TB test | Set by the provider or clinic |
| Indefinite leave to remain, after five years | £3,226 |
| Our consultation | £99 online or by telephone, £149 Birmingham, £199 London |
Fees rise most years, so check the figure on the day you apply. See the fees page and the health surcharge.
How long it takes, and what comes next
Decisions usually take 12 weeks from outside the UK and 8 weeks from inside it, where the requirements are met. An in-country application that does not meet them can take about a year. Missing evidence and interviews add time.
A first visa from abroad lasts up to 2 years and 9 months. You then extend for 2 years and 6 months (£1,407 plus the surcharge, with A2 English), and after five years on the route you can apply to settle, with B1 English and the Life in the UK test. Long absences can put the five years at risk: our absence calculator adds up your days away.
Once settled, the partner of a British citizen can apply for naturalisation straight away, without the usual twelve-month wait. See citizenship through marriage.
If an application is refused
A refusal of a partner application normally carries a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal on human rights grounds. The deadline is 28 days from outside the UK and 14 days from inside it. The fee is £82 on the papers and £144 with a hearing. See appealing a refused partner visa and immigration appeals.
A fresh application is often quicker where the cause was a missing or badly prepared document. A second refusal on the same ground, or a finding of deception, makes the next application harder, so have the refusal letter reviewed before you choose.
The usual causes of refusal are income evidence in the wrong form or period, thin or inconsistent evidence of the relationship, missing or out-of-level English evidence, accommodation not shown to be adequate, and an earlier refusal or overstay that was not explained.
What is changing
The income requirement has been £29,000 since April 2024. Fees rise most years. The government has consulted on “earned settlement”, which would lengthen and vary the time needed to settle. At the date this page was reviewed no new rules had been laid and the five-year partner route applied as described. See earned settlement: what is proposed and what is law.
Working with us
Most refusals can be avoided by preparing the application properly the first time. We are authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority and publish our prices. We assess whether you meet the requirements, prepare the evidence, statement and form, act on extensions and settlement, and handle appeals and fresh applications. A consultation is from £99, online, by telephone or in person in London and Birmingham.
