Family Visa For The UK

You may apply for a family visa if your partner is a British citizen or of ILR status (for more than 6 months) and you wish to live with them. Under this circumstance, you may also apply for a Partner Visa.

A “partner” is recognised as one of the following:

• Civil partner
• Fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner or
• A person you have been co-habiting with through a relationship that mirrors a marriage or civil partnership for 2 years and over from before the date of application

Eligibility Criteria:

In order to be eligible for this visa and the partner visa, both you and your partner must be over 18 and intend to permanently live together in the UK.

Your partner must:

• Be a British or Irish citizen.
• Be settled in the UK with ILR, settled status or proof of permanent residence.
• Be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled
  status (must have been living in the UK before 1 January 2021).
• Have Turkish Worker visa or Turkish Business person Visa.
• Have either humanitarian protection in the UK of be of refugee status.

Proof of eligibility:

You must meet some conditions to apply for a Partner or Spousal visa, you must:

• Have cohabited for a minimum of two years under a marriage or a UK recognised civil partnership relationship.
• Provide evidence of your ability to financially support yourself and dependents.
• Have a good acquirement of English language either through an academic qualification, taking an approved English Language test or simply be being a national of a majority English speaking country.

If you are a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, you will need to prove that you will marry or enter into a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months of your arrival. If COVID-19 has forced delay to wedding or civil ceremony, you may be able to request to extend your stay.

You must prove that:

• any previous marriages or civil partnerships have ended
• you plan to marry or become civil partners within 6 months of arriving in the UK
  
  

In some instances, you may apply for a partner visa regardless of not meeting these requirements. These include:

• If you have a British or Irish citizen child in the UK, or a child who has lived in the UK for 7 years and would therefore be unreasonable for them to leave the UK.
• If you and your partner would face significant difficulties that could not be overcome if you were to live together as a couple outside the UK.
• If it would breach your human rights to stop you coming to the UK or make you leave

What you can do:

• Work and study in the UK

What you cannot do:

• Claim public funds
• Work during your engagement if you are applying as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner.

Length of stay:

The visa grants length of stay for 2 years and 9 months. If you switch your visa  or choose to extend, you can remain in the UK for a further 2 years and 6 months.

If you are applying as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, you can stay for 6 months.

After living in the UK for 5 years, you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (also known as ILR, or permanent residence).

• You can enter and remain in the UK for up to 2.5 years after being approved.
• You can make application to extend your visa after 2.5 years (this would be valid for 2 years).
• You may be granted permission to reside in UK permanently after 5 years of living in the UK under the family visa category.
• After 1 year of ILR, you may apply for British Citizenship category.

Dependents:

• You may add dependent children under the age of 18 to your application to join you in the UK as your dependent.
• You must prove that you have enough funds to support your dependents and yourself.
• The dependents will be able to work like the applicant and will have the same period of leave as the applicant.