The Spouse/Partner Visa is for those who want to enter the UK to live long-term with their partner, who is British or who holds Indefinite Leave to Remain (the 'Sponsor'). How you make a spouse visa application from outside the UK depends on your circumstances. There are strict rules relating to this Visa and precise evidence must be provided or the application will fail.
There are two ways to come to the UK as a partner:
If you are not yet married or in a civil partnership, you can apply for an initial six month Fiancee Visa which allows you to come to the UK to marry or enter into a civil partnership with your partner. You must marry or enter the civil partnership before the six month period ends and apply for Permission to Stay as the Partner of a British Citizen or Settled Person. (See Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay)
If you are already married or in a civil partnership, you can apply for a Spouse/Partner Visa. You will be granted 33 months' permission to enter the UK and live and work here. You will need to extend your permission at the end of the 33 months (See Spouse or Partner Permission to Remain).
An unmarried partner must show that he/she has lived together in a relationship like marriage for at least two years with the person already in the UK.
For both Fiancee and Spouse/Partner Visa applications you must show:
It is vitally important that the evidence given to the Home Office to support your application is absolutely correct - otherwise your spouse visa application from outside the UK runs a high risk of refusal and you will lose your Home Office application fee.
The financial evidence in particular is complex and specific. We are meticulous when we prepare applications and will not submit the application until we are satisfied that there is no reason for the Home Office to refuse the application. That's why our success rate is very high.
We work on a fixed fee basis so we do not charge by the hour. The fixed fee covers ongoing advice and the entire preparation and submission of the application and supporting evidence.
We will take all the stress and work out of these applications. Our team knows how important it is that you are able to live with the person you love. We have successfully applied for a huge number of Spouse/Partner Visas.
We work with you and your partner to gather the evidence for your spouse visa application from outside the UK. We then submit the application online and arrange an appointment for you to attend your local visa application centre where you will present your passport and register your fingerprints and have a photo taken.
Once you have attended the appointment, it takes around 12 weeks to get a decision from the Home Office or perhaps a shorter time if you pay for the Priority Service.
"They made the process of bringing my husband to the UK painless. They advised us on exactly what we needed to do and once we'd gathered all we needed they completed the online application with us, then submitted the file to HM Immigration on our behalf, and within 30 days we got the approval!"
Lindy Pine
When you get your Spouse/Partner Visa, you will have one month to enter the UK where you will pick up your new Residence Card from a local post office. If you are on a Fiancee Visa you will have a certificate in your passport that gives you 6 months to enter and live in the UK.
The Spouse/Partner Visa allows you to work, study, rent property, open a bank account and drive in the UK. The Fiancee Visa does not allow you to do any of these things.
You will need to show that you have lived continuously with each other for two years if you are not married. The evidence you need will include correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address. If you are going to struggle to find this evidence, you may consider marriage or a civil partnership.
The Home Office will normally want to see evidence of a relationship before marriage. However, it does accept arranged marriages as genuine in certain cultures even though there is usually little evidence of a relationship before marriage.
There are ways of making up the shortfall in earnings using cash savings. Or your income from a pension for example, can be taken into account. It is always worth talking to us about the ways to meet the financial requirement.
Get in touch Join your fiancee, husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner in the UKFind out more about Spouse/Partner Visas by calling or emailing us. We offer a free initial consultation where we will assess your circumstances and advise on your options. The consultation can be face to face or by phone or email. It is often the partner in the UK who contacts us first - we are happy to work that way.
Our ServicesSallie was an amazing help and supported us through the full process. It was extremely difficult for us, and she helped make the whole thing very simple and ensured our application was successful. Thank you to Sallie and the team for the work you did tirelessly to help us.
For almost a year I had tried to get my wife's spousal visa. Two tries, two fails due to technical reasons. I contacted Immigration Legal Services, and Sallie & Angela took control of my wife's visa application. They were very supportive, told us exactly which documents were needed, and just over a month later, the visa was issued. We can't thank them enough.
We couldn't praise Sallie and her team high enough. Extremely professional and acted very fast to meet our deadline. 100% recommended!
Always thorough and highly professional throughout the application process for both my children, and I would definitely recommend! They also had a welcome sense of humour when it came to dealing with the bureaucracy involved in the process.
Great experience working with Sallie. Professional and understanding! Will work with her again, with no doubt.
We have been very impressed with the service we have received over the years of dealing with Angela. She went above and beyond to solve our specialised problem with very pleasing results. We would strongly recommend her work and knowledge in the field. A true professional.
Mr AldalisI highly recommend Sallie for her professionalism and lovable, kind approach. I am very happy to get her as my immigration lawyer for processing my kids Visa.
I highly recommend both Angela and Karen. They both have been amazingly helpful throughout the visa application process of my wife. They do truly care for their clients. They look at the case in reasonable time periods and return with any missing information rapidly. Consulting them during this exciting yet stressful process was the best decision that I made. Today my wife got granted the visa just after 5 weeks of her biometric scans.
They are so honest and professional . Clear answers and guidance to all my questions 👍👍. Thanks a lot .
Just received a decision from the Home office that I would’ve NEVER thought was possible. So happy and over the moon! I would definitely recommend your services to friends & family if required in the future. Huge thanks to Sallie and the team, best immigration solicitor in the business!!
Angela Cole is a wonderful, hardworking, honest, kind and reliable Solicitor. Her work is very high standard, very professional and her team is friendly. Me and my husband have no hesitation in recommending Angela Cole's excellent services.
"Simply a team of experienced people who gave us excellent and honest advice. Having now taken an appeal through to a successful conclusion for the (very reasonable) price promised, I have no hesitation in recommending this firm."
Jon Chrimes - Google Review"The team went an extra mile and fought my case much more and much better than I would have expected. In the end, my case was successful and I cannot thank them enough for all they have done. If I ever need legal help in the future I will definitely use their services again and recommend them for their reasonable prices, supportive advice and first rate legal services."
ANONYMOUS - Google Review"Excellent people, excellent service. They made the process of bringing my husband to the UK painless. Couldn’t have done it without them, highly recommend!"
Lindy Pine - Google Review"I am ecstatic, thanks to you all. My life is complete now and anything else is a bonus. Even if it seemed impossible I knew we were going to win this and that is why I never gave up. Thank you for your work, support and encouragement."
A BIG THANK YOU , for your help in helping me acquire my British settlement and British citizenship application successfully done. Your professionalism and kind warm attitude and nature made this process very easy and stress free. You took all my concerns away.
My Lawyer, Sallie Davies, is very knowledgeable and competent and I have implicit trust in her. The fees are also reasonable compared to other law firms. I highly recommend Sallie and her team.
Thanks to Sallie, my wife is finally in the UK after a horrible year and long delays with Home Office. Highly recommended Immigration Legal Services!
Angela Cole and everyone at Immigration Legal Services will work to produce the best outcome for you and, from our experience, they only concern themselves with your goal and not your wallet. Immigration Legal Services' charge was a very good price for all the help and security they provided
Despite the high professionalism practiced within the firm, there is always a strong sense of compassion , and care, from both Angela, and lovely Karen, which has really helped to set our minds at ease. Absolutely recommended & Eternally grateful
I would like to thank both of you, Sallie and Karen for your assistance in the way you handled my wife's Spouse Visa Extension to remain here with me in the United Kingdom. We will recommend The Immigration Legal Services here in Ipswich to anybody who wants to apply for a visa to come or remain here in the United Kingdom because the service they provided proved to be most reliable, simple and quick process. Much appreciated Sallie and Karen. Thanking you once again. We will be back again.
Excellent service, Sallie is very professional and lovely. Thanks to you what we thought it will be a long and exhausting experience, was so smooth and fast we couldn't believe it. Thank you very much.
We engaged this firm based on a recommendation made by a friend who had used their services before. We required their assistance for my wife's first renewal of her spousal visa. The process was quite painless, they got in touch to collect documents and go over details but most communication was done by email. We received the renewal without any issues.
Sallie was the best solicitor I've met for immigration matters. She was straight to the job, focused on the matter and had an excellent transparent work process, a reasonable fee and no hidden charges. She is very helpful, confident and had the best communication. We got our parents' visa in one go! Thank you very much for the excellent job.