A visa application for a partner is a paperwork project, not a mystery. The rules are published by the Home Office on gov.uk, they change from time to time, and the single most useful habit is to read the current page before every step. This guide summarises the partner and spouse route as the official pages describe it on 6 November 2026. It is general information, not immigration advice, and it cannot replace the page that applies on the day you apply.
Who can apply
To apply as a partner, you and your partner must both be 18 or over. Your partner must also be in one of the situations gov.uk lists. The common ones are being a British or Irish citizen, or having settled in the UK, for example with indefinite leave to remain. The list also covers some people with pre-settled status, certain Turkish visa holders and people with protection status.
You and your partner must also intend to live together permanently in the UK after you apply. That intention is part of what a caseworker looks for in your evidence.
What you have to prove
You must show one of four things about your relationship:
- You are in a marriage or civil partnership that is recognised in the UK.
- You have been living together in a relationship for at least two years when you apply.
- You are a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner and will marry or form a civil partnership in the UK within six months of arriving.
- You have been in a relationship for at least two years but cannot live together, for example because of work or study in different places, or because it is not accepted in your culture.
On top of the relationship, you must show a good knowledge of English and that you meet the financial requirements. We come back to both below.
How to prove a relationship
gov.uk asks for evidence that comes from a government body, a bank, a landlord, a utility provider or a medical professional, that confirms your relationship, and that is less than four years old. Examples it gives are a marriage or civil partnership certificate, a tenancy agreement or utility bills showing a shared address, a joint bank statement, or a letter from a doctor or dentist confirming that you live at the same address.
If you do not have those, the page lists alternatives such as a one-off bill like vet’s fees or home repair costs, letters showing you are on the voting register at the same address, or student finance paperwork.
If you do not live together, you need to show an ongoing commitment instead. gov.uk names four kinds of evidence: regular communication, financial support for each other, caring for any children you have together, and spending time together as a couple, for example on holiday or at events. For partners who live in different countries, that last point matters: keep travel records, tickets and photographs with dates.
The financial requirement
If you apply as a partner, you and your partner usually need to prove a combined income of at least £29,000 a year. gov.uk calls this the minimum income requirement. How you prove it depends on how the income is earned, and you may be able to use savings instead of income.
There are exceptions. The requirement is different if your partner receives certain disability or carer’s benefits, in which case the caseworker looks at whether you can be supported without additional public funds. It is also different if you first applied as a partner before 11 April 2024 and are extending that visa: in that case the page gives a figure of £18,600 a year for extensions with the same partner, plus extra amounts for children in some situations.
The page also says what happens if you cannot meet the requirement. You may still be able to apply if you have a child in the UK who is a British or Irish citizen, or who has lived in the UK for seven years and would find it unreasonable to leave, or if refusing would breach your human rights. If you do not meet the financial requirement, the page states that the earliest you can apply to settle is after ten years in the UK, not five.
A practical reading of this section
Do the arithmetic before you do anything else. Add up the income you can document, check which evidence types the "information and evidence" page accepts for each kind of income, and see whether the shortfall can be covered by savings. Discovering a gap after the application fee is paid is the most expensive mistake in the process.
Knowledge of English
You may need to prove your English when you apply. gov.uk lists who does not have to: children, adults coming to be cared for by a relative, people over 65, people extending after five years on a family visa, people whose physical or mental condition prevents them from meeting the requirement, and nationals of a short list of countries, mostly English-speaking ones. Russia and Ukraine are not on that list.
For everyone else there are three ways to prove it:
- A degree from a UK institution, using the degree certificate.
- A degree from an institution outside the UK that was taught in English, which needs an assessment from Ecctis to produce a confirmation code.
- A Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider.
For the first application you must pass at least level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale. If you pass level B1 or higher, you can reuse the result when you apply for settlement after five years, provided the test is still on the approved list. Applying to extend after two and a half years can require a higher level, depending on the level you passed first: someone who passed A1 needs at least A2 in speaking and listening.
Fees and the healthcare surcharge
gov.uk gives the following figures for a partner, parent or child joining a family member:
| Item | Applying from outside the UK | Applying in the UK |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, joining a partner | £2,064 | £1,407 |
| Each dependant added | £2,064 each | £1,407 each |
On top of the fee, most applicants pay the immigration health surcharge for each adult. For a stay of two years and six months it is £2,587.50, for two years and nine months it is £3,105, and for five years it is £5,175. For children under 18 the amounts are lower. Paying the surcharge entitles you to use the NHS from the day your visa starts, although some services such as prescriptions, dental treatment and eye tests are still charged.
gov.uk also notes that you may be able to ask for a fee waiver if you cannot pay because, for example, you have no place to live or cannot afford essential living costs. Let your bank know that a large payment is coming, because otherwise the bank may block it.
The fiancé and fiancée route
If you apply as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, the rules are stricter in one respect. You must prove that you plan to marry or form a civil partnership within six months of arriving in the UK, and that any previous marriages or civil partnerships have ended. During the engagement you cannot work or study. After you marry you must apply to extend your stay, and only then do you gain the right to work and study.
The distinction between this route and a short visit to marry is important. A Marriage Visitor visa is for people who want to marry in the UK but do not plan to stay or settle afterwards. It costs £135 to apply, lasts up to six months and does not let you work, study, extend or switch to another visa. People who intend to live in the UK after marrying should read the family visa pages instead.
How long it takes and what happens next
If you apply from outside the UK you will usually get a decision within 12 weeks. If you apply from inside the UK, gov.uk says to expect about eight weeks when you meet the financial and English requirements, and about twelve months when you do not.
After applying you attend an appointment to provide fingerprints and a photograph. You take your passport, and you will usually get it back the same day. If the application is approved you receive an eVisa, a digital record of your status that you access through a UKVI account. The decision email states whether you received a standard or a non-standard endorsement. A non-standard endorsement means you met only some of the requirements and were given the visa so you could join your family. It can affect when you may apply for settlement.
With a partner visa you can work and study. You usually cannot claim benefits or other public funds.
Documents and translations
Applicants must provide a certified translation of any document that is not in English or Welsh. Russian-language and Ukrainian-language certificates, such as marriage, divorce or birth records, therefore need a certified translation. gov.uk also lists tuberculosis test results for applicants from countries where the test is required, so check whether it applies to you before you travel to a test centre.
The practical advice that follows from all of this is to build a folder early, with originals, copies and translations kept together, and to keep a list of what each document is meant to prove.
Staying and settling
A first grant lasts up to two years and nine months for a partner. You can extend for a further two years and six months, and you can extend more than once. The earliest you can apply to settle, called indefinite leave to remain, is after five continuous years on a family visa as a partner. Time spent on any other visa, or as a fiancé or fiancée, does not count toward those five years.
The Life in the UK Test, a 24-question test about British traditions and customs, may be part of a settlement or citizenship application. It costs £50 to book and must be booked at least three days in advance. The official source is gov.uk. Be wary of other sites that sell test bookings.
What to do before you apply
- Read each linked gov.uk page in full on the day you start, because figures and rules change.
- Check that your partner’s status qualifies.
- Work out the income position first, then the English evidence, then the relationship evidence.
- Keep translations certified and consistent in name spellings across documents.
- Use only official application services. Anyone offering a guaranteed outcome is not telling you the truth.
For the next step in the process, if your relationship began abroad, see our guide to how foreign marriages are treated in the UK. For the life that follows approval, there is a separate guide to GP registration, English tests and paperwork.