Marriage visa
If your partner is based in another country, bringing them to the UK with a marriage visa is an essential part of starting your lives together. While this can be a complicated process that can take time and dedication, reaching out to professionals for help can help your spouse visa process go more smoothly.
What is a marriage visa?
Known as a spouse visa, partner visa, or marriage visa, this visa will permit your spouse to come to the UK to live and work (once the visa has been processed). There are no restrictions placed on the length of their stay, due to their immigration status being linked to their settled partner, who will be a UK resident.
What is a marriage visa?
What are the marriage visa requirements?
How do I apply?
What is the genuine relationship test?
How much does it cost?
How long is the process?
How long is the marriage visa valid for?
What are the language requirements?
What if I have children under 18?
Do I need Entry Clearance?
What happens if my marriage visa is accepted?
What happens if my marriage visa is refused?
What is required for a marriage visa?
There are strict marriage visa requirements that you must fulfil to qualify. These include:
- Both partners being over eighteen years old
- You must have met in person
- You must be legally married
- Pass the Genuine Relationship Test
- You will have to prove that you intend to live together and have accommodation
- You are required to prove that you will not rely on public funding (such as benefits)
- The UK partner will need to earn over £18,600 per annum
- You must be able to speak English well enough to meet the language test requirements
How to apply
It is possible to apply for a marriage visa either from your overseas location or from the UK. This will apply if you have previously been living in the UK on a work or student visa for six months or longer, or a fiance visa for the same length of time. In this case, you may potentially be able to change your visa to a marriage visa.
The Genuine Relationship Test
To avoid sham marriages or so-called “visa marriages” being approved, you must prove that you are in a genuine partnership. You will be asked to submit evidence to the Home Office, such as evidence of shared finances, photographs of your time spent together on multiple occasions, social media evidence (chat logs, texts etc), travel documents to prove you have visited one another, and documents that show your intention to live together in the United Kingdom.
What does it cost?
The marriage visa fee is £1,846 if submitting from overseas, and £1,048 if submitted from the UK. This does rise if you have dependents. There is the potential for further fees if you require translations of documents, an English language test, or wish to expedite your decision timeline by purchasing Priority Service.
How long will it take to process the marriage visa?
While certain extenuating circumstances can impact the length of time a marriage visa can take, the average time is between eight to twelve weeks. This is marked from the day you attend your Biometrics appointment.
How long is the visa valid for?
The length of validity depends on where you apply from. If, for example, you apply from outside the UK, the visa is issued for thirty-three months in the first instance. If you apply from the UK, the marriage visa is valid for thirty months. After this, you may extend for thirty further months and then apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. After this is permitted, you can apply for naturalisation. At this point, you will be a British Citizen.
Language requirements
You will be required, in most cases, to prove your proficiency in understanding and speaking English so that you can successfully integrate into your new community. This is a vital part of the process if you come from outside the EEA, you are in a relationship with a British citizen (or your partner is settled in the UK), and you wish to emigrate on a marriage visa.
However, if you are from a largely English-speaking country and/or you have a degree that was taught in English, you will not need to pass the English language test.
Dependants
If you have children under eighteen, they are classed as your dependents and may enter as such. They will need to be covered by the amount of income/savings your spouse has, and you can submit an application for your dependents at the same time as you submit your own.
As well as ensuring that your spouse has enough finances to sponsor you and your dependents, the property you will reside in will need to be suitable for all of you to live comfortably.
Entry clearance
Coming to the UK by marrying a UK citizen means that you will need to apply for entry clearance before coming to the United Kingdom. Should you already be residing within the UK, you will be required to have leave to remain, at the point of your application. If you are a visitor, you cannot transfer your visitor status to a spouse visa from the UK unless there are exceptional circumstances.
If your marriage visa is accepted
Should your marriage visa be accepted, you will be granted leave to enter. This means that you will be able to enter the UK within 90 days from the point of your visa grant date. You will then have ten days to collect your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).
If you are unable to enter the UK within the allowed time period, you or your Immigration Lawyer can contact the Home Office and request for a new visa vignette to be issued.
What do i do if my marriage visa is rejected?
If you find that you have been rejected, there is an appeals process that you can go through. This can be difficult, can take a long time and should be carried out with an adviser who can properly recommend your best course of action.
Contact us to apply for a UK Marriage Visa
If you are hoping to pursue a marriage visa for yourself or for your partner, then don’t try and go it alone, it is an expensive and complicated process. Get in touch with us for support throughout this challenging process so that you can get a positive outcome on your application.
Our staff and Immigration Lawyers are multilingual and can speak to you in your mother tongue such as English, Italian, Turkish, Spanish, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Malay, Chinese, Cantonese, Pashto & Dari.
You can call and speak to our Immigration Lawyers in London on 0207 993 6981 , they are ready to take your call.
You can also call our Immigration Lawyers in Harrow on +44 208 150 6709
Call now and speak to us and discover for yourself that we are the right Immigration Lawyers in the UK. Alternatively, you can Email us on info@gsnimmigration.co.uk
