Bereavement and Spouse Visa: Your Rights If Your Partner Dies

The Bereaved Partner Provisions

The rules for this are in Appendix Bereaved Partner of the Immigration Rules — a route of its own, not a provision tucked inside Appendix FM. The appendix opens by describing itself: it "allows settlement where a person has, or was last granted, permission as a partner on a specified route and their partner has died".

Two things follow from that sentence. Paragraph BP 12.2 confirms the first: an applicant in the UK who meets the requirements is granted settlement, not a further period of permission. So there is no wait of 5 or 10 years before applying for indefinite leave to remain — this route is the settlement application.

The second is the phrase "has, or was last granted". It covers a person whose permission as a partner has come to an end, as well as one whose permission is still running.

The applicant must be in the UK, unless they were last granted permission as a partner under Appendix HM Armed Forces — the only situation in which this route can be used from overseas, on form VAF (AF). A dependent child can apply on the same route.

Eligibility Requirements

Immigration Status — Paragraph BP 4.1

An applicant in the UK must have, or have last been granted, permission as one of the following:

• A partner under Appendix FM — except as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner — of a person who is a British citizen, settled in the UK, or an EEA national in the UK with limited leave under paragraph EU3 of Appendix EU on the basis of meeting condition 1 in paragraph EU14
• A partner of a person present and settled in the UK under paragraph 285 or 295E of Part 8 of the rules
• A bereaved partner under Appendix FM
• A partner under Appendix HM Armed Forces or Part 7, in the circumstances that appendix sets out

The pre-settled status limb is worth noting: Rowan previously said the partner had to have been a British citizen or settled. The rule is wider than that.

Relationship — Paragraphs BP 6.1 And 6.2

• The person who was the applicant's partner at the time of the applicant's last grant of permission as a partner must have died
• The applicant and their partner must have been in a genuine and subsisting relationship immediately before the death

The caseworker guidance sets a deliberately light evidential standard here. It directs that, where the eligibility requirements are met, settlement should be granted on the basis of the partner's death certificate, and that detailed enquiries about the subsistence of the relationship should not be made unless doubts were expressed when the earlier permission was granted or allegations have since been made. Even then, it says there needs to be clear evidence that the relationship was not subsisting at the time of death, and that any enquiries must be made with care and tact to avoid unnecessary distress.

Suitability — Paragraph BP 2.1

The applicant must not fall for refusal under the suitability part of the Immigration Rules, except that paragraph SUI 11.4(a) does not apply to this route.

What Does Not Apply To The Partner

• The income requirement of £29,000, and the adequate maintenance test
• The English language requirement
• The Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement
• Any minimum period of residence

All three of the first ones do apply to a dependent child applying on this route. Paragraph BP 8.1 requires English at level B1 in speaking and listening before 26 March 2027, and B2 on or after that date; paragraph BP 9.1 requires Knowledge of Life in the UK; and paragraph BP 10.1 requires adequate maintenance and accommodation without recourse to public funds, evidenced as specified in Appendix FM-SE. Accommodation is not adequate if it is, or will be, overcrowded, or if it contravenes public health regulations.

How to Apply

Paragraph BP 1.2 names the form, and which one depends on the circumstances:

• SET(O) — for most bereaved partners applying in the UK, and for a child applying at the same time as their parent and included in the parent's application
• SET(F) — for a child in the UK applying separately from their parent
• SET(AF) — where the applicant was last granted permission as a partner or child under Appendix HM Armed Forces
• VAF (AF) — the entry clearance form, for the Armed Forces cases that can be made from overseas

Paragraph BP 1.3 sets the validity requirements: any fee must have been paid unless a fee waiver has been granted, biometrics must have been provided when required, and a passport or other document establishing identity and nationality must have been provided. An application failing any of these may be rejected as invalid and not considered.

The central document is the death certificate — the guidance says settlement should be granted on the basis of it where the eligibility requirements are met. Identity documents and the marriage or civil partnership certificate go with it. Note that biometric residence permits are no longer issued and have all expired; status is now held as an eVisa and proved with a share code, and GOV.UK notes that an expired permit can still be used to sign in for 24 months after its expiry date or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first. Fingerprints and a photograph carry no fee. Settlement applications are on GOV.UK.

The Fee, And The Fee Waiver

The settlement fee is £3,226 per person. But the caseworker guidance is explicit that, in accordance with the fees regulations, a person who is destitute is exempt from paying the fee for settlement as a bereaved partner. A person is destitute if they do not have adequate accommodation or any means of obtaining it, whether or not their other essential living needs are met, or if they have accommodation but cannot meet their other essential living needs.

The process is to submit the form without the fee and provide evidence of having no means to pay it. The guidance states that applicants are not expected to seek a loan, and that third parties are not expected to pay on their behalf — including family or friends who are already providing support. It also directs caseworkers to make additional enquiries where the evidence supplied is not enough, to allow more time where exceptional circumstances make that necessary, to take account of how the bereavement itself affects the ability to gather evidence, and to manage any request for information sensitively. Our guide to fee waivers covers the evidence involved.

If Permission Has Already Ended

Rowan previously said the rules expect an application while current leave is still valid. Appendix Bereaved Partner does not say that. Paragraph BP 4.1 requires the applicant to "have, or have last been granted" permission as a partner, which is deliberately wider than holding it now. Paragraph BP 6.1 then looks back to the partner at the time of the applicant's last grant of permission.

Paragraph BP 2.1 also disapplies paragraph SUI 11.4(a) of the suitability rules on this route — a carve-out that does not exist on most others.

That is not the same as saying overstaying does not matter: the rest of the suitability part still applies, and the overstaying exceptions in that part have their own conditions. But the route is not built around a deadline. An adviser registered with the Immigration Advice Authority can assess an individual case; our guide to adviser costs explains what that involves.

If a bereaved partner application is refused, paragraph BP 11.2 provides for an administrative review under Appendix AR.

Children

If you have children on your spouse visa, they can apply for settlement on this route too — but their requirements are different, and heavier. Paragraph BP 7.1 applies the relationship requirement for settlement, the care requirement, and the age and independent life requirement from Appendix Children. Paragraphs BP 8.1, BP 9.1 and BP 10.1 then add English at level B1 in speaking and listening — B2 from 26 March 2027 — the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement, and adequate maintenance and accommodation without recourse to public funds. None of those apply to the bereaved partner.

A child applying at the same time as their parent and included in the parent's application uses form SET(O); a child applying separately uses SET(F).

If your child was born in the UK and one of their parents was a British citizen, the child may already be British by birth. Check their citizenship status as this affects what application they need.

Support Available

Dealing with immigration paperwork while grieving is incredibly difficult. There are organisations that can help:

• The fee waiver. The most concrete support in the published rules. Destitution exempts a bereaved partner from the settlement fee, and the guidance directs caseworkers to take the effect of the bereavement itself into account when assessing the evidence.
• An adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. GOV.UK maintains a register of advisers, and its own service for finding one.
• Your Member of Parliament. A Member of Parliament can make enquiries about a delayed application.

Rowan does not list charities or advice organisations by name here, because nothing on GOV.UK does so for this route and we cannot verify what any of them currently offer.

After Settlement Is Granted

Paragraph BP 12.2 grants settlement outright to a successful applicant in the UK. GOV.UK states that a person can then apply for British citizenship after 5 years in the UK and 12 months holding indefinite leave to remain. The exemption from the 12-month wait applies to someone married to a British citizen, so it is not available here.

Settlement lapses if the holder is outside the UK for more than 2 years at any time after it is granted, in which case GOV.UK directs them to a Returning Resident visa.

Related guides:

• Spouse Visa UK: Complete Guide
• Indefinite Leave to Remain Guide
• Relationship Breakdown and Spouse Visa
• Domestic Violence and Immigration
• Citizenship Fee Waiver

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