Settlement as a Victim of Domestic Abuse

If You Are in Danger Now

Call 999. GOV.UK also publishes helplines, and they differ across the UK:

• Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge: 0808 200 0247, nationaldahelpline.org.uk
• Live Fear Free helpline (Wales): 0808 80 10 800
• Scotland's Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline: 0800 027 1234
• Women's Aid Federation (Northern Ireland): 0800 917 1414
• Galop, for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people: 0800 999 5428
• Men's Advice Line: 0808 801 0327
• Respect phoneline: 0808 802 4040
• Rape Crisis (England and Wales): 0808 802 9999
• Scottish Women's Aid: 0131 226 6606

GOV.UK also says you may be entitled to legal aid, which is free legal advice, and points to its directory of regulated immigration advisers.

The Route and What It Is Called

The rules are in Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse. Its own opening line describes it: the route allows settlement where a person has, or was last granted, permission as a partner on a specified route and the relationship has permanently broken down due to domestic abuse.

Older material calls this the domestic violence provisions, or DVILR. Those names still turn up in search results. The current appendix, the current form and the current concession all use "domestic abuse".

You must normally be in the UK. The exception, at paragraph VDA 4.3, is someone who has been abandoned outside the UK: they apply for entry clearance on the form called "Return to the UK". Dependent children can apply on the route too.

Who Can Apply

Paragraph VDA 4.1 sets out the permission you must have, or have last been granted. GOV.UK summarises it by describing the partner your status was based on:

• a British citizen;
• a person with permission to settle in the UK permanently, indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter;
• a member of the UK armed forces who has served for at least 4 years;
• a person with permission to stay in the UK as a refugee;
• a person with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme;
• a citizen of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

You can also apply if you hold pre-settled status yourself, either as a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner, or on a retained right of residence because you used to have a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

Paragraph VDA 4.1(f) covers someone whose current permission is leave outside the rules granted under the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession, provided the permission before that was one of the qualifying kinds. So using the concession first does not close the door.

One exclusion is explicit in the rule: permission as a fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner does not qualify.

Paragraph VDA 4.2 states the second requirement. The relationship between the applicant and their partner must have broken down permanently as a result of domestic abuse. GOV.UK adds that the abuse can be from your partner or your partner's family.

There is no qualifying period. Nothing in the appendix asks how long you have held the partner permission.

What Counts as Domestic Abuse

GOV.UK puts it in one sentence: domestic violence and abuse can be emotional, psychological, physical, sexual or financial, and it includes threatening or controlling behaviour to try to harm, isolate or frighten someone.

Nothing in that definition requires physical violence, and nothing requires the police to have been involved.

Evidence

GOV.UK is direct about this, and the wording is worth reading carefully. You will be asked to give a statement about your circumstances when you apply. You should also include supporting evidence if you have it, but you do not need it to apply.

That is the answer to the most common reason people delay. A statement is enough to make the application. Where you do have other material, it can go in: police reports or crime reference numbers, court orders, medical records, letters from support organisations or refuges, records from social services, messages, or statements from people who knew what was happening.

GOV.UK also says to apply as soon as possible after the relationship breaks down, and that if you have a current visa you should not wait for it to expire. Separately, it says you must tell the Home Office if you separate from a partner and your visa is based on that relationship.

The Fee, and Not Paying It

The application fee is £3,226 per person. There is no immigration health surcharge on a settlement application, and no fee for giving fingerprints and a photograph.

GOV.UK then says you do not have to pay the fee if you can provide evidence that any of the following is true:

• you do not have a place to live and cannot afford one;
• you have a place to live but cannot afford essential living costs like food or heating; or
• you have a very low income and paying the fee would harm your child's wellbeing.

The evidence it names is bank statements, a signed letter from your local authority, or a signed letter from an agency that has been giving you support. Paragraph VDA 1.3(a) makes the point in rule form: the fee must have been paid unless the applicant has been granted a fee waiver.

The Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession

A partner visa normally carries a no recourse to public funds condition, which is what makes leaving an abusive household so hard. The concession exists to break that.

GOV.UK describes what it does: it gives you permission to stay in the UK until you get a decision on your application to settle, and lets you apply for benefits if you are eligible, for example so you can find somewhere safe to live. The form itself says that if successful you get permission to stay for 3 months, and will be able to apply to claim benefits.

You fill in the form on GOV.UK and post or email it to the address on the form. It cannot be applied for from outside the UK.

There is a deadline attached, and it is firm:

• If you do not have pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, within 3 months of applying for the concession you must either apply to settle as a victim of domestic abuse, or apply for another type of permission to stay. GOV.UK says your permission to stay will end if you do not apply within 3 months.
• If you do have pre-settled status, you can still apply for the concession, and GOV.UK says you should apply to settle within 3 months of doing so or your benefits might end.

One further note from GOV.UK: if you apply for the concession and then resume the relationship with your partner, you may not be eligible to settle as their partner.

The concession replaced the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession. Paragraph VDA 4.1(f) refers to it by both names. If you read the older name somewhere, it is the same scheme.

The Application

1. Safety first. 999 in an emergency, and the helplines above otherwise.
2. Get advice. GOV.UK says you may be entitled to legal aid, and publishes a directory of regulated advisers. See our guide on solicitors.
3. Apply for the concession if you need permission to stay and access to benefits while the settlement application is decided.
4. Apply to settle. Online from inside the UK, on form SET (DV). Eligible children can be included on the same form from inside the UK; from outside, each child needs a separate application. There is help available with completing the form if you are not confident using a computer or do not have internet access, though that service cannot give immigration advice.
5. Ask for the fee to be waived if you cannot support yourself, with the evidence GOV.UK names.
6. Give fingerprints and a photograph. No fee. See our guide to the appointment.
7. Wait. GOV.UK says you will usually get a decision within 6 months of providing your fingerprints and photograph.

If the application is refused, paragraph VDA 9.2 says you can apply for an administrative review under Appendix AR. That is a review of the decision, not an appeal to a tribunal.

What This Route Does Not Require

Two paragraphs of the appendix are worth knowing about because of what they no longer say. VDA 6, English language, and VDA 7, knowledge of life in the UK, are both marked DELETED. Neither requirement applies on this route.

There is also no financial requirement, no accommodation requirement, and no minimum period on the partner visa.

One requirement does apply from outside the UK: paragraph VDA 3.2 says that where Appendix Tuberculosis applies, an entry clearance applicant must provide a valid medical certificate showing screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that it is not present.

After Settlement Is Granted

GOV.UK describes what permission to settle gives you: the right to live, work and study here for as long as you like, and to apply for benefits if you are eligible. Your status no longer depends on your former partner.

It can also be used to apply for British citizenship. Naturalisation has its own separate requirements, including a residence period and, in most cases, holding settlement for 12 months before applying, so read that route on its own terms rather than assuming settlement leads straight into it.

Settlement is recorded as an eVisa in a UK Visas and Immigration account. Set the account up, because a share code from it is how you prove your status to an employer or a landlord.

Next Steps

The two published facts that most often change what someone does are these: you do not need supporting evidence in order to apply, and you do not have to pay the fee if you cannot afford somewhere to live or essential living costs. Neither depends on having reported anything to the police.

Related guides:

• Relationship Breakdown: What Happens to Your Visa?
• Divorce While on Spouse Visa
• Indefinite Leave to Remain Guide
• DIY vs Solicitor: When Do You Need Help?
• How to Contact the Home Office

Questions and answers