How to Fill in the Spouse Visa Application

Before You Start

Preparation is key to a smooth application. The form is available on the GOV.UK family visa page. Before opening the form, gather:

GOV.UK's own list is:

• All the applicant's names and date of birth
• The current passport or other valid travel identification
• Copies of the photo page and of any visa or entry stamps in previous passports
• Details of any previous immigration applications
• Details of any criminal convictions
• A National Insurance number, if there is one
• Parents' dates of birth and nationality, for an application made from outside the UK
• Tuberculosis test results, where the applicant is from a country where the test is required
• A certified translation of any document not in English or Welsh
• Proof of immigration status: an eVisa share code, or an expired biometric residence permit, usable for 24 months after the expiry date on the card or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first
• Proof of knowledge of English
• Proof of finances, unless applying on the basis of private life
• An email address

GOV.UK adds that other documents may be needed depending on circumstances — it names a sponsorship form from the family member in the UK as an example — and that the applicant is told how to provide documents when they apply.

For a comprehensive list, see our Spouse visa documents checklist.

Section 1: Your Personal Details

The form begins with your basic information: full name, date of birth, nationality, and passport details. Enter your name exactly as it appears on your passport. If you have changed your name (for example, after marriage), provide both your current name and previous names.

You will also be asked about your current immigration status. If you are applying from outside the UK, this is straightforward. If you are applying from within the UK (switching from another visa), provide details of your current visa.

Section 2: Your Partner (the Sponsor)

This section asks about your UK-based partner. You need to provide:

• Their full name, date of birth, and nationality
• Their immigration status (British citizen, settled person, or person with refugee status)
• Their passport or identity document details
• Their current address in the UK
• Their contact details

Paragraph E-ECP.2.9 of Appendix FM requires any previous relationship of either partner to have broken down permanently. Paragraph 23 of Appendix FM-SE names the evidence by jurisdiction: a divorce in England and Wales is evidenced by either a decree absolute or a final order; in Scotland by a decree of divorce; and in Northern Ireland by a decree absolute. Paragraph 25 requires a final order of dissolution for a civil partnership, and paragraph 26 asks for a reasonable equivalent where the divorce took place outside the UK.

Section 3: Your Relationship

This section is designed to establish that your relationship is genuine and subsisting. You will be asked:

• When and how you met
• When you started your relationship
• When you got married or entered a civil partnership
• How you have maintained contact (in-person visits, calls, messages)
• Whether you have lived together and for how long
• Whether you have children together

Two rules sit behind these questions. Paragraph E-ECP.2.5 requires the couple to have met in person — so a relationship that began online has to have moved beyond that. Paragraph E-ECP.2.6 requires the relationship to be genuine and subsisting.

The Home Office guidance is clear that there is no specified evidence for this, and that an application cannot be refused for the lack of a particular document. It also directs caseworkers to be alert to religious and cultural practice, noting that a couple in an arranged marriage may have spent little time together before the marriage, and that in some traditions household bills are held in one name. Our relationship evidence guide sets out the published factor list.

Section 4: Financial Requirement

This is the most complex section of the form and the one where mistakes most commonly lead to refusal. You must demonstrate that your household income meets the minimum income requirement of £29,000 per year.

The form asks you to specify how you are meeting the requirement:

• Category A — with the current employer for 6 months or more. Where the person is in salaried employment, the guidance says they must have been paid throughout those 6 months at a level of gross annual salary equal to or above the level relied on, so the figure used is the lowest annual salary received during the period. Where the employment is non-salaried, the figure is the annual equivalent of the average gross monthly income over the 6 months. See our Category A guide.
• Category B — less than 6 months with the current employer, or variable income. See our Category B guide.
• Category C — non-employment income, such as property rental or dividends.
• Category D — cash savings: £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall, held throughout the 6 months before the application. See our savings guide.
• Category E — pension income.
• Categories F and G — self-employment and income from a limited company, assessed on the last full financial year or the average of the last two. See our self-employment guide.

On an application for entry clearance, paragraph E-ECP.3.2 restricts employment and self-employment income to the sponsoring partner's — an applicant's own earnings do not count unless they are in the UK with permission to work. Savings and pension income can come from either.

Paragraph A1(l) of Appendix FM-SE also applies here: evidence covering a period ending with the date of application must be dated no earlier than 28 days before that date.

Section 5: Accommodation

Paragraph E-ECP.3.4 of Appendix FM requires evidence of adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for the family — including household members not part of the application — which the family own or occupy exclusively. It then defines adequacy negatively: accommodation is not adequate if it is, or will be, overcrowded, or if it contravenes public health regulations. The Home Office guidance applies the overcrowding standard in the Housing Act 1985. The form asks about:

• The address where you will live
• Who owns or rents the property
• How many rooms the property has
• Who else lives there

The guidance is explicit that a self-contained property is not required. It states that a couple may live in an existing household — a parent's, an uncle's, an aunt's, a sibling's or a friend's — as long as they have at least a bedroom for their exclusive use. Where the property is rented, the guidance also asks whether the lease permits sub-letting or taking in lodgers.

Section 6: English Language

You must show that you meet the English language requirement at level A1 in speaking and listening for a first application. It rises through the route: someone who passed at A1 needs A2 in speaking and listening at the extension after 2 years 6 months, and B1 at settlement. A pass at B1 or higher can be reused at settlement.

The requirement is met in one of three ways:

• Being a national of one of the countries and territories on GOV.UK's fixed exemption list
• Holding a degree taught in English. A degree awarded by a UK institution needs only the certificate; a degree from an institution outside the UK needs an assessment from Ecctis, which issues a code confirming the qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree or higher and was taught in English. Rowan previously referred to NARIC, which is the organisation's former name
• Passing a Secure English Language Test at the required level

GOV.UK also lists exemptions for an applicant aged over 65, an applicant with a physical or mental condition that prevents them meeting the requirement, and a partner or parent who has been in the UK on a family visa for 5 years and is extending. Someone exempt at the first application has to pass at A1 at the extension.

One change is already in the rules but not yet in force. Paragraph SETF 5.1 of Appendix Settlement Family Life requires B1 in speaking and listening where the date of application is before 26 March 2027, and B2 from 26 March 2027.

Section 7: Immigration History and Character

You will be asked about:

• Previous visits to the UK and their dates
• Previous visa applications (successful and refused)
• Any criminal convictions anywhere in the world
• Any immigration offences
• Any involvement in terrorism or activities harmful to the UK

The suitability part of the Immigration Rules sets out what follows from a conviction. Rule SUI 5.1 makes refusal mandatory for a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more, for a persistent offender who shows a particular disregard for the law, and for an offence that caused serious harm. Rule SUI 5.3 makes refusal discretionary for a sentence of less than 12 months, a non-custodial sentence, or an out-of-court disposal recorded on the criminal record. Suspended sentences of 12 months or more became a mandatory ground through the statement of changes HC 1691 of 5 March 2026.

False information and deception are dealt with separately, under rules SUI 9.1 and SUI 10.1. Note that the criminal record certificate requirement does not apply to this route — convictions are declared on the form, not evidenced by a police certificate.

Uploading Documents

After completing the form, you upload your supporting documents. The online system allows you to upload scanned copies or clear photographs of documents.

Tips for document uploads:

• Scan or photograph each page clearly. Ensure all text is legible.
• Organise documents by category (financial, relationship, identity).
• If documents are not in English, provide a certified translation alongside the original.
• Name files clearly (for example, "Payslip_January_2026.pdf").
• Check file size limits. Compress large files if necessary.

Common Mistakes That Lead to Refusal

• Income figures that do not match documents: If you say your partner earns £30,000 but their payslips show £28,000, the application will be refused.
• Missing bank statements. Rowan previously said a missing month is a refusal. That overstates it. Paragraph D(b) of Appendix FM-SE deals expressly with "a sequence of documents and some of the documents in the sequence have been omitted (e.g. if one bank statement from a series is missing)" and lets the decision maker write and request the missing item, to be supplied within a stated timescale. Paragraph D(c) adds the limit: a caseworker will not ask where they do not anticipate that fixing the omission would lead to a grant, because the application will be refused for other reasons.
• A document in the wrong format. Paragraph D(d) allows an application to be granted exceptionally where a document is in the wrong format or missing specified information, provided the missing information can be verified from other documents submitted, from the issuing organisation's website, or from the appropriate regulatory body's website.
• Wrong English language test. GOV.UK lists the approved providers, and they differ by location. Inside the UK: Trinity College London, the IELTS Secure English Language Test Consortium, LANGUAGECERT and Pearson. Outside the UK: PSI Services (UK) Ltd, the IELTS Consortium, LANGUAGECERT and Pearson — Trinity College London is not approved for tests taken abroad. Rowan previously named only two providers; that was wrong. The test must also have been awarded in the 2 years before the date of application, at an approved test location.
• Not disclosing previous refusals. False information and deception are separate grounds in the suitability rules from the underlying matter.

For a detailed list of refusal reasons, see our Spouse visa refusal reasons guide.

After Submission

Once the form is submitted and the fee paid:

1. Book an appointment to give fingerprints and a photograph. GOV.UK notes the visa must be applied for before an appointment can be made, and that outside the UK the nearest centre may be in another country.
2. Attend with the passport. GOV.UK states that it is usually returned the same day.
3. Wait for a decision. The service standard is 12 weeks from outside the UK and 8 weeks from inside, running from the appointment. No decision is given at the appointment itself.
4. If approved, GOV.UK states that the applicant gets an eVisa — a digital record of identity and immigration status — and that the decision email or letter explains how to access it and whether the grant carries a standard or non-standard endorsement. Biometric residence permits are no longer issued.

For processing time details, see our Spouse visa processing time guide. See also our DIY vs solicitor guide if you need help completing the form.

Questions and answers