Spouse Visa from Inside the UK: Switching Guide

Who Can Switch from Inside the UK

GOV.UK states the rule as a permission with two bars, not as a list of routes. It says: if you came to the UK on a different visa, you might be able to switch to a family visa to stay with your spouse or partner, your child or your parent, and you can switch at any time before your current permission to stay expires. So a Skilled Worker, Student, Graduate or Global Talent visa is not a bar in itself.

The two bars are:

• You are here as a visitor, or your visa is for 6 months or less. GOV.UK says you will usually need to leave the UK to apply. Appendix FM puts the same rule as a requirement of the route at E-LTRP.2.1. The exceptions are a 6-month fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner visa, and permission granted pending the outcome of family court or divorce proceedings. See our visit visa guide
• The family member you are joining is in the UK temporarily on a work visa or student visa. GOV.UK says you cannot apply for a family visa at all in that case. You apply to stay with them as their dependant instead

Appendix FM also bars an application from someone on immigration bail, or in breach of immigration laws, subject to the exceptions in the Rules.

Read the current wording on the GOV.UK family visa page.

Requirements

The requirements are the same as for an application from outside the UK:

• Your partner is a British or Irish citizen; or has settled in the UK; or has pre-settled status and started living in the UK before 1 January 2021; or holds a Turkish Businessperson or Turkish Worker visa; or has protection status as a refugee or a person with humanitarian protection; or was given permission to stay as a stateless person before you became their partner
• You are both 18 or over, you have met in person, and the relationship is genuine and subsisting
• You are married or in a civil partnership recognised in the UK, or have been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years, or have been in a relationship for at least 2 years but cannot live together
• You both intend to live together permanently in the UK after you apply
• The income requirement of £29,000 a year, or the £18,600 transitional figure if you first applied as a partner before 11 April 2024 and are extending with the same partner. Cash savings can be used instead: £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall, held for 6 months, which is £88,500 with no income
• English at level A1 on a first application, unless you have a degree taught in English or are a national of one of the countries GOV.UK lists as exempt
• Adequate accommodation — Appendix FM says it is not adequate if it is, or will be, overcrowded, or if it contravenes public health regulations

One source of income is available here that is not available from outside the UK: Appendix FM counts the applicant's own income from specified employment or self-employment on an application made inside the UK, unless they are working illegally.

The Application Process

• Complete the online application form (select "switch" or "apply from the UK")
• Pay the application fee of £1,407 for each person, and the healthcare surcharge: for a 2 year 6 month grant that is £2,587.50 for an adult and £1,940 for a child
• Upload supporting documents
• Book and attend an appointment at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services service point to give your fingerprints and a photograph — see our biometrics guide
• Wait for the decision

The fee from inside the UK is £1,407 for each person, against £2,064 from outside. A fee waiver is published for people who have no place to live and cannot afford one, cannot afford essential living costs such as food or heating, or have a very low income where paying would harm a child's wellbeing.

A grant made on a switch or extension is for up to 2 years and 6 months. If the application succeeds you get an eVisa, a digital record of your status held in a UK Visas and Immigration account.

Processing Times

GOV.UK publishes two service standards for this application:

• 8 weeks, if you meet the financial and English language requirements
• About 12 months, if you do not meet them — for example where the application relies on the exceptional circumstances provisions instead

An application made from outside the UK usually takes 12 weeks, so an in-country application is faster only in the first of those two cases.

On paying for a faster decision:

• The priority service, £500, returns a decision in 5 working days for most routes. It is not offered on a family application made inside the UK, and from outside the UK a family application on it usually takes up to 30 working days
• The super priority service, £1,000 for each person, is offered from inside the UK. GOV.UK says the decision usually comes by the end of the next working day after you prove your identity, or 2 working days if that was at a weekend or on a bank holiday. It is not available to an adult coming to be cared for by a relative

See the processing times guide for more detail and the priority service guide for costs.

Your Status While Waiting

If you applied before your existing permission expired, section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 continues it while the application is decided. You keep the conditions of your previous visa, not those of the family visa: if the old visa restricted your work, that restriction still applies until the new permission is granted.

Do not travel outside the common travel area — the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man — before you get a decision. Paragraph 34K of the Immigration Rules says that where a decision on an application for permission to stay has not been made and the applicant travels outside the common travel area, the application is treated as withdrawn on the date they left it.

What Changes After Switching

Once your spouse visa is granted:

• You can work for any employer without sponsorship restrictions
• You can be self-employed
• You are on the 5-year family route to settlement
• Time on your previous visa does not count toward the 5 years. GOV.UK says the 5 years must be continuous residence on a family visa as a partner, and that you cannot include time spent in the UK on any other visa, or as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner
• You cannot claim most benefits (public funds) for yourself or your dependants

Next Steps

The deadline is the expiry of your current permission: GOV.UK says you can switch at any time before it. Applying in time is what brings section 3C into play, and it is what keeps a period of overstaying off your record.

Related guides:

• Spouse Visa UK: Complete Guide
• Applying from Outside the UK
• Income Requirement
• Costs 2026

Questions and answers