UK Spouse Visa from Nigeria: Complete Guide

The Application Process from Nigeria

The process follows the standard overseas application process with Nigeria-specific considerations:

• Get the tuberculosis test at one of the four approved clinics
• Take a Secure English Language Test at level A1 in speaking and listening, or obtain an Ecctis assessment of a degree taught in English
• Complete the online application on GOV.UK
• Pay the £2,064 fee and the immigration health surcharge — £3,105 for an adult granted 2 years 9 months
• Upload documents
• Attend an appointment at a visa application centre to give fingerprints and a photograph. GOV.UK notes the passport is usually returned the same day
• Wait for the decision — the service standard is 12 weeks from that appointment

Note what is not on that list: a police certificate. The rules do not require one on this route.

English Language Requirement

The exemption works from a fixed list, published on GOV.UK: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British overseas territories, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the USA. Nigeria is not on it. English being an official language of a country does not add that country to the list, and this is a point Rowan has seen got wrong more than once.

The requirement at the first application is level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, in speaking and listening. For a test taken outside the UK, only four providers are approved: PSI Services (UK) Ltd, the IELTS Secure English Language Test Consortium, LANGUAGECERT and Pearson. Trinity College London is an approved provider only for tests taken inside the UK. The test must have been awarded in the 2 years before the date of application, at an approved test location.

A degree taught in English can be used instead. Where it was awarded by a UK institution, only the degree certificate is needed. Where it was awarded outside the UK, GOV.UK requires 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.

The level rises through the route: A2 in speaking and listening at the extension after 2 years 6 months for someone who passed at A1, and B1 at settlement, alongside the Life in the UK test. GOV.UK notes that a pass at B1 or higher at the first application can be reused at settlement. See the English language guide.

Tuberculosis Test

Nigeria is on the tuberculosis testing list. A test is needed where the application is to come to the UK for 6 months or more, the applicant has lived in Nigeria for 6 months or more, and they were living there or in another listed country within the last 6 months.

The Home Office states that it will not accept a certificate from a clinic it has not approved. There are four approved clinics:

• International Organization for Migration, Migration Health Assessment Centre, Asokoro, Abuja
• International Organization for Migration, Migration Health Assessment Centre, Benin City, Edo State
• International Organization for Migration, Migration Health Assessment Centre, Ikeja, Lagos
• Q-Life Family Clinic, Victoria Island, Lagos

The published fees at the migration health centres are 94 US dollars for someone aged 11 or over, 49 US dollars for a child under 11, and 16 US dollars to reissue a certificate. Payment must be made before the examination, in naira at the United Nations exchange rate.

The certificate is valid for 6 months from the date of the x-ray. GOV.UK also lists people who do not need one: a diplomatic passport holder travelling on official business or on a posting to the UK, someone who qualifies for an exempt visa, and someone applying for a certificate of entitlement.

Police Certificate: Not Required

Rowan previously said a Nigerian police clearance certificate may be required, obtained through the Criminal Investigation Department. Both halves of that were wrong.

The criminal record certificate requirement in the Immigration Rules covers entry clearance on named routes — chiefly Skilled Worker roles in the health, education and social care sectors, plus the former Tier 1 Entrepreneur and Investor routes, and adult partners of those main applicants. GOV.UK states that applicants on all other routes are not currently required to provide criminal record certificates. The family route is not on the list, and GOV.UK's document list for a partner or spouse application does not mention a certificate. Our guide to police certificates sets out the rule in full.

For completeness: where a certificate is needed for another route, or for another purpose, GOV.UK records that the Nigerian document is a Certificate of Good Conduct, that applications inside Nigeria must be made in person at the Central Criminal Registry in Lagos, and that applicants in the UK apply through the Nigerian High Commission in London. It is not issued by the Criminal Investigation Department.

Criminal history is instead declared on the application form and assessed under the suitability part of the Immigration Rules. Rule SUI 5.1 makes refusal mandatory for a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more, for a persistent offender showing a particular disregard for the law, and for an offence causing serious harm.

Document Preparation

• Marriage certificate. Paragraph E-ECP.2.7 of Appendix FM requires a valid marriage or civil partnership, and Home Office guidance treats an overseas marriage as valid where it was contracted in accordance with the law of the country where it was celebrated, provided nothing in either person's country of domicile prevents it. The guidance flags customary or religious marriages not registered with the civil authorities as a case where further enquiries may be needed. Our guide to marriage recognition covers this.
• Evidence any previous marriage has ended. Paragraph E-ECP.2.9 requires previous relationships to have broken down permanently.
• Passport. A valid Nigerian passport, plus copies of the photo page and of any visas or entry stamps in previous passports.
• Translations. Any document not in English or Welsh needs the original plus a full, dated translation with a confirmation of accuracy and the translator's name, signature and contact details.
• Financial evidence. On an application for entry clearance, paragraph E-ECP.3.2 limits employment and self-employment income to the sponsoring partner's. The threshold is £29,000. See the income requirement guide.

Processing Times

The Home Office publishes one service standard for partner and spouse applications made outside the UK: 12 weeks. It does not vary by country. The clock starts at the appointment where fingerprints and a photograph are given, not on the day the online form is submitted.

The priority service costs £500 per person. On most routes it produces a decision in 5 working days; on a family visa application from outside the UK, GOV.UK states it takes up to 30 working days. The £1,000 super priority service is listed for applications made inside the UK only.

GOV.UK does not publish country-level processing figures, so no Nigeria-specific number appears here. The current national figures are in our processing times guide.

Relationship Evidence

Paragraph E-ECP.2.6 requires a genuine and subsisting relationship, but the rules specify no document, and Home Office guidance says an application cannot be refused for the lack of a particular one. The guidance 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 in the name of the male head of the household. Our relationship evidence guide sets out the published factor list and the strong, acceptable and weak evidence categories.

Next Steps

Two things have to be in hand before the application: a tuberculosis certificate from one of the four approved clinics, and evidence of English at level A1 in speaking and listening — from one of the four providers approved for tests taken outside the UK, or through a degree assessed by Ecctis. A police certificate is not one of them.

Related guides:

• Spouse Visa UK: Complete Guide
• TB Test Requirement
• Income Requirement
• Country-Specific Guides
• Costs 2026

Questions and answers