Spouse Visa from Outside the UK: How to Apply
Applying as a partner from outside the UK is an application for entry clearance. This guide walks through it step by step, from the online form to identity checks and the decision, against the published service standards and fees.
- Section
- Spouse & Partner Visa
- Reading time
- 11 min
- Last checked
- 18 March 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- Apply online, then confirm your identity either at a visa application centre or with the UK Immigration: ID Check app.
- The service standard is 12 weeks, and it starts from the identity check, not from submitting the form.
- Physical visa vignettes are no longer issued. A grant is an eVisa in a UK Visas and Immigration account.
- The fee is £2,064 per person, plus £3,105 of health surcharge for the 2 years 9 months a first grant runs.
- The priority service costs £500 but gives 30 working days on a family application, not the 5 that applies elsewhere.
An application as a partner from outside the UK is made online, followed by an identity check either at a visa application centre or through the UK Immigration: ID Check app. The published service standard is 12 weeks, counted from that check. The fee is £2,064, and the health surcharge on a first grant of 2 years 9 months is £3,105. A grant is an eVisa; physical visa stickers are no longer issued.
Step-by-Step Process
1. Prepare Your Documents
Before starting the online application, gather all required documents:
- Your current passport or other valid travel ID, plus copies of the photo page and any visa or entry stamps in previous passports
- Marriage or civil partnership certificate, with a certified translation of anything not in English or Welsh
- Financial evidence meeting the £29,000 income requirement
- English language test certificate (A1 level)
- Relationship evidence
- Accommodation evidence
- A tuberculosis test certificate, if you are coming from a country on the GOV.UK list
- Details of any previous immigration applications and any criminal convictions; your National Insurance number, if you have one; and your parents' dates of birth and nationality
- A police certificate, where one is asked for. GOV.UK does not list this among the standard family visa documents, so check what your own application asks for rather than assuming
2. Complete the Online Application
Apply through the GOV.UK family visa page. The form asks about your personal details, relationship, financial situation, accommodation, and immigration history. Take your time and answer accurately.
3. Pay Fees
- Application fee: £2,064 for each person applying.
- Immigration health surcharge, paid up front for the whole grant: £1,035 a year for an adult, which GOV.UK gives as £3,105 for the 2 years and 9 months a first grant from outside the UK runs. For a child under 18 the rate is £776 a year, given as £2,328 for the same period.
- Fingerprints and a photograph: no separate fee. A visa application centre may charge for its own optional services.
GOV.UK sets out a fee waiver for people who have nowhere to live and cannot afford anywhere, who have somewhere to live but cannot afford essentials like food or heating, or who have a very low income where paying the fee would harm a child's wellbeing.
See the cost guide for the complete breakdown.
4. Upload Documents
Most documents are uploaded online as part of the application. Scan or photograph them clearly. Ensure all pages are legible and complete.
5. Confirm Your Identity
There are two ways, and you are told which applies to you when you apply. One is an appointment at a visa application centre to give fingerprints and a photograph. The other is the UK Immigration: ID Check app, where you verify your identity and upload your documents without an appointment. See the country hub for centre locations.
6. Wait for the Decision
The service standard is 12 weeks, and processing starts at the identity check, not when you submit the form. GOV.UK asks you not to contact UK Visas and Immigration to track an application that is still inside the current processing time, because it will not be able to tell you anything. If it goes beyond the published time and you have not been contacted, then contact UK Visas and Immigration.
GOV.UK also says you are not required to book any travel before you apply or before a decision is made, and lists reasons an application can take longer: inaccurate information, further evidence being needed, documents needing verification, an interview, questions about personal circumstances such as a criminal conviction, increased demand, or a technical outage. See the processing times guide.
What a Grant Looks Like Now
GOV.UK says physical visa vignettes, the stickers, are no longer being issued. What you get is an eVisa: a digital record of your status in a UK Visas and Immigration account. Set the account up and add your current passport before you travel, because your eVisa is checked when you check in with your carrier and again at the UK border.
If you already hold a vignette, it was issued for 90 days. A valid vignette in a current passport can be used to travel until it expires. A valid vignette in an expired passport can still be used if you carry both passports, or you can use your eVisa instead. If a 90-day vignette has expired, GOV.UK says that in most cases the eVisa takes its place.
There is one paid replacement left. If you had an expired 90-day vignette on a form for affixing a visa, or that form was lost, stolen or damaged, you request a form for accompanying an eVisa before you travel. It costs £154, needs fingerprints and a photograph at a visa application centre, and is usually decided within 3 weeks.
Priority Processing
The priority service costs £500 on top of the application fee. On most routes it means a decision in 5 working days, but family visa applications from outside the UK are the exception: GOV.UK says it usually takes up to 30 working days for a partner or spouse, a parent, a child, or an adult coming to be cared for by a relative. The super priority service costs £1,000 and usually gives a decision by the end of the next working day after your appointment, or 2 working days if the appointment was at a weekend or on a bank holiday.
The same clock rule applies: the time runs from the day of your appointment, or from the working day after you finish uploading documents through the identity app. If a decision takes longer than the service you paid for, GOV.UK says you will not usually get your money back, though it publishes a page on refunds. See the priority service guide.
Common Issues
- An expired 90-day vignette: in most cases your eVisa takes its place, so sign in to your account and add your current passport. Where the vignette was on a form for affixing a visa, request a form for accompanying an eVisa instead, at £154.
- Being without your passport: if you left it at a visa application centre, GOV.UK says not to return until you have been contacted. Plan around that when you decide when to apply.
- Document quality: Blurry scans or incomplete documents can delay processing. Ensure all uploads are clear and complete.
Next Steps
The tuberculosis test and the A1 English test both have to be done before you apply, so they set the earliest date you can start. After that the published shape of the wait is 12 weeks from the identity check. GOV.UK says you do not have to book travel before applying or before a decision, and that the application fee is only refunded if processing has not started.
Related guides:
Questions and answers
How do I apply for a UK spouse visa from outside the UK?
Apply online through GOV.UK, pay the fee and the immigration health surcharge, provide your evidence, and then either attend a visa application centre to give fingerprints and a photograph or confirm your identity with the UK Immigration: ID Check app, whichever you are told to use. You are sent a letter or email when a decision is made. Physical visa stickers are no longer issued: a grant is an eVisa in a UK Visas and Immigration account.
How long does it take to get a spouse visa from abroad?
The published service standard is 12 weeks for a partner or spouse applying from outside the UK. It is the same for a parent, a child, and an adult coming to be cared for by a relative. The clock starts when you attend the appointment to give your fingerprints and photograph, or when you finish uploading documents through the identity app, not when you submit the form.
Do I need to surrender my passport when applying?
It depends on how you are asked to confirm your identity. GOV.UK addresses the case directly: if you attended a visa application centre and left your passport, do not go back for it until you have been contacted. Where you can use the UK Immigration: ID Check app instead, there is no appointment and no passport to leave. You are told which applies when you apply.
What is the visa vignette and how long is it valid?
GOV.UK now says physical visa vignettes are no longer being issued. Where one exists already, it was valid for 90 days, not 30, and a valid vignette in a current passport can still be used to travel until it expires. If your 90-day vignette has expired, GOV.UK says that in most cases you use your eVisa in its place: sign in to your UK Visas and Immigration account and add your current passport.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.