UK Spouse Visa: Requirements, Costs and Timeline

Who can sponsor

Both people must be 18 or over. GOV.UK lists the sponsoring partner as someone who must either:

• be a British or Irish citizen;
• have settled in the UK — indefinite leave to remain, settled status, or proof of permanent residence;
• be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status, having started living in the UK before 1 January 2021;
• have a Turkish Businessperson visa or Turkish Worker visa;
• have protection status — leave or permission to stay as a refugee, or as a person with humanitarian protection; or
• have got permission to stay as a stateless person before you became their partner.

A partner on a temporary work or study visa is not a sponsor on this route. The application would instead be as their dependant, which is a different set of rules.

One recent change is worth flagging. GOV.UK says that where a partner with protection status claimed asylum after 2 March 2026 and their own permission ends in less than the period you would otherwise be granted, your permission ends when theirs does.

The relationship

GOV.UK asks you to prove one of the following:

• a civil partnership or marriage that is recognised in the UK;
• living together in a relationship for at least 2 years at the date of application;
• being a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner who will marry or enter a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months of arriving; or
• a relationship of at least 2 years where you cannot live together — for example because of work or study in different places, or because it is not accepted in your culture.

On evidence, GOV.UK asks for documents that come "from the government, a bank, landlord, utility provider, or a medical professional", that confirm the relationship, and that are "less than 4 years old". The Home Office caseworker guidance goes further and sorts evidence into strong, acceptable and weak categories — photographs and message histories sit in the weak one. Our entry on proving the relationship is genuine sets out that guidance in full.

The financial requirement

The figure is £29,000 a year in gross income for anyone whose first application on the partner route was made on or after 11 April 2024. There is no addition for children on that figure.

A lower tier survives for people who first applied before 11 April 2024 and are extending with the same partner: £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each further child, capped at £29,000 however many children there are.

It can be met from:

• employment income — evidenced by payslips, an employer letter and matching bank statements. See Category A for a job held 6 months or more, and Category B for a newer one;
• self-employment income, calculated over one or two full financial years;
• cash savings of £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall, held for 6 months — £88,500 with no income at all. At settlement the rules disregard the "2.5 times", which brings the same sum down to £45,000;
• pension income, and certain other specified income; or
• a combination of those, within limits.

The figure does not apply at all where the sponsoring partner receives one of a listed set of disability or carer benefits. An "adequate maintenance" test applies instead, in which a caseworker looks at income and housing costs. Our financial requirement guide covers the sources, the limits and that exemption.

English, and how the level rises

• First application: A1 in speaking and listening.
• Extension: A2.
• Settlement: B1 — and B2 for applications made on or after 26 March 2027, under Appendix KoLL as amended.

There are exemptions, including for nationals of the countries the Immigration Rules list as majority English-speaking, and for holders of a degree taught or researched in English. That list is fixed and shorter than people expect; our English language guide gives it and the approved tests.

At settlement, an applicant aged 18 to 64 also has to pass the Life in the UK Test. It costs £50, has 24 questions in 45 minutes, and the pass mark is 75%.

Accommodation

The rule, at paragraph E-LTRP.3.4 of Appendix FM, is that there must be adequate accommodation for the family without recourse to public funds, which they own or occupy exclusively. Accommodation is not adequate if it is or will be overcrowded, or if it contravenes public health regulations.

Nothing in that requires ownership, and renting or living with family can satisfy it. Overcrowding has a statutory meaning rather than an impression — our accommodation guide sets out the test.

What it costs

Per person, on a first application:

• Application fee: £2,064 from outside the UK, £1,407 inside the UK.
• Healthcare surcharge: £1,035 a year for an adult, £776 a year for anyone under 18. A period of more than 2 years and up to 3 is charged as 3 years, so GOV.UK publishes the total for a 2 year 9 month grant as £3,105 for an adult and £2,328 for a child. For a 2 year 6 month grant it is £2,587.50 and £1,940.
• Fingerprints and photograph: no separate fee.
• A faster decision, optional: £500 for the priority service or £1,000 for super priority, though the choice on this route is narrower than on most — see below.

So a first application from outside the UK for one adult is £2,064 + £3,105 = £5,169 before any English test fee. Each child added to the application pays their own fee and their own surcharge. GOV.UK does not publish a price for English tests; they are set by the test providers.

A fee waiver exists. GOV.UK says you can apply for one if you have no place to live and cannot afford one, if you have somewhere to live but cannot afford essentials such as food or heating, or if you have a very low income and paying the fee would harm your child's wellbeing. Our cost breakdown adds the extension and settlement stages.

How long a decision takes

The published service standards are:

• Outside the UK: 12 weeks for a partner, spouse, parent, child or adult dependent relative application.
• Inside the UK: 8 weeks for a partner or spouse application.
• Settlement: usually within 6 months of giving your fingerprints and photograph.

Paying for speed works differently here than on other routes. From outside the UK the £500 priority service is published as usually up to 30 working days for family applications, not 5. From inside the UK, GOV.UK's table of eligible applications marks the Family visa as not eligible for the 5-working-day service at all — only the £1,000 super priority service, and only where you attend an appointment in person. Our priority service guide sets out the table, and our processing times guide covers what happens when a case runs past the standard.

Applying, and what you get

The application is made online, from outside the UK or from inside it depending on where you are. You give your fingerprints and photograph either at an appointment or, where you are eligible, through the "UK Immigration: ID Check" app, and you upload the documents.

What arrives at the end is now digital. GOV.UK says: "You'll get an eVisa (a digital record of your identity and immigration status)... Your decision email or letter will tell you how to access your eVisa. You'll need to create a UKVI account, if you do not have one." Two physical documents have gone: biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024, and UKVI stopped issuing visa vignettes — the sticker in the passport — to successful new applicants on 1 July 2026.

The five years to settlement

• Grant one: up to 2 years 9 months from outside the UK.
• Grant two: an extension of up to a further 2 years 6 months. GOV.UK notes you can extend more than once.
• After 5 continuous years: settlement, indefinite leave to remain. It costs £3,226 for each person applying.

The earliest you can apply for settlement is 28 days before you meet the residence requirement; GOV.UK says an application may be refused if it is made earlier.

On absences: for the 5-year partner route GOV.UK requires 5 continuous years living in the UK on the family visa as a partner, and time spent on any other visa or as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner cannot be counted. It publishes no maximum number of days that may be spent outside the UK on this route — the 180-days-in-12-months rule belongs to other routes, not this one.

If the financial requirement cannot be met, GOV.UK states the consequence directly: "the earliest you'll be able to apply to settle is after 10 years in the UK". That is a different, longer route with no financial requirement of its own.

Related entries

• Not yet married: the fiancé route, which lasts 6 months and carries no right to work or study, and how the two compare.
• Together but not married: the unmarried partner route.
• Documents: the checklist.
• If it goes wrong: refusal reasons and reading the decision letter.
• Public funds: what the condition covers.

Questions and answers