Spouse Visa vs Fiancé Visa: How They Differ

Which route the rules put you on

GOV.UK asks you to prove one of four things when applying as a partner. Two of them lead to the partner route and one leads to the fiancé route:

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

Both are entry clearance under Appendix FM, and the relationship, financial, English language and accommodation requirements are the same on each.

What each grant gives you

The partner route

• Length: up to 2 years 9 months from outside the UK; up to a further 2 years 6 months each time you extend or switch, and GOV.UK notes you can extend more than once.
• Work: no restriction.
• Public funds: a no recourse to public funds condition applies.
• Settlement: paragraph D-ECP.1.1 makes you eligible after a continuous period of at least 60 months in the UK with permission granted on this route.

The fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner route

• Length: 6 months. Paragraph D-ECP.1.1 grants entry clearance "for a period not exceeding 6 months".
• Work: prohibited. The same paragraph makes the grant "subject to a prohibition on employment", and GOV.UK puts it as "you cannot work or study in the UK during your engagement".
• Public funds: a no recourse to public funds condition applies.
• After the marriage: you apply from inside the UK to stay as a partner. Paragraph E-LTRP.1.12 allows this specifically for someone granted entry clearance as that person's fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner.

The clock to settlement

This is the difference that cannot be paid away. Paragraph D-ECP.1.1 makes an applicant eligible for settlement after 60 months with leave granted on the partner route, "excluding in all cases any period of leave to enter or limited leave to remain as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner".

So the 60 months start at the first grant as a partner. On the partner route that is the moment of arrival. On the fiancé route it is after the marriage and after the in-UK application has been decided, which has a published service standard of 8 weeks. The fiancé period itself — up to 6 months — counts for nothing towards settlement.

GOV.UK also publishes one thing that catches unmarried partners out: "If you're in the UK as an unmarried partner and you become engaged, do not apply to extend your visa as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner. Apply to extend with the same visa status you have now."

What each route costs

The application fee is the same either way: £2,064 per person from outside the UK, £1,407 inside it. The difference is in the healthcare surcharge and in how many applications you make.

On the surcharge, GOV.UK is explicit: "You do not need to pay the surcharge if you're applying from outside the UK for 6 months or less." A fiancé application from outside the UK therefore pays no surcharge at all. Anything charging one is wrong.

Partner route, married before applying

• Entry clearance: £2,064
• Healthcare surcharge for 2 years 9 months, charged as 3 years: £3,105
• Extension inside the UK: £1,407
• Healthcare surcharge for 2 years 6 months: £2,587.50
• Total to the settlement stage: £9,163.50

Fiancé route, marrying in the UK

• Fiancé entry clearance: £2,064
• Healthcare surcharge for 6 months from outside the UK: nil
• First application as a partner, inside the UK: £1,407
• Healthcare surcharge for 2 years 6 months: £2,587.50
• Extension inside the UK: £1,407
• Healthcare surcharge for 2 years 6 months: £2,587.50
• Total to the settlement stage: £10,053

The gap is £889.50. The fiancé route pays one extra application fee, and gets back some of it by starting inside the UK, where both the fee and the surcharge for the first partner grant are lower than they would have been as entry clearance.

Settlement itself costs £3,226 for each person applying, on either route. GOV.UK publishes no price for English language tests; those are set by the approved test providers. Our cost breakdown and fees guide hold the full fee table.

Working

On the partner route there is no restriction: you can work in any job, be self-employed, or start a business. On the fiancé route you cannot work or study, for up to 6 months plus however long the in-country application takes after the wedding. That period has to be supported by the sponsor's income or by savings, and the no recourse to public funds condition applies throughout — our public funds entry sets out what that covers.

Switching from inside the UK

Paragraph E-LTRP.2.1 of Appendix FM says the applicant must not be in the UK:

"(a) as a visitor; or (b) with valid leave granted for a period of 6 months or less, unless that leave is as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, or was granted pending the outcome of family court or divorce proceedings"

Both halves matter. Someone in the UK as a visitor cannot apply to stay as a partner. Someone in the UK as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner is carved out of the same bar, which is what makes the route work at all.

Notice of marriage in the UK

Marrying in the UK means giving notice at a register office. GOV.UK says you must give notice at least 29 days before the ceremony — give notice on 1 May and the earliest date you can marry is 30 May.

Where one or both parties could gain an immigration advantage from the marriage, the registrar refers it to the Home Office under the marriage and civil partnership referral and investigation scheme. The Home Office decides whether to investigate and writes to the couple within 28 days of notice being given. A decision to investigate extends the notice period from 28 days to 70 days.

Against a 6-month fiancé visa, 70 days is a substantial part of the period, and it runs before the wedding rather than after it. Rules on notice differ in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

Marrying outside the UK

Where a couple marries abroad and then applies on the partner route, the marriage has to be one "that's recognised in the UK", in GOV.UK's words. Appendix FM adds, at paragraph E-ECP.2.7, that a marriage or civil partnership "must be a valid marriage or civil partnership, as specified".

A marriage certificate is the strongest single piece of relationship evidence in the Home Office's own categories. Under paragraph 1(j) of Appendix FM-SE, a certificate not in English or Welsh needs the original and a full translation, dated, confirming it is accurate and giving the translator's name and contact details. Our relationship evidence entry sets out how the categories work.

What the choice turns on

Rowan does not recommend a route. What the published rules make different between the two is a short list, and it is the list above:

• whether the marriage can take place before the application is made;
• whether the applicant needs to work during the first months in the UK;
• whether up to 6 months of extra time before the settlement clock starts matters;
• whether about £890 of extra fees matters; and
• whether the 29-day, or 70-day, notice period fits inside a 6-month permission.

See our partner route entry, our fiancé route entry, the documents checklist and applying alone or with a solicitor. If neither route fits because the couple is not married and has not lived together for 2 years, the unmarried partner entry covers that test.

Questions and answers