UK Fiancé Visa & how to apply for the visa | Visa Guidance

Introduction to the UK fiancé visa

The UK fiancé visa route allows you to bring your partner to the UK for a period of 6 months – to legally marry in the UK. The visa requirements do not need either party to have lived together prior submitting this application.

Fiancé visa requirements

To apply for the UK, you would need to meet the following requirements:

Both you and your partner must be 18 years of age.
Must have met in person. There is a legal requirement to ensure this is evident in an application.
Home Office must accept that both you and your partner intend to legally marry in the UK and then apply for further leave to remain as the spouse.
If either you or your partner have been married before, you would need to be free from marriage. For example, you must provide divorce documents if this is relevant.
You must also complete an approved English language test.
TB test certificate may be required and depends on the region you are applying from.
Your sponsor must prove they meet the financial test, which is at £29,000.
Further to that, suitable accommodation must be evident at the date of application.

Evidence to submit for the visa application

The application requires you to file a number of documents to support the immigration application. In short, you must provide as follows:

Your current passport and ID card.
Evidence of your sponsor’s status in the UK.
Details of when and where you plan to marry in the UK. Don’t worry if you have not booked any venues, Home Office expects you to provide plans and information.
The sponsor must provide 6 to 12 months of financial documents, which would include payslips, tax returns and bank statements where relevant.
Accommodation evidence, such as tenancy agreement or mortgage statement must be enclosed.
English language test certificate and TB test document must be filed.

Dependant children

Children who are under the age of 18 years can apply at the same time or can join their parents in the UK. Evidence of the child’s current passport and full birth certificate must be provided at the date of application. If there are any court documents to confirm parental responsibility, this must be enclosed.

How to apply for the fiancé visa

Applying for the visa must be done outside of the UK. There are no legal provisions to submit an application from the UK. The application is completed online through the digital application process.

Visa duration including extension of stay

When the visa is granted, Home Office will issue a 6-month visa. This can be extended for a further 6 months if there are any exceptional circumstances preventing you and your partner to marry in the UK.

Fiancé visa refusal and what to do next

Where an application for a fiancé visa is refused, Home Office will provide a decision letter, explaining the reasons as to why the application had failed.

Appealing the decision may be relevant if the fault sits with the Home Office Official not considering the information or documents filed.
In some instances, we may advise to file a new application if the information and documents provided at the date of application was not correct.
Appeal rights are granted for 28 days to which you must file to the First Tier Tribunal.

Resources & references

The content has been written in line with the following policy law and guidance’s. Any changes are updated in the following:

Appendix FM Immigration Rules - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-family-members.
Immigration Act 1971 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/77/contents.

Author

The contents on this page has been written by a qualified Lawyer at ICS Legal. We are a regulated law firm in the UK by the Immigration Advice Authority. ICS Legal have been advising & helping our client's since 2006. You can find all our information related to our regulatory bodies here.

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Legal Disclaimer

We update our pages with information to confirm the date/time this page had been updated on the top. However the information provided here is for general purposes and does not constitute legal advice.

This also does not create a client-Lawyer relationship based on the contents of our pages. We recommend that you either speak to the Home Office or our Lawyers at ICS Legal to take advice on your matter before you proceed on an application.

Related FAQ's

Fiancé visa application must be applied from outside of the UK. The digital application is filed online and until the applicant attends the visa centre, it is not valid. Thereby ensuring the applicant is outside of the UK at the date of the visa application.

Usually application can take anything between 12-24 weeks from the date the applicant attends the Visa Centre and the UK Home Office publishes up to date information on decision levels for the processing of the visa.

Fast track is available outside of the UK, however the Home Office can withdraw those services. If the visa priority service is available, this will show on your online application. You cannout purchase the fast-track service after you have attended the visa appointment.

Yes, the Home Office does allow a person to extend their fiancé visa in the UK. You will need to submit the application prior to the visa is due to expire and provide evidences to support the reasons for the extension. We recommend you speak to a Lawyer prior considering to submit an application to extend.

Home Office publishes visa fees which you can find here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table