UK Partner Visa | UK Unmarried Partner Visa

Eligibility requirements

To apply for the UK unmarried partner, you will need to meet the following requirements:

Both you and your partner must be 18 years old.
Demonstrate both information and evidences related to your relationship and commitment to live together akin to marriage.
Able to prove at the date of the application you live together - referred as cohabitation documents. If you do not, then need to provide information and evidence depending on the reasons why you are not living together.
The applicant must provide evidence of meeting the English language requirements. You may be able to apply for an exemption subject to meeting the requirements with evidence at the date of the application.
TB test certificate may be required. You would need to check the Home Office website for updated lists of countries required to do prior coming to the UK.
The sponsor would need to meet the financial test, which is at £29,000. This can be met through employment, self-employment, other forms of income including cash savings. A sponsor can also be exempted from meeting the financial test if they receive a qualifying benefit or they have third party support.
Accommodation in the UK must also be included in the application. A sponsor is required to provide evidences to support the application.

Defacto/Common-law partner visa

Both the terms are used for the un-married partner visa and you would need to meet the above requirements. The application route is not different.

Dependant children

Children who are under the age of 18 years, can also apply with their parent. The application will require evidence of the children’s biological parents’ details.

This is then confirmed using a valid passport and full birth certificate. In some instances, the Home Office may advise to provide a full DNA report to support the dependant’s application.

Documents to support your application

Unlike the spouse visa which has a requirement to provide a valid marriage certificate, this application will require you to provide evidence related to the relationship.

You will need to provide evidence of cohabitations to show you, and your partner have lived together for at least 2 years.
This can include tenancy agreements, mortgage statement, and council tax bills.
If you have joint bank statements, which demonstrates financial commitment, this would be helpful.
You can also provide bills, medical documents or any other official evidence.

Where you cannot provide evidence of complete 2 years cohabitation, you can provide alternative evidence. This can include written statements from you and your partner including third-party statements.

Non-settled, EUSS or British Citizen sponsor

Where the sponsor to the application is not settled in the UK but holds valid leave to remain on another immigration program routes, you can apply as an un-married partner.

You will also need to check whether that immigration program route allows dependants to come or switch in the UK. The requirements are similar but is contained in a different part of the immigration rules.

What does it cost to apply for the visa?

The Home Office fees are broken down into 3 parts, however for some regions, please expect to see some extra costs, for example currency and other processing costs:

Home Office fees required to submit the application. Those fees do change often, and it also depends on the region you are making the application from.
Immigration Health Surcharge which is a tax by the UK Government and a contribution costs to the National Health Service (NHS).
Application Centre costs. This depends on the region.

How to apply for the un-married partner

The application form is found on the UK Home Office website and applied online. You may need to create an account before you apply using the digital services.

The application form will ask for an email address and password. Be sure to keep that information secure, as you may need to return to the application during the process.

Service levels on the un-married partner visa

Decisions from the Home Office when you submit your application and attend the biometric appoint will depend on where you have applied from.

Here is some information which are always subject to changes to give you an idea of how long an application could take to be processed.

Any applications that are deemed complex is not included below & are not subject to any service levels.

If you are switching into the unmarried partner from the UK, the general standard levels is 12-24 weeks.
Those applying from outside of the UK, the standard service level is 24 weeks.
You can, if the digital application allows at the time of submission, a priority service which can expediate the application. The costs can vary including service levels.

Periods of grant on the visa

The initial grant of the visa is either 33 months or 30 months. It may also be granted under the 5 years route to settlement or the 10 years route to settlement.

The decision letter from the Home Office will confirm in which program route you have been granted.

Extending your stay in the UK

When you have completed a period of 30 months residency and before your visa expires, you should apply to extend your stay in the UK.

You would need to provide and meet the above requirements. This would require you and your partner to demonstrate you are still in a relationship and meet all the requirements at the date of the application.

At a glance, here are some of the requirements you would need to meet at the date of the application:

You and your partner must show you have committed financial responsibilities and have lived in the UK during the 30 months of your visa being granted.
Meet the higher level of English language requirements.
Demonstrate the financial test could be met. If your partner had been exempted from meeting these requirements, and this still applies, you will not need meet that requirement.
Both you and your partner need to also demonstrate that you have adequate accommodation in the UK.

Indefinite leave to remain based on your relationship

You will be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), also referred as Settled Status, once you have completed either 5 years or 10 years residency.

In your application, you will need to confirm details of the relationship, cohabitation evidence (possibly between 5 years and 10 years residency), financial responsibilities and meeting the financial/accommodation requirements.

If you have also been absent from the UK during the periods of residency, you may be required to provide information and evidences to support your ILR application.

Further to that, you will need to meet the Knowledge of Life requirements which is an additional requirement to support the application.

Un-married partner visa refusal

Home Office can make a decision to refuse your application for the un-married. If this does happen, you would be given written decision on the reasons why your application had been refused.

In most cases, you will be given a right to appeal and how long you will have, will depend. Here are some guidance’s to check and what you must do:

Check and highlight the reasons on the email or letter you have received. This will explain why the Home Office have refused your application.
There may be some instances of factual errors, be sure to identify those as Home Office Officials usually use templates to draft their reasons for refusal.
Take legal advice early as you have limited time to appeal the decision.
You can also re-apply if you believe the decision was correct based on the information and documents you have provided.

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.
Relationship with a partner requirements - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-relationship-with-partner
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.

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