Family life visas

It may be possible to apply for a visa for a spouse, partner or fiancé(e).

To be considered as partners, you would need to be married, in a civil partnership, engaged or have lived together for two or more years. 

The sponsoring partner would need to be British, or settled in the UK (i.e. with indefinite leave to remain), have refugee status or humanitarian protection, pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or permission to stay as a worker or Turkish businessperson, or in the UK with permission as a Stateless person.

The requirements for a visa as a spouse or partner are:

• You and your partner are aged 18 or over.
• Your relationship is real and continuing at the time of your application.
• Where relevant, your marriage or civil partnership is valid and properly registered.
• If you are a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, you will need to show that you are coming to the UK to get married or form a civil partnership.
• Any previous relationships you and your partner had have broken down permanently.
• You and your partner intend to live together permanently in the UK.

There are other requirements, such as the need to show that you have accommodation that is good enough. The British or settled partner is also required to earn a minimum salary of £29,000. This minimum income requirement increased in April 2024.

If you do not meet all the requirements, you may still be eligible for permission to enter or stay in the UK on the basis of human rights and exceptional circumstances. This is a complicated application and we suggest you get legal advice. Please see our section about finding an immigration lawyer for further information, or you can search for a lawyer via the Law Society or Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association.

Entry clearance as a partner is usually for 33 months. Leave to remain as a partner is usually for 30 months, and applications for indefinite leave to remain can usually be made after 5 years (60 months). 

However, partners usually need to wait longer before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain if an application is granted under exceptional circumstances. Applications under exceptional circumstances may therefore be more expensive due to the costs incurred by renewing leave to remain over a longer period of time.

Permission to enter the UK as a fiancé(e), is granted for six months only, and it may be possible to apply to extend a visa once married or in a civil partnership. 

Details about applying are available on the government website.

Different applications may also be possible for spouses and partners with EU nationality or refugee status. If your application involves an EU national, the please refer to our pages for European Londoners to assess your eligibility under this route. If you application involves a spouse or partner with refugee status in the UK, please refer to our page on Asylum & Refugees to assess your eligibility under this route.

You may be able to apply for a visa to join or stay with your child in the UK. You can only apply as a parent of a child living in the UK if you are not eligible to apply as a spouse or partner. 

Your child would need to have one of the following forms of citizenship or status:

• British citizenship
• indefinite leave to remain
• pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme,
• they have lived in the UK for at least seven years and it would not be reasonable for them to leave the UK.

The requirements for a visa as a parent are:

• You are aged 18 or over.
• Your child is under 18 on the date you apply.
• Your child is living in the UK.
• You have a real and continuing relationship with your child.
• You have sole or shared parental responsibility for your child.
• Your child normally lives with you, or you have direct access to them and take an active role in their upbringing.

There is no minimum salary requirement for parent applications, but you will need to show that you and your family can properly accommodate and maintain yourselves.

If you do not meet all the requirements, you may still be eligible for permission to enter or stay in the UK on the basis of human rights. This is a complicated application and we suggest you get legal advice. Please see our section about finding an immigration lawyer for further information, or you can search for a lawyer via the Law Society or Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association.

Entry clearance as a parent is usually for 33 months. Leave to remain as a parent is usually for 30 months and applications for indefinite leave to remain can usually be made after 5 years (60 months).

Details about applying are available on the government website.

Children may be able to apply for a visa to join or stay with a parent that is in the UK with limited leave to remain under the family visa route.

The requirements for a visa as a child are:

• You are under the age of 18 on the date you apply.
• You live with your parent in the UK.
• You are not married, in a civil partnership or leading an independent life.
• One of your parents is either in the UK with limited leave to enter or remain, or applying or entry clearance, as a partner or a parent.
• The parent in the UK either has sole responsibility for your upbringing, or you normally live with them, or there are serious and compelling circumstances and suitable arrangements have been made for your care.

There are other requirements that depend on whether your parent is in the UK with a visa as a partner or a parent. We suggest you get legal advice.

Different applications may be possible for children if their parent has British citizenship or settled in the UK (i.e. has indefinite leave to remain). If the application involves a parent who has refugee status or humanitarian protection, please visit our page about Asylum & Refugees to understand eligibility for this route. If the application involves a parent who has pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, please visit our page about European Londoners to understand eligibility for this route.

Children who are in the UK may be able to make a separate application on the basis of their private life. Please visit our page about Young Londoners for information about potential options. Applications based on private life can be complicated and we suggest you get legal advice. Please see our section about finding an immigration lawyer for further information, or you can search for a lawyer via the Law Society or Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association.

Details about applying are available on the government website.

An adult dependent relative from overseas may be able to join you in the UK if they need long-term care to do every day personal and household tasks because of their illness, disability, or age.

The requirements for this visa are:

• You are aged 18 or over and a British citizen, or settled in the UK, have refugee status or humanitarian protection, or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Your relative is a grandparent, parent or sibling aged 18 or over.
• The care they need is not available or affordable in the country they live in.
• You are responsible for providing maintenance, accommodation and care in the UK for the adult relative without access to public funds.

If the adult dependent relative is joining someone who is a British citizen or settled in the UK, they may be granted indefinite leave to enter. If they are joining someone who is not a British citizen or settled, it is likely they will be given limited leave to remain in line with their sponsor’s leave to remain.

We recommend that you get legal advice as this is a very difficult to make successfully. Please see our section about finding an immigration lawyer for further information, or you can search for a lawyer via the Law Society or Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association.

Details about applying are available on the government website.