Marriage Visa UK / Fiance Visa

Applicants under this Family Visa UK route are allowed to enter the UK as a fiancé (e) or proposed civil partner of a British citizen or a person who is settled in the UK. They must intend to get married or register your civil partnership within 6 months of their arrival in the UK, and settle here together afterwards.

To qualify for the Marriage Visa UK / Fiance Visa , both parties must be at least 18 years old, have met and be Fiancée / Proposed Civil Partner of a British citizen or a person who is settled in the UK.

Applicants under this Family Visa UK route will also need to prove that their relationship is of a genuine and continuing nature. Applicants must show that there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants and able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds.

In addition to the above, applicants must also meet the financial requirement and the English Language Requirement.

Financial requirement can be meet either through income or cash savings or combination of both. The level of the financial requirement to be met in cases varies in cases involving dependent children and is determined by the number of children for example:-

• Partner with no children – £18,600.
• 1 child in addition to the partner – £22,400.
• 2 children in addition to the partner – £24,800.
• 3 children in addition to the partner – £27,200.

In order to calculate the cash savings, applicants can take into account any cash savings which is above £16,000. The amount of cash savings above £16,000 must be divided by 2.5 (to reflect the 2.5 year or 30-month period) to give the amount which can be used in meeting the financial requirement.

Therefore, savings available minus £16,000 divided by 2.5=amount which can be used in meeting the financial requirement.

Visa Entitlements

Successful applicants will be granted a visa for 6 months to get married or enter into civil partnership.

Following the marriage or civil partnership and subject to a subsequent successful application for leave to remain as a partner on the 5-year route, they may be able to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after completing 60 months (5 years) with limited leave as a partner.They will have free access to public schools, and National Health Service. Eligible dependants may also be able to work or study without any restrictions.

FAQ

• Is there any exemption to the financial requirement?v

  • In cases where applicant’s partner is in receipt of any of the following benefits or allowances in the UK, the applicant will be able to meet the financial requirement at that application stage by providing evidence of “adequate maintenance” rather than meeting an income threshold:

    • Carer’s Allowance.
    • Disability Living Allowance.
    • Severe Disablement Allowance.
    • Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
    • Attendance Allowance.
    • Personal Independence Payment.
• Can a third party support counts towards financial requirement?v

  • Applicants and their partner must have the required resources under their own control and not somebody else. Promises of support from a third party are vulnerable to a change in that person’s circumstances or in the applicant’s or partner’s relationship with them and therefore their support is not counted towards the financial requirement.

• Can I work while on the Marriage Visa UK / Fiance Visa ?v

  • Applicants are not allowed to work in the UK until their Spouse or Civil Partner visa has been granted.

• Rights of Dependantsv

  • Dependants (including children under 18 years of age) will be eligible to live and stay in the UK with the parent. They can live and work in the UK without any restrictions. They will be granted leave in line with the expiry date of the main applicant’s leave.

• Conditions of Stayv

  • Applicants will have the following conditions attached to their leave:

    • No recourse to public funds;
    • Prohibition on employment in the UK;
    • Registration with the police, if applicable.
• Biometric Requirementv

  • Foreign nationals from outside the European Economic Area making certain applications to the Home Office have to apply for a biometric residence permit. This applies to both postal applications and applications made in person (known as ‘premium applications’). The biometric residence permit is a residence permit which holds a migrant’s biographic details (name, date and place of birth) and biometric information (facial image and fingerprints), and shows their immigration status and entitlements while they remain in the UK. This also means that a UK visa will no longer be stamped in applicant’s passport and all applicants will be issued one of the new Biometric visa cards instead.  These cards look very similar to a (pink) UK driving license except they have a microchip on the back.

    Applicants who wish to extend their stay in the UK by post, the Home Office will send them a letter asking them to enrol their biometrics after the Home Office have received their application. Applicants will be able to enrol their biometric information one of the Post Offices offering this service across the UK using their walk-in service.

    Applicants who are submitting their application in person can do this at one of the Public Enquiry Offices by using the premium service. Applicants will enrol applicants’ biometric information at the same time as making their application.

    For application submitted overseas, the applicants have to provide their biometric enrolment at one of the Visa Facilitation Centres. Successful applicants will receive a 30 day ‘vignette sticker’ in their passport instead of a vignette with the full grant of leave. This 30 day visa will be the date they indicated as their intended travel date in their visa application. Applicants will be required to collect their BRP from the Post Office branch detailed in their decision letter within ten days of arrival in the UK. The Post Office branch is linked to the postcode that they submitted in their visa application. The BRP card can then be used as proof of right to work, study and access public services in the UK.

• Immigration Health Surchargev

  • The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) was introduced by the Home Office on 6^th April 2015. People (non-EEA) coming to the UK for more than six months have to pay this health surcharge as a part of their immigration application towards the National Health Service (healthcare in the UK).  
    
    Offshore applicants will have to pay the health surcharge if they are applying for a visa for a period of longer than six months, and onshore applicant will have to pay the health charge for any length of visa.

    Applicants will have to pay £150 per year as a student or £200 per year for all other visa and immigration applications. Dependants will usually need to pay the same amount as the main applicant. The  exact amount they have to pay  depends on how much leave they are granted. They can calculate how much they will have to pay before you apply. If the period of grant applied for is less than 6 months, then half of the yearly amount to be paid and if the period of grant applied for is more than 6 months, then whole year amount is to be paid.

    Visa application will not be granted if applicants do not pay the healthcare surcharge or application will be delayed if the right amount is not paid.

    Following persons are exempted to pay the IHS:

    • Applicants applying for a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa and their dependants;
    • Applicant under 18 who has been taken into care by a local authority;
    • Applicants who arenationals of Australia or New Zealand;
    • Dependant of a member of the UK’s armed forces;
    • Dependant of a member of another country’s forces who is exempt from immigration control; and
    • Applicants of a relevant civilian employee employed by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) or the Australian Department of Defence in the UK and their dependants.
• Government Feesv

  • Home Office fees for the Marriage Visa UK / Fiance Visa
    	Postal	Same day	Overseas
    Main Appplicant	N/A	N/A	£1,523.00
    Partner & Child (<18years), applying together	N/A	N/A	£1,523.00
    Partner & Child, applying later	N/A	N/A	£1,523.00

• Processing Timesv

  • In line with the Home Office service standards for processing UK visa applications, they decide 95 per cent of settlement applications within 12 weeks of the application date and 100 per cent within 24 weeks of the application date.