Apply For an Unmarried Partner Visa UK

An Unmarried Partner Visa in the UK, also known as the "Partner Visa" or "Unmarried Partner Visa," is a type of visa that allows the partner of a British citizen or a person settled in the UK (with indefinite leave to remain) to live and work in the UK. An unmarried partner visa is also known as an Appendix FM Partner visa. The unmarried partner visa is specifically for unmarried couples in a long-term relationship akin to marriage for at least two years.

There are two routes to settlement (ILR) under the unmarried partner visa UK route which are:

• 5 years unmarried partner visa route (this route leads to ILR after 5 years)
• 10 years unmarried partner visa route (this route leads to ILR after 10 years)

To apply as an unmarried partner, you and your partner both need to be 18 or over. You and your unmarried partner must have lived together in a relationship akin to marriage. 

Your partner must also either:

• be a British or Irish citizen
• have settled in the UK - for example, they have indefinite leave to remain, settled status or proof of permanent residence
• be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status - they must have started living in the UK before 1 January 2021
• have a Turkish Businessperson visa or Turkish Worker visa
• have protection status (leave to remain as a refugee, permission to stay as a refugee or a person with humanitarian protection)
• have permission to stay as a stateless person

You can submit your unmarried partner visa entry clearance application from outside the UK using a Priority Service to get a decision within 30 working days. For all in-country applications as an unmarried partner, you can use the Super Priority Service to get a decision within 24 hours. As specialist family visa solicitors, we are registered with the Home Office, UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) to provide Priority Service and Super Priority Service for unmarried partner visa applications. 

Expert Knowledge: Premium solicitors possess extensive knowledge of the ever-evolving UK immigration laws. Their expertise covers all aspects of unmarried partner visa applications, ensuring that every detail is meticulously addressed.

Personalised Service: Each case is unique, and our specialist partner visa solicitors offer personalised advice tailored to the specific circumstances of each couple. This personalised approach helps in addressing individual concerns and complexities.

Comprehensive Documentation Support: The application process for an unmarried partner visa involves substantial paperwork. Premium solicitors assist in compiling and reviewing all necessary documents, ensuring that they meet the stringent requirements set by the Home Office.

Strategic Guidance: From initial consultation to final submission, our specialist partner visa solicitors provide strategic guidance on the best approach for your unmarried partner visa application. This includes advice on potential obstacles and how to overcome them effectively.

Reduced Stress: The application process can be stressful and time-consuming. Hiring a partner visa solicitor at Premium Solicitors alleviates this burden, allowing applicants to focus on their personal lives while the solicitor handles the legal complexities.

Higher Success Rates: Due to their expertise and thorough approach, our specialist immigration solicitors achieve a very high success rate in partner visa applications.

If you cannot meet all the requirements of the rules for the unmarried partner visa application, you may still be able to apply for an unmarried partner visa if:

• you have a child in the UK who is a British or Irish citizen or has lived in the UK for 7 years and it would be unreasonable for them to leave the UK
• it would breach your human rights to stop you coming to the UK or make you leave

To prove that you and your UK partner live together as a couple, you can provide evidence that:

• comes from the government, a bank, landlord, utility provider, or a medical professional
• confirms your relationship with your partner - for example, that you live together or share expenses
• a tenancy agreement, utility bills or council tax bills confirming that you live at the same address or pay bills together
• a bank statement from a joint bank account, or confirming that you live at the same address
• a letter from your doctor or dentist confirming that you live at the same address

If you do not have any evidence that meets these criteria, there is other evidence you can provide instead, including:

• a one-off bill like vet’s fees or home repair costs
• letters confirming you and your partner are on the voting register for the same address
• student finance paperwork confirming that you live at the same address

If you cannot live together because of work or study, or for cultural reasons, you’ll need to prove that you have an ongoing commitment to each other. You can do this by providing evidence that you:

• communicate regularly with each other  
• support each other financially  
• care for any children you have together  
• spend time together as a couple, for example on holiday or at events

If you apply for an unmarried partner visa from outside the UK to join your UK partner, you can stay in the UK for 2 years and 9 months (33 months) on this visa. If you apply for an unmarried partner visa from inside the UK, you will be granted leave to remain as an unmarried partner for 30 months. You will be able to apply for further extension of your unmarried partner visa before the expiry of your unmarried partner visa.

You’ll need to have information and some evidence ready when you make your UK unmarried partner visa application. You should include information for you and any dependants applying at the same time.

You’ll need to provide:

• all your names
• your date of birth
• your current passport or other valid travel ID
• copies of the photo page and any visa or entry stamps in your previous passports
• a copy of your biometric residence permit, if you have one
• details of any previous immigration applications you’ve made
• details of any criminal convictions
•  your national insurance number, if you have one
• your parents’ date of birth and nationality if you’re applying from outside the UK
• your tuberculosis test results if you’re from a country where you have to take the test
• a certified translation of any document that is not in English or Welsh

You’ll need to have a blank page in your passport on which to put the UK unmarried partner visa if you are applying from outside the UK. You’ll also need an email address to make an online application.

You’ll also need to:

• prove your knowledge of English
• give proof of your finances

You may need to provide other additional documents depending on your circumstances - for example a sponsorship form from your unmarried partner in the UK.

You can apply online for UK unmarried partner visa entry clearance from outside the UK. 

If you are eligible to switch to an unmarried partner visa from within the UK, you can apply for an unmarried partner visa online in the UK.

As a result of changes to Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules effective from 11 April 2024, the new financial requirement of £29,000 gross per annum applies to an applicant who is making their first application on the unmarried partner visa route on or after 11 April 2024. You will not have to meet higher income requirements if you have any dependent children applying simultaneously along with the lead applicant, and the threshold will remain at £29,000 gross per annum.

Applicants can combine employment income under Category A with savings if the employment income is less than £29,000 gross per annum. The savings must be £16,000 plus additional savings equivalent to 2.5 times the difference between the applicant's gross annual income and £29,000. 

If your UK unmarried partner is in receipt of one of the eligible benefits, you will not have to satisfy the income requirement of £29,000 gross per year and you can instead satisfy the adequate maintenance requirement. 

The following things may count as income:

• income from employment before tax and National Insurance (from P60 or payslips) - you can only use income earned in the UK
• income earned from self-employment or as a director of a limited company in the UK - this will be on a Self-assessment tax return
• cash savings above £16,000. The amount of cash savings required is dependent on the level of your income from employment and other permitted sources.
• money from a pension
• non-work income, for example from property rentals or dividend

You’ll need to provide proof of the income with your UK unmarried partner visa application. 

If you (if you apply from inside the UK) or your family member are employed, you could include:

• bank statements showing your or their income
• 6 months of payslips, counting back from the day you apply
• a letter from an employer, dated and on headed paper

The employer’s letter should confirm:

• you or your family member are employed there
• the job title or position you or your family member hold
• how long you or your family member have worked there
• the type of contract (for example, permanent, fixed term)
• what you or your family member earn before tax and National Insurance
• how long you or your family member have been paid your current salary
• the payslips are genuine

You’ll be told exactly what documents to provide when you apply online.

You’ll need to follow extra guidance if:

• you or your family member’s income is not from employment, for example it’s from running a limited company, savings, or a pension
• you or your family member have taken maternity or paternity leave in the last 6 months
• you want to combine different income sources

For an entry clearance application for a UK unmarried partner visa from outside the UK, the employment or self-employment income of the UK partner is counted and not that of the applicant. 

To apply for your UK partner visa, you’ll be asked about their:

• name
• date of birth
• nationality
• passport
• right to be in the UK, for example they’re a British citizen

You’ll also need to give details of:

• any people your partner was previously married to, in a civil partnership with or had children with
• evidence of marriages ending, for example a divorce certificate
• anyone your partner supports with money, for example their parents

You’ll need to include details of anyone you previously married or had children with. Include evidence of marriages ending, for example a divorce certificate.

You’ll need to give details of your children (and your partner’s children if they have one). You’ll be asked about all children, even if they’re not applying.

You’ll need to give details of:

• their name
• their nationality
• their date of birth
• their passport details
• who the child normally lives with
• any other people with parental responsibility for your child, for example your step children’s other parents
• how you’re involved in their day to day life
• arrangements you have to see the child - for example the courts have granted you access
• the child’s extended family
• any countries your child has visited or lived in

You can apply for a fee waiver if you cannot pay the fee because you:

• do not have a place to live and cannot afford one
• have a place to live but cannot afford essential living costs like food or heating
• have a very low income and paying the fee would harm your child’s wellbeing

Apply for a fee waiver online from outside the UK.

Apply for a fee waiver online from inside the UK.

If you apply outside the UK you’ll usually get a decision within 60 working days under the standard service and within 30 working days under the Priority Service. 

If you apply from inside the UK, you will get a decision within 8 weeks under the normal service and within 24 hours under the Super Priority Service. 

If you apply inside the UK and you do not meet the financial requirements and English language requirements, it currently takes about 12 months to get a decision.

You can add children to your application as dependants if both of the following apply:

• they are under 18 when you apply, or were under 18 when they were first granted leave 
• they do not live an independent life

Your child is living an independent life if, for example, they’ve left home, got married and had children.

If your child is from your previous relationship, you must prove that you have had the sole responsibility for the upbringing of your child for your child's application to be successful. 

You can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) as an unmarried partner either after completing 5 years of continuous residence in the UK with leave to enter or remain granted under the 5 years route or after completing 10 years of continuous residence in the UK with leave to enter granted under the 10 years route. 

Any time you previously spent in the UK under the 5-year route will count towards the qualifying period of 10 years when applying for ILR as a partner under the 10-year route, but not vice versa.

If you are an unmarried partner of your UK partner, you can apply for naturalisation 12 months after the ILR grant date, if you meet all the other eligibility requirements for naturalisation as a British Citizen. 

If you believe that the reasons for your UK unmarried partner visa application's refusal are unlawful and unjustified, you can challenge it by filing an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). Our specialist team of appeal lawyers can represent you in your immigration appeal to successfully challenge the refusal of your unmarried partner visa application. 

Where the applicant has to meet the minimum income threshold, the financial requirement can generally be met in the following 5 ways:

• Income from salaried or non-salaried employment of the partner (and/or the applicant if they are in the UK with permission to work). Depending on the employment history, this is referred to as Category A or Category B.
• Non-employment income, e.g. income from property rental or dividends from shares. This is referred to as Category C.
• Cash savings of the applicant’s partner and/or the applicant, above £16,000, held by the partner and/or the applicant for at least 6 months and under their control. This is referred to as Category D.
• State (UK or foreign), occupational or private pension of the applicant’s partner and/or the applicant. This is referred to as Category E.
• Income from self-employment, and income as a director or employee of a specified limited company in the UK, of the partner (and/or the applicant if they are in the UK with permission to work). This is referred to as Category F or Category G, depending on which financial year(s) is or are being relied upon.

Where the 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 of £29,000:

• Carer’s Allowance.
• Disability Living Allowance.
• Severe Disablement Allowance.
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
• Attendance Allowance.
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
• Armed Forces Independence Payment or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
• Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement, or War Disablement Pension under the War Pensions Scheme.
• Police Injury Pension.

If the applicant’s partner is receiving one of the above benefits or allowances on behalf of their child, the applicant will be able to qualify by meeting the financial requirement through “adequate maintenance.” The evidence required to demonstrate that the applicant’s partner is in receipt of a specified benefit or allowance is specified in Appendix FM-SE.

The Home Office UKVI will use the following formula to determine whether you meet the adequate maintenance requirement for your application for an unmarried partner visa UK:

A – B ≥ C (A minus B is greater than or equal to C)
Where:
A is the net income (after deduction of income tax and National Insurance contributions);
B is housing costs (Rent and Council Tax); and
C is the amount of Income Support an equivalent British family of that size can receive.

The applicant must provide specified evidence that there will be adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for the family, including other family members who are not included in the application but who live in the same household, which the family owns or occupies exclusively: accommodation will not be regarded as adequate if-

1. it is, or will be, overcrowded; or
2. it contravenes public health regulations.

Our partner visa solicitors will charge a reasonable fixed fee to handle your application for UK unmarried partner visa. Our fixed fee will cover all our work on your unmarried partner visa application until a decision is made by the Home Office on your application.

You can check our fixed fee for an unmarried partner visa UK by visiting our page - Our Fixed Fees For Family Visa Applications