Bringing Your Spouse to the UK — A Requirement Guide

Are you thinking to bring your spouse to the UK? You need to fill out all sorts of forms, submit applications, and fulfill certain requirements to complete the spouse visa process. This can be extremely exhausting. This is why everyone needs a good immigration lawyer to breeze through this tedious process.

This blog will list some requirements for spouse visa in the UK.

What is a Spouse Visa?

A spouse visa, also known as a marriage visa, allows people married to UK citizens to immigrate to the UK. For instance, a person who is a resident of the UK without any immigration restrictions on their stay in the UK.

Requirements

To qualify for a UK spouse visa or marriage visa, the spouse must meet the following criteria:

• Both parties must be 18-years-old or over.
• Both parties must have met each other and have been legally married on their own accord.
• Both parties must intend to cohabitate permanently.
• At least one party, must be financially well off to support themselves, the spouse, and any dependents without making a claim for public funds.
• The party sponsoring must have an annual income over £18,600 or an equivalent amount in their savings. Note that this financial requirement of minimum funds is higher if any dependents are also being sponsored.

How to Apply?

You can apply for a spouse visa from within the UK or from overseas. And if you are already have a fiancé visa, work visa, or student visa that is valid more than six months, you can make the switch to a spouse visa.

How Long Does It Take?

The average time for a spouse visa application to process ranges between 2 to 12 weeks starting from the date the application is submitted to the UKBA. This process time varies according to the country where you submitted the spouse visa application.

Does a Spouse Visa Allow Employment?

Once you are granted the visa, you can work and study in the UK.

The English Language Requirement

When applying for a spouse visa, the immigrating party must be able to prove that they can speak and understand English.

This English language requirement must be met if:

• The immigrating party’s country of nationality lies outside the European economic area and Switzerland.
• The immigrating party is involved in a relationshipwith a person settled in the UK or is a British citizen.
• The immigrating party wants to immigrate as the person’s spouse to the UK.

Note: If the immigrating party does not hold a nationality of a major English speaking country, or does not possess an English taught degree; then they must pass an English language test from a recognised testing institution.

If you need to use this information to begin your married life, consult a lawyer that specialises in spouse visas. If you are a fiancé or a spouse looking to make arrangements in the UK with your spouse, our services are certainly what you need.

At Wembley Solicitors, we specialise in spouse and fiancé visa, immigration law, and family law. We pride ourselves on helping people start a new life as a newly married couple in the UK.