Moving to the UK
If you have a partner, spouse or fiancé(e) who is living in the UK, or about to move to the UK, you may qualify to settle (live) in the UK as their dependant.
There are various scenarios:
…you are planning to marry or to have a Civil Partnership ceremony in the UK and wish to stay on in the UK to live
…you are already married to your spouse, or are a Civil Partner of a British Citizen (or someone who has permission to live permanently in the UK)
…you are a long-term unmarried partner of a British Citizen (or someone who has permission to live permanently in the UK).
Requirements
There are multiple requirements to be met in order to qualify for a settlement visa. These include:
- both parties being over 18
- evidence that one party has permission to reside permanently in the UK and is already settled there or will become settled at the same time as his/her partner
- for fiancé(e)s/civil partnerships and spouses: providing evidence of the pending marriage/civil partnership (such as ceremony arrangements) or existing marriage/civil partnership (such as a certificate)
- for unmarried partners: providing evidence of having lived together in a relationship ‘akin to marriage’ for two years or more
- providing evidence of the history of the relationship
- providing evidence that the parties have met in person
- providing evidence that sufficient money will be available to maintain the party requiring the visa
- providing evidence of accommodation arrangements
There is also a requirement to pass a test on ‘Life in the UK’, and an oral English test before permanent residency (‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’) is granted, but in many cases you can be granted an initial visa to live in the UK for 27 months and take these tests during these first 27 months. You’ll find info on the English requirement and Knowledge of Life test in our blog. An additional requirement before Indefinite Leave to Remain can be granted is that you have no unspent criminal convictions.
How we can help
As some of the longest, most elaborate and expensive of UK visa applications, we will guide you as to which type of settlement visa to apply for, prepare it for you, or help you prepare your own. In either case we will walk you through it step by step.
See our ‘Top 5 tips for a successful settlement application’ and ‘Marrying a Brit – 5 things to know about visas’ in our Top Tips Blog.