Choosing the right visa and starting a new life with your partner is certainly an experience of a lifetime. But before you shift to the UK, you must identify a few things that will help you to choose the right visa for yourself and your partner.
The purpose of your decision makes all the difference. While choosing between a fiancé visa and a spouse visa one must carefully go through the spouse and fiancé visa guidance to understand the difference between the two categories.
UK Fiance(e) Visa or a Spouse Visa? Which is better?
The purpose of your decision makes all the difference. The burning question is what do you want to choose? Do you wish to get married to your partner in the UK or outside the UK?
If you already possess British citizenship or settled status in the UK and prefer to marry your non-UK partner within the UK, then applying for a Fiance(e)/Proposed Civil Partner Visa for them to join you in the UK will probably be the right option for you.
However, saving time and money is your priority, you could also get married outside the UK, preferably where your partner is from and then your partner could apply for a Spouse Visa to enable them to come and join you in the UK.
The main point that differentiates UK Fiance(e) Visa and a Spouse Visa
While applying for the Spouse Visa you must prove that you are already staying with your partner for continuous 2 years before the application initiation and that your relationship is genuine and subsisting and you will enter into a civil partnership within 6 months of arriving in the UK.
You can also apply for a spouse visa extension that will allow you to further stay for 2 years and 6 months in the UK. And, with a Fiance visa, also, you will be able to switch to a marriage visa once you have married your partner and submit an application for leave to remain as a Spouse or a Civil Partner once you are married to your partner in the UK. You won’t be required to leave the UK and submit an application from your country of residence.
The application process for a UK Fiance(e) Visa and a Spouse Visa
The application process for both the UK Fiance(e) Visa and a Spouse Visa are similar since both are a part of the family visa category. All partner-Visa applications (i.e. as a Fiance(e), Spouse, a Proposed Civil Partner or a Civil Partner), must meet the requirements under Appendix FM of the UK Immigration Rules.
The process involves the following;
- To submit the application form online
- book the biometric appointment online(fingerprint and photographs to be taken)
- attend the biometric appointment at the applicant’s nearest UK visa citizenship application centre in their country of residence,
- pay the visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), if applicable,
- and submit all the relevant supporting documents as asked, either at the Visa Centre on their biometrics appointment date, or send to the Home Office.
Once you have lived in the UK continuously for 5 years with your partner on a family visa(spouse visa), you will be eligible to apply for Indefinite leave to remain in the UK and eventually for British citizenship. You must also ensure that all eligibility criteria are met, such as bearing a good character, passing the Life in the UK test, knowledge of English, etc.
Financial requirements to fulfil while applying for a UK Fiance(e) Visa
You will be required to furnish evidence that you can adequately sustain yourself and your partner in the UK without refuge to public funds accessing. You need to satisfy a minimum financial requirement.
The financial requirement for a UK Fiance visa application states that you will need to evidence that your partner has a total annual income of at least:
- £18,600
- £3,800 for a first-child, and
- £2,400 for each additional child
Take assistance from legal experts
Choosing the right visa category requires having adequate knowledge of the visa guidance. It would be beneficial to seek support from immigration experts. A Y & J Solicitors have successfully helped over 4000 clients with their bespoke immigration and visa advice from planning the applications to visa approvals.
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