Spouse Visa unmarried partner
It is possible to join your unmarried partner in the UK.
You will need to evidence genuine, subsisting and durable relationship together.
Genuine means it is real and not something that is a sham marriage designed to dishonestly gain UK immigration papers. Usually if a marriage is conducted very quickly or in the final 3 months of a UK visa due to expire, between relatives or parties that do not share the same language or ethnicity the Home Office is likely to make further assessments.
Subsisting means that the parties continue to have the claimed relationship. In some cases where the couple do not live together perhaps due to long distances or other factors many months have passed and there is no evidence of continued relationship. This could lead to a refusal if adequate recent evidence is not provided of communication, visitation and other on-going ties.
Durable means that the relationship is likely to continue. The visa or leave to remain is given for a future period, currently 30 months. The Home Office (“HO”) or the Entry Clearnce Officer (ECO) has to believe this relationship will continue.
It is quite easy to not provide sufficient evidence as many feel that a few wedding photographs and communication screen shots would be more than enough. The HO or ECO will simply believe without scepticism. They are of course shocked when they get refused.
Use our Spouse Visa Guide for country and nationality specific details.
I am a Malaysian living in singapore and I have been in a long distance relationship with my partner who is a British for 6 years. I would like to apply for an unmarried partner visa. Is this possible as we have not been living under the same roof for 2 years.
Good afternoon!
I’m a British citizen and I’d like to sponsor my unmarried partner, who’s Moroccan, to come and live with me in the UK and have the right to work.
My partner lives in Spain and has Spanish residency documents. I have lived in Spain on and off for a few years so we met here in Barcelona in March 2021. We have never lived together. We are very much in love and I will be settling in the UK as a secondary school teacher with an excellent salary.
Is it possible for my Moroccan partner, who has the Spanish resident card, to come and live in the UK without getting married and for her to work in the UK? How difficult is this to achieve?
Many thanks!