Fiancé & Proposed Civil Partner Visa

To gain permission to enter the UK through the fiancé visa you will need to satisfy the following requirements.

1. Have a sponsor as referred to above

2. Both parties to the relationship must be aged 18 or over at the date of application and not be within the prohibited degree of relationship.

3. You and your partner must have met in person.

4. You must intend to marry or enter a civil partnership within the duration of the visa (6 months). You should note that the 6 months will run from the date the visa is issued, not the date of entry to the UK.

5. You must intend to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner following the marriage or civil partnership.

6. Any previous relationship of the applicant or their partner must have broken down permanently.

7. The applicant must meet a specific financial requirement (read more below).

8. The couple must be able to accommodate themselves and any dependants adequately without additional recourse to public funds both before and after the ceremony.

9. The applicant must demonstrate a minimum competence in the English language. This is met through being a citizen of a specified country, holding a degree level qualification that was taught in English, or by passing an approved English language test to level A1. To extend a spouse visa applicant's must demonstrate English language at level A2, and B1 for indefinite leave to remain.

The financial rules apply equally across all partner visa types. In other words, the requirements for a fiancé visa are the same as for spouse or civil partner visa.

We set out below a summary of the main rules but more detailed information can be found on our spouse visa page.

Applicants must show that they meet certain minimum income or savings thresholds to qualify for the visa. These income requirements are due to significantly increase on 11 April.

Since 11 April 2024, the minimum earning requirement is £29,000 p.a. There are no additional increments for children. 

Acceptable sources of income are:

- employment or self-employment of the sponsor;

- certain permitted sources other than employment, such as rent from property, ongoing payments from insurance policies, e.g. income protection;

- state or private pensions of the sponsor; or

- maternity allowances or bereavement benefits received in the UK.

Shortfalls in income can be made up from savings in excess of £16,000. 

If your sponsor does not have an income, the amount of savings you need to hold rises to £88500.

Applicants will be exempt from these financial requirements if their UK sponsor receives a specified disability related benefit or carer’s allowance. In these circumstances, it is necessary to show that the couple can still maintain and accommodate themselves without additional recourse to public funds.

For those who were granted a fiancé visa prior to 11 April 2024, they will remain subject to an £18600 financial requirement through to settlement unless for example they do not renew their visa or apply to stay in the UK with a different sponsor.

The fiancé or proposed civil partner visa can only be obtained from outside the UK. It is not possible to obtain this visa from within the UK. 

The process involves submission of an online application and uploading specified evidence, attendance at a biometric appointment and potentially an interview which is rare but you must be prepared for.

Applicants from certain specified countries may be required to undertake a tuberculosis test.

Processing times depend on the circumstances of the case. Standard applications will typically take between 1-6 months. Priority submissions take up to 25 working days to process.

UK visa fee - £1846

Priority fee - £500

Some (but not all) British visa application centres around the world normally offer a ‘Priority Service’.

This is an additional cost service that will place your application at the front of the processing queue. 

Applicants are not required to pay an Immigration Health Surcharge fee (IHS fee) for a fiancé visa. However, they will need to pay the IHS fee when switching to the spouse or civil partner routes.

We are a full service immigration law firm and can be contacted to represent you with an application for a fiancé visa.

If you would like to discuss your application for a fiancé visa in more detail, please contact us on +44 (0)20 7038 3980, email us at info@rlegal.com or use our online enquiry form.