Civil Partner Visa in London

To gain permission to live in the UK under a civil partner visa you will need to satisfy the following requirements.

1. The sponsor must be either:

• a British Citizen in the UK;
• hold indefinite leave to remain;
• hold EU pre-settled status; or
• be in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection.

2. The parties to the relationship must be aged 18 and not be related within the prohibited degrees of a relationship.

3. The civil partners must have met in person.

4. The civil partners must show that they are in a genuine and subsisting relationship and that they intend to live permanently with each other.

5. The civil partnership must be valid, i.e. recognised by UK law.

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

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

8. The couple must be able to accommodate themselves and any dependants adequately without additional recourse to public funds.

9. The applicant must demonstrate a minimum competence in the English language. This can be done either by being a citizen of a specified, English-speaking country, holding a degree-level qualification that was taught in English, or by passing an approved English language test to level A1.

Meeting the financial requirements for a civil partner visa can be complex. The couple must show that they meet a minimum income and / or savings threshold to qualify for the visa. Further, the financial requirements changed on 11 April 2024 and the rules for people who already had a partner visa before that date are different to those that apply to people who applied after that date. We set out below a summary of the main points to be aware of but recommend that you seek legal advice regarding the best way to meet the requirement.

Applications pre-11 April 2024

Couples who applied for a civil partner visa before 11 April 2024 need to meet the following requirements for both an extension and for indefinite leave to remain:

• an annual income of £18,600 before tax; and
• an additional annual income of £3,800 for the first child being sponsored and £2,400 per additional child

The additional income requirement does not apply to British children or those that are already settled in the UK.

Applications post-11 April 2024

Couples applying after 11 April 2024 now need to meet the current income threshold of £29,000 per annum.

There are now no additional income requirements for dependant children.

Acceptable income

There are several sources of income that may be used to meet the financial requirement for a civil partner visa. These include income from:

• employment;
• self-employment (i.e. sole trader);
• a Directorship of a limited company (or overseas equivalent);
• property rental;
• a pension;
• dividends or other investment income; or
• a maintenance grant or stipend.

Savings may also be used either in place of a regular income or in addition to a low income. The savings must be:

• held in cash for a continuous period of 6 months;
• in the name of the applicant, the sponsor or the couple jointly; and
• available for instant withdrawal.

Savings may not be combined with income from self-employment or with income from employment as the director of a specified limited company.

Couples who applied for a civil partner visa before 11 April 2024 need to show savings of up to £62,500. Couples who applied after 11 April 2024 will need to show savings of up to £88,500.

Applicants will be exempt from a specific income threshold if their partner receives a specified public benefit (for example, Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments). The couple, however, must still meet an ‘adequate maintenance’ test which requires them prove that they will be able to support the sponsored partner without further recourse to public funds. In reality, this means demonstrating that they have an income that matches how much a British family unit would receive if they were in receipt of income support.

For those applying from outside the UK

An applicant needs to complete an electronic application form, supply supporting documentation (some of which may be specified) and attend a visa application centre to provide biometrics (i.e. a digital fingerprint scan and photograph of the applicant’s face).

Nationals of some countries may need to complete a mandatory tuberculosis testing (TB)

It can take up to 60-working days (12 weeks) to process a civil partner visa through the Standard Service. Subject to availability, applicant’s may have the option of paying an additional fee for the Priority Settlement Service. This service reduces the processing time to 30-working days (6 weeks). At present, there is no one-day Super Priority Service available for partner applications submitted outside of the UK.

For those applying in the UK

The application process is similar for applications submitted from within the UK.

Standard Service applications are normally processed within 8 weeks of biometric submission. There is also the option of  paying for the Super Priority Service which has a 24-hour processing time.

For some inexplicable reason, the 5-day Priority Service is not available for partner applications submitted either inside or outside of the UK. This service is only available for work and study visas.

Outside the UK

Visa application fee (mandatory): £2,064  (processing time of up to 60-working days).

Priority Settlement Service fee (optional): £500 (processing time of up to 30-working days).

Please note, not all overseas visa application centres offer the ‘Priority Settlement Service’.

Inside the UK

Visa application fee (Standard Service): £1,407 (processing time of up to 8 weeks)

Visa application fee (Super Priority Service): £2,407 (processing time of 24 hours following the biometric appointment)

Immigration Health Surcharge

In addition to the application and optional priority fees, applicants for a UK civil partner visa must also pay a mandatory Immigration Health Surcharge fee. This fee is calculated at a rate of £1,035 per year (or £517.50 per 6-month increment) for the life of the visa. A Civil Partner visa from outside of the UK is issued for a period 2 years and 9 months and attracts an IHS fee of £3,105. A Civil Partner visa from within the UK is issued for 2 years and 6 months which means the IHS fee is £2517.50.

To qualify for indefinite leave to remain (permanent residence or settlement) through a UK Civil Partner visa, an applicant must:

• have completed 5 years continuous lawful residence with a UK Civil Partner visa;
• the relationship with their civil partner must be subsisting and both parties must intend to live together permanently;
• continue to meet the financial and accommodation requirements;
• not have any unspent criminal convictions (including motoring offences) or civil judgements;
• have passed the Life in the UK Test; and
• demonstrate a higher level of competence in the English language at level B1 (increasing to level B2 from March 2027).

The immigration lawyers at RLegal can help with your UK Civil Partner visa. We are available to discuss your case in confidence and we will ensure that you are in a position to submit a successful Civil Partnership visa. If you decide to instruct us to assist with your application, we will provide legal advice to help you understand the laws as they apply to you. We will also take over the application process on your behalf by advising you at each stage, collating the supporting documents and preparing and finalising the application.

We have been assisting individuals with Civil Partnership and similar types of partner visa for decades. RLegal was established in 2002 and the Partners were representing clients for a decade before that. The firm is recommended by the Legal 500.