UK civil partnership visa is for those individuals who are non-UK citizens but are in a civil partnership with a person who is a British Citizen or has indefinite leave to remain in the UK or has the right of abode. Such non-UK individuals can apply for the UK civil partnership visa to join and live with their partners in the UK. UK civil partnership  or UK marriage visa provides civil partners or spouses of British citizens an entry to the UK for a specified period of time. Applicants or their British partner on the behalf of the applicant can apply for the visa. If your partner in the UK is neither a British citizen nor has a settled status there and he/she is living in the UK on a visa with limited leave to remain then you cannot apply for a UK civil partnership or UK marriage visa to join your partner in the UK. However, you can apply as a dependent to join him/her in the UK.

Eligibility for the visa:

You and your British partner need to meet the following conditions in order to be eligible to apply for athe visa.

1. Both of you must be above 18 years of age.

2. Your partner must be a British Citizen or have indefinite leave to remain or the right of abode in the UK.

3. Your partner who is either a British citizen or has a settled status there is known as 'sponsor' because he must sponsor you for you to join him/her in the UK.

4. You must have met each other.

5. You must be in a legal civil partnership.

6. You need to prove that your relationship is genuine.

7. You must intend to live together permanently.

8. You have to prove that you will be able to support yourself or your partner is capable of meeting financial requirements of the two when you live in the UK.

9. You must pass a valid English language test.

10. You must get a medical certification of a test of Tuberculosis (TB) done in your country of origin to prove that you don't have the disease.

How to apply for the civil partnership visa?

You can apply from outside the UK or from inside the UK. Your partner in the UK can also apply for you on your behalf. Whether you apply from inside the UK or from outside the UK, you or your partner can apply online in both situations. If you are already in the UK on a different visa that allows you to live in the UK for more than 6 months, you can apply to switch to a  civil partnership visa. If you are already in the UK on a UK visitor visa, which is valid for 6 months or less, you cannot apply to switch to a UK civil partnership visa. You have to first leave the UK on or before your visa expires and then from your country of origin, you can apply to join your partner in the UK. You cannot apply as a fiance if you apply from inside the UK. When you or your partner is filling an online application, an appointment for you at a visa application centre must be taken. All the necessary documents and evidence also must be submitted when making an online application.

Financial requirements details

Your partner in the UK must meet the minimum amount per annum requirement in the form of either earning from a job or self-employment or savings to support the financial requirements of the two when both of you live together in the UK.  In case of savings, your saving amount in your country can be added with the savings of your partner in the UK to meet the minimum amount requirement. However, if you are earning in your country then that cannot be counted towards the minimum earning requirements. The minimum earning per annum is £18,600 before tax if only you are going to join your partner in the UK. If you are bringing a child with you also, the minimum earning per annum amount goes up by £3,800 for a single child. If more than 1 child is coming with you, the minimum earning per annum goes up by £2,400 for the second child and onwards. You are exempted from meeting the minimum income requirements in certain situations such as your partner in the UK has the benefits of disability living allowance, severe disablement allowance, industrial injuries disablement benefit, attendance allowance etc. In such situations, you only need to meet what is called "adequate maintenance" and the minimum amount for adequate maintenance is decided upon a case-to-case basis.

How long can you stay in the UK?

You will be granted the visa for 30 months if you apply from inside the UK and for 33 months if you apply from outside the UK. If you want to continue living in the UK, you can apply for an extension for another 2 years and 6 months after which you can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) provided you meet other conditions.

Impact of Brexit

Before Brexit all non-EU nationals needed to apply for a UK Family visa to join their British or settled in the UK partners while EU citizens could apply for an EEA family permit for the same purpose. Now, the situation has changed and all non-UK nationals will be treated equally.

How we can help?

Visa and migration have expertise and experience to help you in applying for a UK civil partnership visa from the beginning till the end. We ensure that you make the right visa application and in the right format with appropriate documents and information required. You can write to us or call us for any UK visa related services.

You can also follow us on social media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/visaandmigration/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/visamigrationuk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/visa-and-migration-a4aa9910b

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel