Table Of Contents
- What if your relationship breaks down during a spouse visa
- Your options after your relationship breaks down during a UK Spouse Visa
- How to stay in the UK after your relationship breaks down during a spouse visa
- What if your relationship has broken down due to domestic violence or abuse
- Summary
If you are on a spouse visa and your relationship breaks down, for example, because you divorce or separate from your partner, you must usually tell the Home Office. In such a situation, you will be required to either apply to stay in the UK or leave. However, if your relationship breaks down due to domestic abuse or violence, you can immediately apply for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) even if you have not spent 5 years in the UK.
If, after telling the Home Office that you are separating or getting divorced, you decide to get back together, you will be required to update the Home Office.
What if your relationship breaks down during a spouse visa?
According to UK law, if your spouse visa ends because your relationship broke down, you will no longer be eligible to live in the UK after a divorce or separation, as your leave relies on your relationship with the UK sponsor. Therefore, you must apply for a new visa if you want to stay in the UK. You can apply as soon as possible after your relationship breaks down. You should not wait until your current spouse visa expires.
If you separate from your spouse or partner or your relationship breaks down, you will be subject to a Spouse Visa curtailment, meaning your visa will be cut short because your spouse visa is only valid as long as your relationship is genuine and ongoing.
The Home Office will usually give you 60 days to either make arrangements to leave the UK or apply for a new visa to remain here. You must tell the Home Office as early as possible that your marriage has ended.
If you overstay in the UK on a cancelled spouse visa, it can have dire consequences for you in the long run, including immediate deportation, facing a conviction of immigration fraud, and being barred from reapplying to the UK.
Your options after your relationship breaks down during a UK Spouse Visa?
After telling the Home Office of your relationship breakdown, you will be required to check what your eligibility is to continue staying in the UK.
You will normally have 60 days to either apply for a new visa to stay in the UK (such as a work visa or a fresh family visa) or start making arrangements to leave the UK. You can apply for settlement in the UK anytime after your relationship has broken down permanently due to domestic violence or abuse.
Note that if the validity of your spouse visa is already less than 60 days when you told the Home Office of your relationship breakdown, the expiry date of your spouse visa will remain as it is.
In such a situation, the Home Office may decide to either curtail your visa immediately without giving you the 60-day grace period, or allow for a longer curtailment period.
Longer curtailment periods are usually only given in exceptional circumstances, such as if you have been a victim of domestic abuse or domestic violence.
The exact options available to you will depend on your exact circumstances, as the UK Home Office offers many different visa pathways.
How to stay in the UK after your relationship breaks down during a spouse visa?
If you want to stay in the UK after your spouse visa curtailment, you will be required to apply for a new immigration status. Some common options available include:
• A work visa, such as the UK Skilled Worker visa or Health and Care Worker visa
• A fresh family visa, either:
o As a parent of a child who is British, settled in the UK, or has lived here for a minimum of 7 years
o Based on your private life, such as on the basis that you are aged between 18 and 24 and have spent half or more than half of your life in the UK, or if you are aged 18 or over, have lived less than 20 years in the UK and would have to face significant problems living in the country you would have to go to
• The EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme), as long as you have retained right of residence. A retained right of residence is a legal right that allows certain non-UK family members of a citizen of the EU, other EEA nations (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), or Switzerland to continue living in the UK even after their relationship with that citizen has ended or changed.
• ILR or settlement, if you have spent 10 years continuously in the UK (10-year Long Residence route) on a family visa or in a combination of different immigration categories
If you are unable to meet eligibility for a suitable immigration route, you will most likely have to leave the UK once the 60-day curtailment period expires.
What if your relationship has broken down due to domestic violence or abuse?
If your relationship while you are in the UK on a spouse visa has broken down due to domestic violence or abuse, you may still be able to stay in the UK. The Immigration Rules allow victims of domestic abuse to apply for ILR any time after their relationship breaks down due to domestic abuse.
You can usually apply for ILR under the domestic abuse route if you are in the UK on a spouse visa as a spouse/partner of a British citizen or a person who is settled in the UK, your relationship has permanently broken down because of domestic abuse, and you meet the relevant requirements of the Immigration Rules.
If your ILR application is successful, you will be allowed to live and work in the UK permanently.
Summary
If your relationship breaks down during a spouse visa, it can have significant immigration consequences because your visa is based on your relationship with your British or settled partner.
You must tell the Home Office about the breakdown of your relationship, after which your spouse visa may be cancelled (curtailed). If you want to stay in the UK, you may be able to switch to another visa. You may be eligible for settlement instead if your relationship ended because of domestic violence or abuse, or you qualify under the 10-year Long Residence route.
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