Table Of Contents:
- Who is an Unmarried Partner?
- Who Can Apply?
- The Immigration Status of the UK Partner
- Key Eligibility Requirements
- Relationship Requirements
- Financial Requirement
- Accommodation Requirement
- English Language Requirement
- Let’s Summarise
The Unmarried Partner Visa is not an official visa but a way to apply as an unmarried partner under the UK Family Immigration Route. This visa is for a foreign national wishing to join their long-term partner in the UK, where their partner is a British Citizen or a person with settled status (also known as ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain‘). For this visa, the couple must have been in a relationship akin to a marriage or civil partnership for at least 2 years before the applicant applies for an Unmarried Partner Visa.
As part of the application process, applicant will need to be prepared to meet the high evidentiary requirements to prove the genuineness and durability of their relationship and that they are financially stable.
Who is an Unmarried Partner?
An unmarried partner, as defined in the Immigration Rules (paragraph 6.2), is a person’s partner, where the couple have been in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership for at least 2 years.
Unmarried partners include same-sex partners, fiancé(e)s or proposed civil partners.
Who Can Apply?
A person can apply for an Unmarried Partner Visa if:
• Their partner is a British citizen or holds settled status in the UK.
• The applicant and their partner have lived together in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years.
• The applicant and their partner intend to live together permanently in the UK.• They successfully meet the maintenance, adequate accommodation, and proficiency in the English language requirements.
The Immigration Status of the UK Partner
To qualify as an unmarried partner of a person in the UK, the partner in the UK must be one of the following:
• British or Irish citizen in the UK;
• Someone with ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain), settled status under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme), or permanent residence in the UK;
• Someone with pre-settled status under the EUSS;
• Someone with a Turkish Worker Visa or Turkish Businessperson Visa under Appendix ECAA;
• Someone with refugee or humanitarian protection status in the UK.
Key Eligibility Requirements
Applying for a UK Unmarried Partner Visa requires meeting specific eligibility requirements designed to ensure that applicants are in genuine and ongoing relationships.
1. Age Requirement
Both partners must be aged over 18 on the date of application.
2. Relationship Requirements
The relationship requirements are the following:
a. The couple must have been in a relationship for at least 2 years, and their relationship must be similar to a marriage or civil partnership.
b. Any previous relationships must have broken down
c. The partners must have met in person
d. The partners must intend to live together permanently
e. The relationship must be genuine and subsisting
Requirement of Having Been in a Relationship for at Least 2 Years
The requirement of living together physically for at least 2 years has been removed from the Immigration Rule. However, the requirement of having been in a relationship with each other where the relationship is akin to marriage or civil partnership and is recognised in the UK for 2 years or more before the application date continues to apply.
Any previous relationships must have broken down
For a UK Unmarried Partner Visa, if the applicant and/or their partner were previously in a relationship with someone else, it must have broken down permanently before the date of application.
A relationship is considered to have broken down where any of the following apply:
• The other person in the relationship has died
• The marriage or civil partnership has ended as a result of divorce or dissolution
• The marriage, civil partnership, or durable partnership has ended in separation
The partners must have met in person
The applicant applying as an unmarried partner for the first time will be asked on the application form whether they have met in person and when. The Home Office will check their answer.
In most cases, if the applicant says the couple has met, they will not need to provide specific evidence, as evidence of a durable relationship will show that the partners have met in person. Where the applicant says the couple have not met, the Home Office will contact the applicant and make further enquiries.
The partners must intend to live together permanently
The applicant applying as an unmarried partner for the first time will require a clear commitment from both partners that they will live together permanently in the UK immediately after their Unmarried Partner Visa application is approved or as soon as circumstances permit thereafter.
The relationship must be genuine and subsisting
To qualify as an unmarried partner, the applicant is required to provide evidence that both they and their sponsoring partner are in a genuine and subsisting relationship before the date of application.
Each relationship is unique and therefore the Home Office considers each relationship on its own facts. Cultural and religious practices may prevent partners from living together, and hence it becomes relevant when the Home Office is assessing whether a relationship is genuine and subsisting.
2. Financial Requirement
The applicants applying for a UK Unmarried Partner Visa on or after 11 April 2024 must show that their sponsor and/or their combined gross annual income (from eligible sources) is £29,000 or more. The amount is inclusive of any dependant children. If they rely on cash savings, the applicant will need to show combined savings of £16,000 or more held for at least 6 months.
The applicant will be exempt from satisfying the financial requirements if the sponsoring partner is receiving one or more of the following:
(i) Disability Living Allowance; or
(ii) Severe Disablement Allowance; or
(iii) Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit; or
(iv) Attendance Allowance; or
(v) Carer’s Allowance; or
(vi) Personal Independence Payment; or
(vii) Armed Forces Independence Payment or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; or
(viii) Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement or War Disablement Pension under the War Pensions Scheme; or
(ix) Police Injury Pension; or
(x) Child Disability Payment (Scotland); or
(xi) Adult Disability Payment (Scotland); or
(xii) Carer’s Support Payment (Scotland); or
(xiii) Pension Age Disability Payment (Scotland); or
(xiv) Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (Scotland)
3. Accommodation Requirement
The applicant must show that suitable accommodation will be there in the UK without recourse to public funds. The accommodation must be for the family, including other family members who are not included in the application but who live in the same household, which the family owns or occupies exclusively. Accommodation will not be considered adequate if:
(a) Either it is, or will be, overcrowded; or
(b) It contravenes the UK’s public health regulations.
4. English Language Requirement
Unless exempt, the person applying as an unmarried partner must demonstrate that they fulfill the proficiency in the English language requirement to at least CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) level A1.
The English language requirement is met if the applicant:
- Is a national of a ‘specified’ majority English-speaking country such as Australia, the USA, Canada, or New Zealand
- Has passed an English language test with a test provider approved by the Secretary of State in speaking and listening at a minimum of CEFR level A1
- Has either a Bachelor’s degree, or Master’s degree, or a PhD from an educational establishment in the UK; or, if from an educational establishment outside the UK, is deemed by Ecctis to be equivalent to the recognised standard of a Bachelor’s degree, or Master’s degree, or a PhD in the UK, and Ecctis has confirmed that the applicant’s degree was taught or researched in English to CEFR level A1 or above.
Let’s Summarise
Under Immigration Rules – Appendix FM, a non-British partner of a person who is a British citizen or is settled in the UK can apply for a UK Unmarried Partner Visa to join or remain with their partner. Historically, unmarried partners needed to provide evidence of cohabitation for at least two years in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership. Now, this is no longer essential, provided the relationship in question is shown to be genuine and subsisting for at least two years.
Applicants of the UK Unmarried Partner Visa must still meet all other eligibility requirements under Appendix FM, including, but not limited to, fulfilling the financial requirement, suitable accommodation in the UK requirement, and the knowledge of the English language requirement.
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