10 tips to help with your spouse visa application

Posted onDecember 17, 2025

Given the importance of obtaining a Spouse Visa to so many families, our team of specialist UK Immigration Solicitors have put together a list of ten tips to help you secure your Family Visa.

Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Spouse Visa and Immigration Legal Advice.

Here are the top ten tips from our Spouse Visa Solicitors for a successful Family Visa application:

Check if you need to apply for your visa from outside the UK

If you are already in the UK on a different visa, you may be able to switch to a Spouse Visa without leaving the UK to submit your Family Visa application from overseas. It’s best to check this, as applying from within the UK could save you money and avoid the need for family separation while you travel overseas and await a successful visa application.

Understand your sponsoring partner's status in the UK

If you are applying for a Family Visa, your partner needs to sponsor your application. To qualify as a sponsor, your partner must be:

A British citizen, or
A person with settled status - this could be Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), permanent residence or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or
A person with refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK.

If you are unsure if your sponsor qualifies, our Immigration Solicitors in London can check and advise you on your visa application.

If your partner has not yet secured Indefinite Leave to Remain, our Immigration Lawyers can advise on settlement eligibility and help them obtain ILR as soon as possible. It's important that they apply for ILR as quickly as possible, as the UK government plans to extend the time required for many visa holders to obtain ILR.

If your partner does not qualify for ILR yet, then you may be eligible to come to the UK on:

A Dependant Visa – provided your partner is eligible to sponsor a dependant on their visa.
A main visa – provided you meet the criteria, such as the eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker Visa or Health and Care Worker Visa.
Check that your marriage or civil partnership is recognised in the UK

Your marriage will usually be recognised in the UK, provided you have followed the correct procedure to marry or enter a civil partnership in the country where your ceremony took place.

If your relationship is not legally recognised but you plan to marry abroad or enter a civil partnership, and then apply for a Spouse Visa or Civil Partnership Visa to join your partner in the UK, you need to ensure you understand the requirements in the country where you intend to marry. Your partner may need to provide UK documents, depending on which country the marriage will take place.

Demonstrate that you intend to stay in the UK permanently

When you apply for a Family Visa, you must demonstrate that you intend to live together permanently in the UK. That will involve your having some plans for where you will live in the UK to meet the accommodation requirement.

Consider how you will prove your knowledge of the English language

One of the Spouse Visa eligibility criteria is demonstrating sufficient knowledge of English. If you need to sit an English language test, you may need to take some time to study before sitting the test. Before studying for the test, check whether you are exempt.

You will be exempt from sitting the English language test if:

You are from a majority English-speaking country on the Home Office list. The list includes Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, and Caribbean nations.
You have recognised academic qualifications that exempt you from sitting the test.
You are over 65.
You have a health condition that means you are unable to sit the test.
Work out whether you and your sponsor meet the minimum income requirement

Proving that you meet the minimum income requirement for a Family Visa can be the most stressful aspect of the Spouse Visa application process.

In a first Spouse Visa application, your income is usually not considered when assessing whether you meet the financial requirement. Instead, the focus will be on your spouse’s income.

The current minimum income requirement for a Family Visa is £29,000 gross per year. This figure does not increase if dependent children accompany you. If your sponsor receives specified state benefits, they will be exempt from meeting the £29,000 income requirement.

If you or your sponsor has cash savings over £16,000, you may be able to meet the financial requirement solely with cash or partially by combining evidence of cash savings with income below £29,000.

If your sponsor cannot meet the minimum income requirement through income or capital, an expert Spouse Visa Solicitor may be able to demonstrate exceptional circumstances that could mean that refusing your Family Visa application would breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Convention guarantees the right to family and private life. Consulting a Spouse Visa Solicitor with expertise in Article 8 claims can help you obtain a Family Visa on your first application. If you have had a previous application refused, it may be necessary to plead exceptional circumstances, depending on the reasons for the earlier refusal.

Make sure your application includes any Human Rights claims

The best UK Immigration Solicitors will prepare your Family Visa application with the intention to use your application as the basis for an appeal if the Home Office refuse your visa application.

That approach is necessary because, since 2015, there have been only limited opportunities to appeal a refusal of a Spouse Visa application. One way you can appeal is on Human Rights grounds.

OTS Solicitors are very experienced in immigration and Human Rights law, guaranteeing the right to private and family life. Our team of Immigration Lawyers in London will ensure your application is drafted in the best way possible to give you the right of appeal should the initial decision be a refusal.

Get the best documents to support your visa application

As with any other UK visa application, your spouse visa application must be supported by extensive documentation. This includes documentation relating to the minimum income requirement. Gathering this documentation in advance will help your application run more smoothly.

If you don’t meet the Spouse Visa requirements

If you don’t meet the Spouse Visa requirements, you may still be able to apply to come to the UK, or extend your existing visa if you have a child in the UK who is a British Citizen or who has lived here for seven years, and it would be unreasonable for them to leave the UK. You can also apply to stay if there are significant and insurmountable difficulties for you and your partner to live outside the UK as a couple.

Instruct a specialist Immigration Solicitor to assist you with your application

Applying for a UK visa can be complicated. Spouse Visa applications are challenging because, both practically and emotionally, so much depends on getting a Family Visa. If you are living apart from your partner, you are likely desperate to reunite. It’s even more stressful and time-constrained if you have children living with one or the other of you. Family life is almost impossible when conducted via Skype or Facebook – hardly conducive to your or your children's best interests.

A solicitor with Spouse Visa expertise can help you prepare an application that meets all eligibility criteria and provides the Home Office with the information and paperwork they need to carefully assess your application and grant it.

OTS Solicitors are recommended in the 2026 editions of Legal 500 and Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession.

Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Specialist Family Visa and Settlement Immigration Advice.

Appointments are available at our London office and via phone or online consultation.

Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil, Tagalog/Ilonggo, and Urdu/Punjabi.

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