Applying For A Family Visa? We Promise

A family visa allows a non-British citizen to live with a family member in the UK for more than 6 months.

If you are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you can apply for the free EU Settlement Scheme. You must have started living in the UK before 1st January 2021. If eligible, this means you would not need to get a family visa.

Irish citizens do not need to apply for a visa or EU Settlement Scheme to work in the UK.

When applying for a family visa, you must be staying with a:

• Spouse or partner
• Fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner
• Child
• Parent
• Relative who’ll provide long-term care for you

If planning to stay less than 6 months, you should check if you instead need a Standard Visitor or Marriage Visitor visa.

If you originally came to the UK with a different visa, you can switch to a family visa to stay with your:

• Spouse or partner
• Child
• Parent

You can switch to this at any time as long as your current visa is still valid.

Knowledge of English

When applying, you must ensure that you can speak, read, write and understand English. There are a number of qualifications that prove you can do this, including GCSEs or degrees taught in English.

Furthermore, there are a number of countries where citizens do not have to prove their knowledge of English. For a full list of these countries, visit GOV.UK.

To apply for a family visa from outside of the UK, you must apply online.

When applying, you’ll need to provide information that supports your claims to need a family visa. This will change depending on the scenario you are in. Listed below are some examples of evidence you may need to provide in certain scenarios:

• Applying to be with your spouse or partner – proof that your relationship is genuine (i.e. marriage certificates, bank statements, voting register confirmation etc.)
• Applying to be with your child – proof that you are playing an active role in your child’s life (i.e. letter from your child’s school confirming your presence; court order paperwork confirming that your child lives with you etc.)
• Being cared for by a relative – proof that you need long-term care and that it is not available or affordable in the country you currently reside in

In some cases, you may need to provide other documents. Some examples include a criminal record certificate or tuberculosis test results. These other documents will depend entirely on where you are coming from and who with.

When applying for a family visa, you must have money for the following:

• An application fee – this can range from £1,048 to £3,250
• Healthcare surcharge – this can range from £1,175 to £3,120

The range of these fees depends on your specific scenario. For a breakdown of our prices for helping with a family visa, visit our immigration pricing page.

It usually takes around 24 weeks for the Home Office to send a response to your family visa application. If you are applying from inside the UK, it will likely take around 8 weeks.

The Home Office may require more time to process your application if:

• Documents need to be verified
• They need to interview you
• Personal circumstances complicate the process (e.g. criminal convictions)

If you’re applying from within the UK, you can pay an extra £800 for a quicker decision through the super priority service.

There are a number of reasons why your application may have been refused. This could be due to:

• The application form being incomplete or invalid
• Fee payments not made
• Your criminal or immigration history invalidated your application

If your application was refused, you may apply for an administrative review of the Home Office’s decision. You have up to 28 days to file this request if outside the UK or, alternatively, 14 days if within the UK. If this is refused, you can submit a judicial review to further this.

We highly recommend consulting an experienced immigration solicitor if your application is denied. We can help explore other options or assist in submitting forms to question why your appeal was refused. This can save you time and expenses in the long term, purely by letting our solicitors do the work for you.