Apply for UK Family Visa in 2024

The UK Family Visa allows you to immigrate to UK to join family members who are living in the UK. You can apply if you are a spouse, partner, child, parent, or relative needing long-term care. This visa lets you stay with your family in the UK for more than six months.

To apply, you must meet certain eligibility criteria and provide evidence of your relationship and financial support. You can apply from outside the UK or extend your stay if you are already there on a family visa.

Who can apply for UK Family Visa?

You need a family visa to live with a family member in the UK for more than 6 months. You can apply for UK Family Visa to live with your:

• Spouse or Partner.
• Fiancé, Fiancée or proposed Civil Partner.
• Child.
• Parent.
• Relative who will provide long-term care for you.

Check eligibility for a UK Family Visa

How to apply for UK Family Visa?

Apply for UK Family Visa as a Spouse or Partner

Eligibility requirements

To apply for UK Family Visa, you both need to be above 18 years old. Your spouse or partner in the UK must also either:

• Be a British or Irish Citizen.
• Have settled in the UK as a permanent resident.
• Be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status.
• Have a Turkish Businessperson Visa or Turkish Worker Visa.
• Have protection status in the UK.
• Have permission to stay as a stateless person.

You and your Spouse or Partner must also intend to live together permanently in the UK after you apply for UK Family Visa.

What you will need to prove

You must be able to prove one of the following:

• You are in a civil partnership or marriage that is recognized in the UK.
• You have been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years at the time of application.
• You are a fiancé, fiancée, or proposed civil partner and will marry or enter into a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months of arrival.
• You have been in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply, but cannot live together due to reasons such as working or studying in different locations, or cultural restrictions.

You will also need to prove that you:

• Have a good knowledge of English.
• Meet the financial requirements.

How to prove your relationship

To prove your relationship with your Spouse or Partner, you must send evidence that:

• Comes from a government entity, bank, landlord, utility provider, or medical professional.
• Confirms your relationship with your partner, such as living together, sharing expenses, or being married/in a civil partnership.
• Is less than 4 years old.

You can use documents like a marriage certificate, utility bills, or bank statements of joint accounts to support the claims you make. If you cannot live together because of work or study, or for cultural reasons, you will need to prove that you have an ongoing commitment to each other.

How long can you stay?

You can stay in the UK for up to 2 years and 9 months on the UK Family Visa. If you are moving to the UK as a Fiancé, Fiancée or proposed Civil Partner, you can stay for 6 months. After this, you will need to apply for an extension.

Application process

You will need to gather the documents and prepare information to provide with your visa application. How you apply for UK Family Visa, depends on whether you are applying from outside the UK or within the UK.

How long does it take?

If you apply outside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 24 weeks. If you apply inside the UK and meet the financial and English language requirements, you will usually receive a decision within 8 weeks. If you apply inside the UK and do not meet the financial and English language requirements, it takes about 12 months to receive a decision.

You may be able to pay to get super-priority service.

Applying with your children

You can add your children to the UK Family Visa application as dependents if they meet both the following conditions:

• They are under 18 when you apply.
• They don’t live an independent life.

Your child is living an independent life if, for example, they have left home, got married and started a family of their own.

Apply for UK Family Visa as a Child

You can apply for UK Family Visa as a Child to join your parents in the UK. You may not need this visa if at least one of your parent has an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or proof of permanent residence.

You were born outside the UK

Whether you can apply or not depends on your age and how your parents applied. You must live with your parent in the UK unless you are living away from home for full-time education. You must also be not married or be in a civil partnership.

You were born in the UK

You will get the same permission to stay as your parent if you were born in the UK. You can either be added to your parent's next application as a dependant or apply separately. You must live with your parent in the UK unless you are living away from home for full-time education. You must also be not married or be in a civil partnership.

If you apply separately from your parent

If you apply separately from your parent, you will need to include proof of your parent’s income. Their income has to meet the minimum financial requirements for their type of UK Family Visa.

Application process

You will need to gather the documents and prepare information to provide with your visa application. How you apply for UK Family Visa, depends on whether you are applying from outside the UK or within the UK.

How long does it take?

If you apply outside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 24 weeks. If you apply inside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 8 weeks. You may be able to pay to get super-priority service.

Apply for UK Family Visa as a Parent

You can apply for UK Family Visa as a Parent to live in the UK to take care of your child. If you are eligible to apply as a partner, you must do that instead of applying as a parent.

Eligibility requirements

Your child must be either:

• Be under 18 years old on the date you apply.
• Have been under 18 years old when were first granted leave.

Your child must:

• Live with you, unless they are living away from home for full-time education.
• Not be married or be in a civil partnership.

Your child must be living in the UK under one of the following statuses:

• They are a British or Irish Citizen.
• They have settled in the UK as a permanent resident.
• They are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status.
• If you are applying from within the UK, your child must have lived in the UK for 7 years continuously.

Parental responsibility

You need to have sole or shared responsibility for your child. If you share parental responsibility, the other partner must not be your partner. They must also either:

• Be a British or Irish Citizen.
• Have settled in the UK as a permanent resident.
• Be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status.

If your child lives with the other partner or caretaker, you must have access to meet the child in person - as agreed with the other parent or carer or by a court order.

What you will need to prove

You must be able to prove that you are actively taking part in your child’s upbringing. You must send evidence that:

• Comes from the government, school, or court.
• Shows you are living with or caring for your child.
• Is less than 4 years old.

You can use documents like a letter from your child’s school confirming you take them to school, a letter to your address from the local authority confirming your child’s school, or court order paperwork confirming that your child lives with you to support the claims you make.

You will also need to prove that you:

• Have a good knowledge of English.
• Meet the financial requirements.

How long can you stay?

You can stay in the UK for 2 years and 9 months on this visa. After this, you will need to apply to extend your stay. If you extend your UK Family Visa, you can stay in the UK for 2 years and 6 months.

Application process

You will need to gather the documents and prepare information to provide with your visa application. How you apply for UK Family Visa, depends on whether you are applying from outside the UK or within the UK.

How long does it take?

If you apply outside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 24 weeks. If you apply inside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 12 months. You may be able to pay to get super-priority service.

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Apply for UK Family Visa as an adult coming to be cared for by a relative

You must require long-term care from a parent, grandchild, sibling, or child who is permanently residing in the UK. Applications can only be made from outside the UK unless you are seeking to extend your stay on this visa.

Eligibility requirements

To apply for UK Family Visa, one of the following must also apply to the relative:

• They’re a British or Irish Citizen.
• They have settled in the UK as a permanent resident.
• They’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status.
• They have protection status in the UK.
• Have permission to stay as a stateless person.

What you will need to prove

You must prove that:

• You need long-term care to do everyday household and personal tasks because of illness, disability, or your age.
• You are over 18 years old.
• The care you need is not available or affordable in the country you live in.

You must also prove that the relative sponsoring you to join in the UK can accommodate and care for you either:

• The complete time your relative has permission to stay in the UK.
• 5 years, if your relative is a British Citizen or settled in the UK as a permanent resident.

Your relative must also have enough money to financially support you without relying on public funds.

How long can you stay?

How long can you stay, depends on the status of your relative in the UK. If they are British Citizens, Irish, or settled in the UK, your stay is unlimited. You will not need to apply for an extension. If your relative has a pre-settled status, you can stay in the UK as long as they stay in the UK. You will need to apply for an extension at the same time when (if) they do.

Application process

You will need to gather the documents and prepare information to provide with your visa application. How you apply for UK Family Visa, depends on whether you are applying from outside the UK or within the UK.

How long does it take?

If you apply outside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 24 weeks. If you apply inside the UK, you will usually receive a decision within 8 weeks. You may be able to pay to get super-priority service.

After you apply for UK Family Visa

You will need to visit a Visa Application Center (VAC) to attend an appointment to provide your biometric information. You will be notified by the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) on how and when to make the appointment.

Getting your documents back

You can request the UKVI to return your passport and other documents if you have submitted them with your application but need them urgently. However, you might have to cancel your application to retrieve your documents.

If your application is approved

You will be issued a biometric residence permit. With this, you can:

• Work
• Study

You cannot:

• Get benefits or other public funds for you or your dependents.
• Apply to settle in the UK (until you are eligible).

If you applied as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, you cannot work or study in the UK.

Extending your UK Family Visa

You can apply to extend your stay with your family member if you are already in the UK on a family visa.

You can extend at any time before your current permission to stay in the UK expires. If you are extending to stay with the same family member, you will only get up to 28 days left on your current stay added to your new visa.

You must live in the UK for a certain amount of time before becoming eligible for settlement (‘indefinite leave to remain’). Before extending your visa, check how much time you need to settle in the UK.

UK Family Visa Fees

The fee to apply for UK Family Visa depends on who you are joining and how you apply.

Cost for adults who need to be looked after by a relative

If they have temporary ‘protection status’ (permission to stay as a refugee or with humanitarian protection) it costs:

• £404 if you are applying from outside the UK.
• £1,048 if you are applying from inside the UK.

Otherwise, it costs:

• £3,250 if you are applying from outside the UK.
• £1,048 if you are applying from inside the UK.

If you cannot pay the fee, you may be eligible for a fee waiver in certain situations, such as if you cannot afford housing or your essential living costs.

Healthcare surcharge

You might also need to pay the healthcare surcharge as part of your UK Family Visa application.

For each adult (18 or older) it costs:

• £2,587.50 if you are staying for 2 years and 6 months
• £3,105 if you are staying for 2 years and 9 months
• £5,175 if you are staying for 5 years

For each child (under 18), it costs:

• £1,940 if you are staying for 2 years and 6 months
• £2,328 if you are staying for 2 years and 9 months
• £3,880 if you are staying for 5 years

Pay to get super-priority service

If you are applying from the UK, you may be able to pay an extra £1,000 for the super-priority service to get a faster decision. However, you cannot use the super priority service if you are applying as an adult coming to be cared for by a relative.

Need help?

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