Family Visa UK (Apply To Stay With UK Family Members)

Family visa UK applications are applications made under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules to stay in the UK with the UK qualifying family members. The family visa applications include an application for stay as a spouse/partner, an application for stay as a parent of a qualifying child, an application for stay as a child of a British or settled person, an application for stay as an Adult Dependent Relative (ADR) and various other applications based on family life with a UK qualifying sponsor.

Most family visas from outside the UK can be applied through Priority Service for a decision on your family visa application within 30 working days.

Most family visa applications from inside the UK can be submitted through Super Priority Service to get a decision on your family visa application within 24 hours.

Most family visa UK applications can be challenged by filing an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) against the refusal decision.

Where the applicant has not been granted an appeal right against the refusal decision, the decision may be challenged by either an Administrative Review or a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter followed by a Judicial Review (JR).

To apply as a family member under the family visa UK category, you must be related to the UK-qualifying sponsor as his/her spouse, partner, parent, or child.

The family visa in the UK is normally granted for 33 months if the applicant applies for family visa entry clearance from outside the UK or 30 months (2.5 years) if the applicant applies for family visa entry clearance from inside the UK.

The family visa in the UK is granted either under a 5-year route to settlement or a 10-year route to settlement.

Under the 5-year route to settlement, you can apply for ILR after 5 years of your residence in the UK under the family visa. Under the 10-year route to settlement, you can apply for ILR after 10 years of residence in the UK under the family visa.

To apply under the 5 years family visa route, you must meet the English language requirement at level A1 in listening and speaking only.

To apply for an extension of a family visa under the 5-year route, you have to meet the English language requirement at level A2 in listening and speaking only.

To apply for ILR under the family visa 5 years route, you must meet the English language requirement at level B1 in listening and speaking only.

If you are submitting an application under the family visa 10 years route, you do not have to meet the English language requirement at any stage.

To apply for a family visa in the UK, you must either meet the financial requirement of earning not less than £18600 gross per year or the adequate maintenance requirement, whichever is applicable to you, depending on the type of your family visa application and your personal circumstances.

Yes, you can apply for a family visa in the UK with a fee waiver option if you are applying under the 10-year route and cannot pay the Home Office UKVI fees, including the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).

The most common reasons for refusal of family visa UK including the following:

• not meeting the financial requirement or adequate maintenance requirement (whichever is applicable);
• not meet the requirement of subsistence of relationship with the UK qualifying sponsor;
• not meeting the English language requirement.

Yes, you will have permission to work in the UK unless you are in the UK on fiance visa or proposed civil partner visa.

Yes, a family visa in the UK is a multiple-entry visa, which means you can travel multiple times to and from the UK.

Yes, you can switch from family visa to work visa from inside the UK. However, your qualifying period for ILR may start from scratch if you switch from a family visa to a work visa from inside the UK.

You should apply for a renewal or extension of your family visa in the UK 28 days before it expires.

You can apply for the renewal of your family visa through Super Priority Service to get a decision on your family visa renewal application within 24 hours.