Family in the UK

Coming to the UK as a family member

The family routes are for people whose reason to be in the UK is a relationship rather than a job or a course. The two that matter for most people are the partner route and the parent route, and which one applies is not a preference — it is decided by your circumstances.

They are also the routes where the evidence matters most. A work visa is largely a matter of documents an employer produces. A family application asks you to demonstrate something about your life, and it is assessed on what you can show rather than what is true.

The partner route

The spouse and partner route is for the partner of a British citizen, someone with settled status, or someone in certain other categories.

You will generally need to show:

• A genuine and subsisting relationship, evidenced over time
• That you meet the financial requirement
• English language ability at the required level
• Suitable accommodation without recourse to public funds
• That you meet the suitability requirements

The financial requirement is the part that most often decides the outcome, and the rules about which income sources count, and how they must be evidenced, are detailed and unforgiving. The threshold has changed in recent years — check the current figure on GOV.UK rather than relying on any amount quoted elsewhere.

The partner route leads to settlement, normally after a qualifying period made up of an initial grant and an extension. The partner route calculator works out your own dates.

The parent route

The parent route is for a parent of a child living in the UK who is British, Irish, settled, or who meets certain residency criteria.

It turns on the child, not on you. Broadly, you will need to show:

• The child is under 18 on the date you apply
• The child lives in the UK with the required status
• You have sole or shared parental responsibility
• Where the child lives with their other parent, that you have agreed access or a court-ordered arrangement

One rule catches people out: if you are eligible to apply as a partner, you must apply on that route instead. The parent route is not an alternative you can choose; it is what applies when the partner route does not.

You can check your position against the parent route requirements — the checker asks about the child, responsibility and access, and shows the rule behind each answer.

Which route applies to you

If both could apply, the partner route takes precedence.

Family life and settlement

Both routes lead to indefinite leave to remain, but not at the same speed and not on the same terms. The partner route has a defined qualifying period with requirements that must still be met at the point you apply — being together at the start is not enough if the financial requirement is not met at the end.

Time on a family route also counts towards the ten-year long residence route, which matters if a relationship ends or circumstances change part-way through. See Settle in the UK for how the routes compare.

Before you rely on this

VisaXplain is not a law firm and does not give immigration advice. Family applications turn on individual circumstances and on evidence, and they are among the routes where advice from a regulated adviser is most worth having. This page explains published rules; it is not a decision on your case, and the financial requirement in particular changes — check GOV.UK for current figures before you act.