Can my fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner live in the United Kingdom?
This page explains how your fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner can join you in the United Kingdom if you are permanent resident in this country.
If this page does not answer all your questions, you can contact us.
Your fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner may come with you to the United Kingdom, or join you here, if you are aged 18 or over and you:
- currently live in the United Kingdom and are settled here; or
- are returning to the United Kingdom with him/her to live here permanently.
He/she must show that:
- you plan to marry or register a civil partnership within a reasonable time (usually six months);
- you plan to live together permanently after you are married or have registered a civil partnership;
- you have met each other;
- until you are married or have registered a civil partnership, there is somewhere for him/her and any dependants to live without help from public funds (see Rights and responsibilities for more information on what this means); and
- he/she and any dependants can be supported without working or having to get help from public funds.
Your fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner must obtain permission to enter the United Kingdom before travelling here, even if he/she is a national of a country where there is normally no need for a visa to enter the United Kingdom. We call this permission entry clearance. It will be in the form of a visa or entry clearance certificate. To obtain it, he/she should apply to the British diplomatic post in the country where he/she lives. For information about visas, see our visa services website.
Your fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner may need to apply for a certificate of approval of marriage from the Home Office and give notice to a registrar of your intention to marry or register your civil partnership. (See What is a certificate of approval?)
When your fiance, fiancee or proposed civil partner arrives in the United Kingdom, we will give him/her permission to stay here for six months, but he/she must not work.
After you have married or registered your civil partnership, you husband, wife or civil partner may apply to stay here. If we approve the application, we will give your husband, wife or civil partner permission to live and work here for two years.
Near the end of the two years, if you are still married or in a civil partnership and plan to live together, your husband, wife or civil partner may apply to live here permanently. See settlement for details of how to apply for permanent residence.
See Partners and children for details of how you can be joined by your:
- husband, wife or civil partner;
- unmarried or same-sex partner; or
- children (including adopted children) or your proposed partner's children.
See also
News & updates
Terms explained
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Civil partnership
A legal relationship that can be registered by two people of the same sex and that gives the couple legal recognition for their relationship. In a range of legal matters, civil partners are treated the same as opposite-sex partners who are married.
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Dependant
Someone who depends on you financially, such as a husband, wife, partner, or child.
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Public funds
Public funds are income-related benefits paid by the state. They include income support, income-based job seekers allowance, housing and homelessness assistance, housing and council tax benefit, working families' tax credit, a social fund payment, child benefit and any disability allowance. Benefits paid as a result of contributions, such as the state pension, are not considered to be public funds. Social housing is not considered to be a public fund either. Claiming public funds when you are not eligible is known as benefit fraud and it is a criminal offence.