Partner Visit
Visit a partner for a short stay as a visitor. Not a route to live in the UK.
- Screening A few questions about your work, your family and your plans.
- Documents A checklist built around your route and who is coming with you.
- Expert review A qualified adviser reads every document before anything is filed.
- Application Every answer is checked against the published rules for your route.
- Submission Filed, with everything that went with it kept in one place.
- Arrival We stay with you through the crossing and the first steps after.
Application fee
£135
GOV.UK, standard visitor visa
Maximum stay per visit
Up to 6 months
GOV.UK, Standard Visitor route
Long-term visa validity
2, 5 or 10 years
GOV.UK, 6 months max per visit
Can I visit my partner in the UK as a Standard Visitor?
Yes. Visiting a partner falls under the Standard Visitor route's family and friends category, for a stay of up to 6 months at a time. Your partner can help fund the trip if your relationship is genuine, but you cannot marry or register a civil partnership during a Standard Visitor stay. That needs a different visa category.
Who this is for
This route is for someone whose partner is in the UK and who wants to spend time together as a temporary visit — not to settle, work or live together permanently. The decision maker must be satisfied that the applicant is a genuine visitor: someone who will leave the UK at the end of the visit, will not make the UK their home through frequent or successive visits, and has enough money to cover the trip without working or claiming public funds.
Funding and what this route does not cover
A partner in the UK can help fund the visit — paying for travel, accommodation or other costs — provided the relationship is genuine and the partner's own immigration position allows it. This route does not cover getting married or registering a civil partnership during the stay, which needs a different Standard Visitor category, and it is not a route to settlement: it does not by itself lead to a right to live with a partner in the UK long-term.
Requirements
- Genuine visitorYou must satisfy the decision maker that you will leave the UK at the end of your visit, will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits or make it your main home, and are genuinely coming to do a permitted activity.
- Not living in the UK through repeat visitsYou must not be living in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or making the UK your main home.
- Funds, or a sponsorYou must be able to support yourself for the visit, including your return or onward journey, either from your own funds or from a partner or other third party who can and will provide that support.
- Genuine third-party fundingIf your partner is paying for your trip, they must have a genuine relationship with you, must not themselves be breaching UK immigration law, and must be able to provide the support for the whole of your visit.
- No marriage or civil partnership on this visitYou must not intend to marry, form a civil partnership, or give notice of either during your stay. That requires applying under the Marriage Visitor category instead.
- General suitabilityThe application must not fall for refusal under the general suitability rules that apply across UK immigration routes.
Documents typically needed
- Passport or travel documentValid for the whole of your stay in the UK.
- Your partner's detailsName, date of birth and passport number, where you're relying on your partner as part of your application.
- Evidence of your relationshipShowing the genuine personal relationship between you and your partner, particularly if they're funding your visit.
- Evidence of your partner's supportWhat support is being provided, how it's being provided, and that your partner has enough funds to support themselves as well as you.
- Evidence your partner is lawfully in the UKFor example a British passport or residence document, where applicable.
- Evidence of your own funds and return travelWhere you're not relying entirely on your partner's support.
- Certified translationsFor any document that is not in English or Welsh.
How to apply
Check the Standard Visitor requirements
Confirm that visiting your partner fits the family and friends category and that you can meet the genuine visitor test.
Check if you need a visa or an ETA
Depending on your nationality, you may need a Standard Visitor visa, an electronic travel authorisation, or neither.
Gather evidence of your relationship and funding
If your partner is supporting your trip, prepare evidence of your relationship and their circumstances alongside your own documents.
Apply online
Apply for a Standard Visitor visa online if you need one, and provide the required supporting documents.
Prove your identity and wait for a decision
Confirm your identity using an identity-checking app or at a visa application centre, then wait for the decision within the published timescale.
Fees & costs
- Standard Visitor visa (up to 6 months)
- £135
- Extend your stay (up to a total of 6 months)
- £1,172
Fees are set by the Home Office and can change. Source: GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor/apply-standard-visitor-visa
Processing times
- Apply from outside the UK
- Usually within 3 weeks
- Extend your stay from inside the UK
- Usually within 8 weeks
Standard service times published by the Home Office; a faster decision may be available for an extra fee.
What you can and can't do
Permitted
- Visit a partner living in or staying in the UK, alongside other family or friends
- Have your travel, maintenance or accommodation paid for by your partner, where the relationship and their circumstances are genuine
- Travel to and from the UK more than once within a visa's period of validity
Not permitted
- Marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of either, during the visit
- Work, or access public funds
- Live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK your main home
If the application is refused
A refusal decision explains why the published requirements were not met. Most Standard Visitor refusals do not carry a right of appeal, although a right of appeal on human rights grounds can apply in some cases, and the refusal notice sets out what, if anything, follows.
Common questions
Can I visit my partner in the UK without getting married?
Can my partner pay for my trip?
Can I get married while I'm visiting my partner as a Standard Visitor?
Will visiting my partner often cause a problem?
Can I get a visa that covers more than one visit to my partner?
Does visiting my partner as a Standard Visitor lead to settling in the UK together?
What if my partner is an EU, EEA, Swiss, British or Person of Northern Ireland citizen?
Talk it through with one of our solicitors.
Book a consultation and one of our immigration solicitors will go through your situation, the documents involved, and what happens next.
Family and Friends Visit
Travel to the UK to spend time with relatives and friends, attend family events and enjoy short visits of up to 6 months.
Read the guide →Marriage Visitor Visa
Come to the UK to marry, form a civil partnership or give notice of one. You can stay up to 6 months, and it is not a route to settlement.
Read the guide →Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
Digital permission to visit the UK for up to 6 months. Most travellers from Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia need one, not a visa.
Read the guide →