Unmarried Partner Visa UK: Updated Requirements for 2025

Who Can Apply for a UK Partner Visa? 

You can apply for a partner visa if your partner in the UK (the sponsor) is one of the following:

• A British citizen

• Holds Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or settled status

• Has refugee or humanitarian protection

• Holds pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

• Has leave to remain as a worker/businessperson under the European Communities Association Agreement

What Defines a “Partner” Under UK Immigration Rules? 

To qualify as a 'partner', you must either:

• Be married or in a civil partnership

  OR

• Have been in a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years as unmarried partners.

Additionally, you and your partner must demonstrate:

• You have met in person

• Intent to live together permanently in the UK

• Adequate accommodation without overcrowding

• A genuine and ongoing relationship

• Any previous relationships have ended permanently

• Your partner meets the English language requirement

• You meet the financial requirements

Visa Fees and Duration

• Outside UK Application: £1,938 Application fee + £3,105 Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)

• Inside UK Application: £1,321 Application fee + £2,587.50 Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)

 - Fees correct as of 5 June 2025

The visa is initially granted for 33 months and can be extended. After a total of 60 or 120 months (depending on continued eligibility), applicants may apply for settlement.

More information on the requirements for these visas can be found here.

What If You Haven't Lived Together for 2 Years? Living Together No Longer Mandatory

As of February 2024, the UK Home Office removed the requirement for unmarried partners to have cohabited for 2 years prior to applying. Instead, you must now show you’ve been in a genuine and ongoing relationship for at least 2 years.

Although evidence of demonstrating a genuine and ongoing relationship is strengthened through evidence having lived together, there is no specified evidence required to demonstrate a relationship. Each application is different, and some couples will have more or less supporting evidence depending on circumstances.

If you haven’t lived together, you must justify this with valid reasons such as:

• Work commitments

• Cultural constraints

• One partner temporarily living with a close family member to provide care

This is not an exhaustive list of reasonable explanations, and it is always best to check with an immigration solicitor first to see how you and your partner would meet this requirement.

Where you and your partner are able to provide a reasonable explanation, you will then need to show that your living apart is temporary and despite this, that your relationship remains subsisting.