One of the most common reasons people seek entry to the UK is as the family member of a British or settled national. There are three ways in which we define a partner:

• Married or in a civil partnership
• Unmarried partner (i.e. have cohabited in a manner analogous to marriage for 2 years)
• Fiancé/ee (where the Applicant intends to marry their betrothed within six months of entry to the UK) – This also includes proposed civil partners.

The route for those who are married, in a civil partnership or recognised as unmarried partners is very clear. If successful then an initial period of 30 months of leave will be issued. No more than 28 days before this leave expires, a further extension must be sought for another 30 months. After this, in most cases the Applicant will then be able to seek Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK and then consider naturalising as British. Until the point Indefinite Leave to Remain is issued, the Applicant’s ongoing status in the UK depends on their continuing genuine and subsisting relationship with their partner.

How does this change if you’re a fiancé? Well, not that much but it does add another level of time and expense. A fiancé application (unlike other partner applications) may only ever be made from overseas. A grant of six months will be issued where the fiancé must travel to the UK, marry their partner and then make an application for further leave to remain as a Partner, then moving onto the route detailed above. During this time a fiancé may not work or have access to public funds, whilst these are not restrictions for other categories of partner.

The issue here is often financial. Home Office fees are expensive and applications made outside of the UK generally cost more than those processed in-country. A fiancé application means that an entry clearance application needs to be made and then, in a very short space of time, another application needs to be made to extend leave once they are in the UK and wed.

Below, based on current fees (bear in mind these tend to rise annually), I have outlined the costs for two couples where one of them seeks entry to the UK as a partner, for their extension application and for settlement. In one case they are married and in the second case they are engaged:

Married couple - Overall total £7,145

Entry clearance application as spouse 

Extension application

Indefinite Leave to Remain application

Engaged couple - Overall total £7,978

Entry clearance application as fiancé

Extension application once married

Second extension application

Indefinite Leave to Remain application

Those who are already married before making these applications will therefore save up to six months of time and over £800 during the lifetime of their route to settlement. They also don’t need to make another application for 30 months after their initial grant, whilst fiancées will have to do so within their much shorter period, having just paid a large application fee a few months beforehand.

Whilst for some clients, particularly those in same-sex relationships, there may not be an option to wed overseas before entry clearance, it is worth considering (as you intend to marry anyway!) whether doing this at an earlier stage might save some time and money.

If you or someone you know would benefit from legal advice regarding your application, we have a team of experienced advisers who are more than happy to help! To speak with a member of our team please call us, request a callback at your convenience, message us your enquiry or email enquiry@broudiejacksoncanter.co.uk.