If you need a UK spouse visa checklist, start with the shortest accurate answer: GOV.UK says both partners must be 18 or over, you must prove a genuine relationship, show the right financial evidence for the partner route, meet the English requirement in most first applications, and include TB evidence if your country and stay length trigger it. As of April 2026, the current GOV.UK family-visa overview lists the fee at £2,064 if you apply from outside the UK or £1,407 if you apply in the UK, and the same page says the adult immigration health surcharge is £3,105 for a 2 years and 9 months grant.
A UK spouse visa is the partner route inside the UK family-visa system. It is for people coming to the UK for more than 6 months to live with a qualifying partner, not for short family visits. According to the official partner or spouse page, the core test is whether your relationship, income, identity, and future life in the UK all hold together as one credible story.
If you want the route-level product version before you build the paperwork, start with Vidicy's UK visa checklist. If your worry is document quality rather than eligibility, pair this guide with how to avoid visa rejection due to document mistakes.
| Requirement area | Current GOV.UK rule | What your checklist should contain |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Both partners must be 18 or over | Passports or travel IDs showing dates of birth |
| Relationship route | Marriage/civil partnership, 2 years of living together, or 2 years of relationship with a reason you cannot live together | Marriage certificate, joint bills, joint bank evidence, communication and visit records where needed |
| Income | Usually £29,000 a year combined | Bank statements, payslips, employer letters, or permitted alternative evidence |
| English | Usually A1 for the first application | Approved test result or qualifying degree evidence |
| First grant length | 2 years and 9 months outside the UK | Fee + IHS planning, document freshness, timing |
| Typical decision time | Usually 12 weeks outside the UK | Submission plan and realistic travel expectations |
Table of Contents
- UK spouse visa checklist: what GOV.UK actually requires
- Relationship proof and identity documents
- Financial requirement checklist
- English, TB, and application mechanics
- Fees, timelines, and the mistakes that slow decisions
- Official sources
- FAQ
- Conclusion
UK spouse visa checklist: what GOV.UK actually requires
According to GOV.UK's partner or spouse guidance, the sponsor must be one of these:
- a British or Irish citizen
- someone settled in the UK
- an eligible EU/EEA/Swiss national with pre-settled status
- someone with certain protected or legacy statuses listed on the page
The same page says you must intend to live together permanently in the UK after the application. That is why a real UK spouse visa checklist is not just a marriage certificate and a few bank statements. It is a combined proof pack for:
- who the sponsor is
- what the relationship is
- how you meet the money rule
- how you meet the English rule
- whether any extra country-specific checks apply
The official route also separates three common scenarios:
- married or civil partners
- unmarried partners who have lived together for at least 2 years
- partners who have been in a relationship for at least 2 years but cannot live together for a stated reason, such as work, study, or culture
That last point matters because many competitor pages still treat every partner case like a marriage-certificate case. GOV.UK does not. If your relationship route is different, your evidence mix changes.
Relationship proof and identity documents
For most applicants, the relationship section is where the file either becomes easy to assess or unnecessarily messy.
According to the official partner or spouse page, your relationship evidence should:
- come from the government, a bank, landlord, utility provider, or medical professional
- confirm that you live together, share expenses, or are married / in a civil partnership
- be less than 4 years old
The same page gives practical examples:
- marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate
- tenancy agreement, utility bills, or Council Tax bills showing the same address
- a joint bank statement or a bank statement confirming the same address
- a doctor or dentist letter confirming the same address
If you do not live together, GOV.UK says you should show evidence that you:
- communicate regularly
- support each other financially
- care for children together, where relevant
- spend time together as a couple
That means the cleanest relationship checklist usually looks like this:
| Evidence type | Best use | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage / civil partnership certificate | Primary legal relationship proof | Certificate attached, but no current evidence of an ongoing shared life |
| Joint address evidence | Proves cohabitation | Only one bill, or documents older than the useful period |
| Joint finances | Helps show a real shared household | One transfer screenshot instead of proper account evidence |
| Messages / call logs / travel records | Useful where you do not live together | Dumping hundreds of screenshots instead of a tidy sample timeline |
| Previous-marriage end documents | Required when relevant | Forgetting divorce paperwork or prior civil-partnership evidence |
Sponsor status proof
The official information and evidence page says the application will ask for your partner's passport details and their right to be in the UK. If the sponsor holds an eVisa, that page says you may need online proof of immigration status and a share code.
The official UKVI video below is useful for that exact step because it shows the share-code flow readers often get wrong when the sponsor no longer has a physical BRP.
If your route is not the partner route after all, stop here and use the visitor-specific documents required for UK visa application guide instead. A short visitor trip and a family-settlement application should not share the same checklist.
Financial requirement checklist
For most first-time partner applications, GOV.UK's financial requirements page says you and your partner usually need to prove combined income of at least £29,000 a year.
That page also says the rule is different if:
- the sponsor gets certain disability or carer's benefits
- you first applied as a partner before 11 April 2024 and you are extending that visa
According to the official information and evidence page, permitted financial evidence can include:
- employment income
- self-employment income
- cash savings above £16,000
- pension income
- non-work income such as property rent or dividends
What to upload for employed income
The same evidence page says an employed applicant or sponsor can use:
- bank statements showing the income
- 6 months of payslips counting back from the application date
- a dated employer letter on headed paper
If the employer-letter part is the section you keep rewriting, use the dedicated employment letter for spouse visa UK guide before you upload the finance bundle.
And it says the employer letter should confirm:
- employment
- job title or position
- how long the person has worked there
- contract type
- pay before tax and National Insurance
- how long they have been paid the current salary
- that the payslips are genuine
That gives you a practical spouse-visa finance checklist:
- 6 months of payslips
- 6 months of matching bank statements
- employer letter with all required fields
- extra evidence if using savings, pension, dividends, or self-employment
The cleanest way to think about this is simple: a spouse visa officer is not checking whether one PDF says you earn enough. They are checking whether the payslips, bank deposits, contract type, and application answers all match. If your employer evidence is weak, use the employment letter guide before you submit. If you want the partner-route version of that document, the focused employment letter for UK spouse visa guide breaks down the exact fields, evidence windows, and Appendix FM-SE traps that catch many family-route cases. If your bank trail is the weak point, use the proof of funds guide before you try to explain the discrepancy in a cover letter.
A practical relationship-plus-finance pack
For many cases, the quickest high-confidence stack is:
- marriage or civil partnership certificate
- sponsor passport or online status proof
- joint-address evidence
- 6 months of payslips
- 6 months of bank statements
- employer letter on headed paper
- divorce certificate or proof prior relationships ended, where relevant
English, TB, and application mechanics
The official knowledge of English page says most first-time partner applicants need to prove English either with a qualifying degree or an approved test.
For the language-test route, GOV.UK says:
- the first visa application usually needs at least CEFR A1
- if you extend after 2.5 years, you may need A2
- if you pass B1 or higher, you can reuse that result later for settlement, as long as it remains on the approved list and has not been withdrawn
The same page also lists clear exemptions, including applicants who are:
- over 65
- prevented by a physical or mental condition
- nationals of countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA
TB test rule
For tuberculosis, the official TB test guidance says you need a TB test if all three are true:
- you are coming to the UK for 6 months or more
- you have lived in a listed country for 6 months or more
- you were living there within the last 6 months
The same page says the certificate is valid for 6 months from the date of the x-ray if the result is clear.
Application mechanics
The official information and evidence page says you should prepare:
- your current passport or travel ID
- copies of previous passport photo pages and visa or entry stamps
- previous immigration-application details
- criminal-conviction details, if any
- certified translations for non-English / non-Welsh documents
For biometrics and photo prep, the official UKVI video below is still the safest reference point because it comes from the GOV.UK publication page for the photo requirement workflow.
Fees, timelines, and the mistakes that slow decisions
The current GOV.UK family-visa overview now lists these headline costs:
- £2,064 if you apply from outside the UK
- £1,407 if you apply in the UK
The same page lists the immigration health surcharge at:
- £3,105 for each adult staying 2 years and 9 months
- £2,587.50 for each adult staying 2 years and 6 months
- £5,175 for a 5-year adult period
According to the official partner or spouse page:
- an outside-the-UK partner visa is usually granted for 2 years and 9 months
- an extension or switch in the UK is usually 2 years and 6 months
- the usual decision time is 12 weeks outside the UK
- if you apply in the UK and meet the financial and English rules, the usual decision time is 8 weeks
- if you apply in the UK and do not meet those rules, the current decision time is about 12 months
That timing is why your document checklist should be built for freshness as well as completeness. Old relationship evidence, stale employer letters, and rushed bank statements do more damage on a family-settlement route than on a short visitor case.
Common checklist failures:
- using a marriage certificate as the only relationship proof
- uploading payslips without bank statements
- uploading bank statements without the employer letter GOV.UK expects
- forgetting the sponsor's status proof or eVisa share code
- using the visitor visa checklist for a partner route
- forgetting TB evidence when the country rule applies
The official processing-times explainer below is worth watching if you are budgeting around a move date or tenancy start.
If you want a second set of eyes before you pay the fee and IHS, see how Vidicy works and then start your application workspace. For broader UK route prep, the existing UK visa checklist is the best companion read.
Related guides
If you're building the rest of the application pack, these companion guides help:
- Documents Required for UK Work Visa (2026)
- Employment Letter for UK Visa: Sample + UKVI Checks
- Bank Statement for Visa: What Officers Check
- Visa Rejected? What to Do Next After Refusal
Official sources
- GOV.UK partner or spouse route: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse
- GOV.UK family-visa overview and current fees/IHS: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa
- GOV.UK partner financial requirements: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income-partner
- GOV.UK information and evidence page: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/provide-information
- GOV.UK English requirement page: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/knowledge-of-english
- GOV.UK TB test rules: https://www.gov.uk/tb-test-visa
- GOV.UK UKVI support videos collection: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ukvi-support-videos
- GOV.UK immigration status video page: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-view-and-confirm-someones-immigration-status-video/how-to-view-and-confirm-someones-immigration-status-video
- GOV.UK photo video page: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-take-a-photo-for-a-visa-application-or-permission-video/how-to-take-a-photo-for-a-visa-application-or-permission-video
- GOV.UK processing-times video page: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-processing-times/processing-times-video
FAQ
What documents are required for a UK spouse visa in 2026?
For most first applications, the core pack is relationship proof, sponsor status proof, financial evidence that meets the £29,000 rule in ordinary cases, English evidence, TB evidence where required, passports, and certified translations for non-English documents. The exact mix changes if you are unmarried, exempt from the income rule, or extending an older partner visa.
How much money do you need for a UK spouse visa?
In ordinary partner cases, GOV.UK says you and your partner usually need combined income of at least £29,000 a year. The evidence page also says permitted routes can include employment income, self-employment, pension income, non-work income, and cash savings above £16,000.
Do I need an English test for a UK spouse visa?
Usually yes for a first partner application, unless you qualify through a degree or an exemption. GOV.UK says the first application usually needs CEFR A1, and many extensions after 2.5 years need A2.
How long does a UK spouse visa take in 2026?
GOV.UK says a decision usually takes 12 weeks if you apply from outside the UK. For in-country applications that meet the financial and English rules, the usual time is 8 weeks.
Do I need a TB test for a UK spouse visa?
You need one if you are coming for 6 months or more, you have lived in a listed country for 6 months or more, and you were living there within the last 6 months. If your result is clear, the certificate is valid for 6 months.
Can I reuse a visitor-visa checklist for a UK spouse visa?
No. A visitor file focuses on a short trip and return intention. A partner route is a family-settlement application, so it needs relationship proof, sponsor-status proof, partner-route finance evidence, English evidence, and long-stay checks such as TB when relevant.
Conclusion
The strongest UK spouse visa checklist for 2026 is not the longest one. It is the one that proves five things clearly: qualifying sponsor, genuine relationship, correct money evidence, correct English evidence, and no missed mechanics like TB or translations.
If your file is half-built, start with the route-level UK visa checklist. If the documents already exist and you want a consistency check before submission, start a Vidicy workspace and pressure-test the whole pack before you pay the £2,064 / £1,407 application fee and the health surcharge.