What Can Be Used as Proof of Relationship Documents UK for UK Partner Visa Applications?

If you are applying for a UK partner visa, you will be required to show proof of relationship documents UK for your relationship with your partner. Find out more about what kind of evidence you can provide to the Home Office to prove that your relationship with your partner is genuine and subsisting.

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The UK Partner Visa route allows partners of British citizens, persons with indefinite leave to remain, persons with Pre-settled status, and persons with refugee status or humanitarian protection to join or stay with them in the UK. It is important to note that the UK Partner Visa or the UK Family Visa category is divided into four sub-categories, with each category dealing with a specific type of partnership as detailed below:

  • Spouse Visa UK – allows married partners of British and settled persons to live in the UK;
  • Unmarried Partner Visa UK  – allows unmarried partners of British or settled persons to live in the UK;
  • Fiance Visa UK – allows fiances of British and settled persons to enter the UK for the purpose of registering their marriage within 6 months of their entry to the UK.
  • Civil Partnership Visa UK – allows civil partners of British and settled persons to live in the UK;

To qualify for a UK Partner Visa in any of the above sub-categories, you will need to prove to the UK Visas and Immigration that you satisfy the relationship aspect of a Partner Visa application.

  • To meet the Proof of relationship documents Uk requirement of a UK Partner Visa application, you must demonstrate to the UKVI that:
  • Both you and your partner are 18 years of age or above at the time of your application;
  • (If you are applying for a UK Spouse Visa) your marriage to your partner must be valid;
  • You must not be so closely related to your partner that your marriage may be prohibited under UK laws;
  • Your previous marriage or partnership must have broken down;
  • If you are applying as an unmarried partner, you must have lived together in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years;
  • Your relationship with your partner is genuine and subsisting.
If you have previously been granted a UK Partner Visa and you are applying for an extension of the same visa, you are required to satisfy the UKVI that your relationship with your partner is continuing to subsist.

Whether you are applying as a married or unmarried partner, you must show the UKVI that you are not so closely related to your partner that you would be prohibited from entering into your relationship under UK laws (the Marriage Acts 1949 to 1986, the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 and 1986, the Marriage (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014).

Under UK laws, it may be unlawful for you to enter into a relationship with your partner if you and your partner are related within one of the following categories:

  • Adoptive child;
  • Adoptive parent
  • Child
  • Former adoptive child
  • Former adoptive parent
  • Grandparent
  • Grandchild
  • Parent
  • Parent’s sibling (aunt or uncle)
  • Sibling (brother or sister)
  • Sibling’s child (nephew or niece) In this context, ‘sibling’ means a brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister. 

Generally, the Home Office Application Form requires a declaration from the applicant that they are not a party to a prohibited relation and that declaration is considered sufficient with no further evidence required.

One of the main requirements of a Partner Visa application is to show that your relationship is genuine and subsisting. The UKVI (Home Office) wants to make sure that you do not enter into a sham relationship or marriage in order to obtain a UK visa and has, therefore, introduced the genuine and subsisting relationship requirements that all UK Partner Visa applicants must satisfy.
The Home Office is aware that every relationship is different, and each relationship starts develops and form in different circumstances and against different cultural backdrops. As a result, the Home Office will assess the genuine and subsisting proof of genuine relationship UK requirement on a case-by-case basis and in view of the individual facts of your case. When assessing the genuine and subsisting relationship, the Home Office will take into account cultural and religious factors where such factors have been raised by the applicant or where those factors are apparent.

To satisfy the Home Office that your relationship is genuine, you will need to provide sufficient evidence to prove the same on the balance of probabilities. In assessing this, the Home Office will look at:

  • Information you provide in the body of your application form;
  • Information you provide in the form of personal letters or statements;
  • Letters of support from family members, relatives or friends commenting on the detail and chronology of your relationship with your partner;
  • Any representations you make in support of your application. 

The Home Office Guidance does not specify what documents you need to provide to prove the genuine and subsisting relationship. Therefore, the evidence you provide depends entirely on your circumstances. For example, if you are applying as a married partner,it is not always necessary to provide evidence of living together with your partner for extended periods of time if you married outside the UK and your partner returned to the UK soon after your marriage. In circumstances such as these, the Home Office will understand that lack of evidence of living together is due to personal circumstances including the Sponsoring partner’s inability to spend extended periods of time outside the UK. 

On the other hand, if you and your partner are both based in the UK and you have no evidence of living together, then you will need to provide a detailed explanation of why it has not been possible for you to live together with your partner. The Home Office has divided the type of evidence you provide into three broad categories: strong, acceptable, and weak. 

Strong proof of genuine relationship documents UK is usually issued by an organization or service provider that is able to check and verify your details such as your identity, address, and immigration status. Examples of such organizations include GP, hospitals, social services, and your employer. 

Acceptable evidence includes documents issued by a third-party organization or service provider that is not able to check and verify your details. Examples of this include letters from utility companies, phone or internet service providers or other commercial organizations providing products and services. Weak evidence of relationship uk visa includes evidence from individuals with no official capacity or has not been verified by the provider of the document. 

It is usually recommended that you provide a combination of strong, acceptable and weak evidence to ensure that the overall quality of your evidence is reasonably strong. Where you can find only weak evidence of relationship uk visa such as letters from family or friends confirming your relationship or the length of time you have lived together, it will be advisable to provide a detailed explanation of why you were unable to provide stronger evidence of your genuine and subsisting relationship.

As we hinted above, the kind of proof of relationship documents in UK you provide depends on the application you make. For example, if you are applying for a spouse visa, you will need to provide a valid marriage certificate which must be translated if it is not in English. But providing a marriage certificate only proves that you are married, and you will still need to prove that the marriage is genuine and subsisting. To do so, you will need to provide evidence of regular contact with your partner before and since the date of your marriage. This could include evidence of everyday conversations, financial support of the sponsoring partner or joint financial responsibilities, evidence of living together and evidence of travels together.

If you are applying as an unmarried partner, you will need to provide evidence to show you have lived together for at least two years in a relationship akin to marriage. If you are applying as a fiance, you will need to provide evidence of everyday contact with your partner, evidence of plans for your marriage in the UK including details of the wedding ceremony and any venue reservations.

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