High net worth couples will have no trouble showing they have the minimum income requirement of £29,000. Yet, this is one of many requirements. Not meeting them could lead to a Spouse visa refused.

Discover the reasons your Spouse visa can be refused below, along with the way you can respond to get the decision overturned.

The Most Common Reasons for a Spouse Visa Refusal

The UK Spouse visa has a refusal rate of around 20 to 25%. A common reason is that you don’t prove that you are in a genuine relationship. British immigration authorities are particularly concerned about marriages formed purely for the purpose of coming to the UK. Avoid this by providing evidence of a commitment to each other, such as shared finances, travel records, and logs of your communication.

The Spouse visa has strict financial requirements, as the government wants to ensure that foreign spouses who come to the UK don’t require state support. Even if the UK-based partner earns above the £29,000 threshold as a high net worth individual, they can still fail this requirement if they don’t provide the right evidence. The UK-based partner will need to provide documents like six months of bank statements or payslips, or an employment letter, job contract, or tax return.

Once in the UK, the foreign spouse will need access to appropriate accommodation that isn’t reliant on state support. The accommodation needs to be sufficiently spacious, owned or legally occupied, and compliant with public health and safety standards. Failure to provide this accommodation, or prove that it is available, could lead to a visa rejection. Prove that the accommodation exists through proof of property ownership or tenancy, recent council tax or utility bills, and an independent property inspection report.

Your marriage also must be valid for your application to be accepted. It must be legally valid in the country where it took place and meet UK standards. Show this with your marriage certificate. Britain does not legally accept polygamous relationships, so you’ll need to prove that any of your previous marriages have been properly severed. You can provide divorce and death certificates.

Broader Issues Can Also Cause Your Spouse Visa Application to be Rejected

The examples above are application issues that are specific to the Spouse visa. However, general issues that impact all UK visa applications can also cause your Spouse visa application to be rejected. Common examples are listed below:

– You have a history of breaking British immigration rules or criminal law.
– You have a serious criminal record in your home country.
– Your documents are not in English or Welsh, and you haven’t arranged a certified translation.
– You fail to achieve the necessary standard of English language capabilities according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
– You submit incomplete application forms or invalid documentation.

Your visa application could also be rejected if you knowingly submit incorrect information, particularly if you are trying to manipulate the application process. Even if Home Office officials miss fraud, your visa could be revoked if it emerges at a later date.

The application issues specific to the Spouse visa can often be overcome by applying for a different visa that you are more likely to be eligible for. However, these general visa application issues could make it nearly impossible to get any UK visa. For example, if you have a history of serious immigration law breaches.

Pathways to Getting a Rejection Overturned

Receiving a visa rejection is concerning and disheartening, but it does not mean that you will never be able to get a Spouse visa and join your partner in the UK. There is an opportunity if you think serious administrative errors were committed in the refusal decision, or if the refusal threatens your human rights, such as to private and family life.

The processes you can use are administrative review, First Tier Tribunal and judicial review.

These processes are explored below. If none of these applies to your case and you know you made errors in your application, making a new application after fixing the issues could be the best option.

Administrative Review

This process is often your best option if errors were made by Home Office officials when processing your application. A different caseworker or team will re-examine your application. Please note that even if serious errors were made, the refusal decision may not be overturned if issues with your application remain.

Make sure to apply for an administrative review within 28 days if you are outside the UK or 14 days if you are within the UK. Meanwhile, you will have just seven days if you have been detained by immigration enforcement authorities.

First Tier Tribunal

The Immigration and Asylum Chamber is an independent UK body that hears First Tier Tribunal appeals of visa refusals and other issues. Look for confirmation that this process is open to you in your refusal letter. It is most often an option if your visa refusal could cause human rights issues.

Please note that the First Tier Tribunal process currently has a backlog of 151,000 cases, and you’ll usually need to wait around 61 weeks for your case to be resolved.

As with administrative review, you’ll have 28 days to appeal if you are within the UK or 14 days if you are outside the UK.

Judicial Review

The final way to have your Spouse visa refusal overturned is via a judicial review, which you can use if you are unsatisfied by the First Tier Tribunal’s decision. You are most likely to be successful if you can show that the decision was illogical, unlawful, or flawed in its procedure.

Immigration-related judicial reviews are handled by the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (UTIAC), and your case will be heard by a judge. They will examine the legal processes involved in the refusal decision, rather than the logic of the refusal decision itself.

Make sure to apply for your judicial review within three months.