Spouse Visa after Divorce or Separation

There are implications in your partner visa after divorce or separation. In case your go away to stay is predicated on marriage or a long-term relationship with a UK settled sponsor, are you able to safe a UK visa after divorce and permission to remain within the UK?

Notifying the House Workplace of relationship breakdown

In case your visa is dependant in your relationship to a British citizen or an individual with UK settled standing (your ‘sponsor’), it’s important to notify the House Workplace that your circumstances have modified and your relationship has completely damaged down.

This is applicable in case you have a household visa as a partner or companion, or if you’re a dependant on a former companion’s visa and in some circumstances in case you have a household allow.

You shouldn’t wait till the divorce is finalised to do that.

The House Workplace needs to be notified of the connection breakdown both by you or your ex-partner. You are able to do this by emailing UKVI’s Marriage Curtailment Staff on  StatusReviewUnit@homeoffice.gov.uk utilizing the topic line: ‘MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN’, or by sending a letter to the UKVI Marriage Breakdown Standing Assessment Unit, seventh Flooring, The Capital, New Corridor Place, Liverpool, L3 9PP.

You’ll need to incorporate the next details about you and your former companion:

• Your particulars:
  • Identify
  • Date of delivery
  • Present deal with
  • Passport quantity
  • House Workplace reference quantity
• Your ex-partner’s:
  • Identify
  • Date of delivery
  • Present deal with
  • Passport quantity
  • House Workplace reference quantity If you happen to or your ex-partner have kids within the UK, you have to additionally embody:
• When you’ve got any kids:
  • Names
  • Dates of delivery
  • Names of their mother and father or guardians
  • Names of who the folks they reside with
  • Particulars of any baby preparations reminiscent of how a lot time they spend with you or your ex-partner
  • Particulars of any monetary association for baby upkeep
  • Particulars of any household court docket case

The notification additionally wants to incorporate both a signed public assertion or signed consent kind. Use the general public assertion in order for you the small print out of your notification to be saved confidential and never shared together with your ex-partner. Use the consent kind if you’re comfortable for the small print in your e-mail to be shared by the House Workplace together with your ex.

You must connect a scan or picture of the signed kind to your e-mail, or enclose a signed copy with the letter if submitting by publish.

Following receipt of the notification, the House Workplace will contact your ex-partner utilizing the deal with you will have supplied for them.

Partner visa curtailment 

As soon as the House Workplace has been notified of the separation, the visa holder’s interval of go away will normally be curtailed to 60 days. The connection breakdown means you’ll now not be assembly the visa necessities, and you’ll not be allowed to proceed dwelling within the UK past the interval of go away underneath your curtailed visa.

The curtailment interval is to permit the visa holder time to determine on their choices – both to use for a unique visa to retain lawful standing or to go away the UK.

An exception to the 60-day curtailment rule may apply if:

• The are fewer than 60 days remaining on their visa, through which case this expiry date will proceed to use; or
• If distinctive circumstances justify the go away being curtailed with quick impact; or
• If distinctive circumstances justify the go away being curtailed with greater than 60 days.

Speedy curtailment may result the place the visa holder has a document of home violence or earlier immigration breaches.

Equally, go away could not, for instance, be curtailed if the visa holder has utilized for go away on the grounds of being a sufferer of home violence by their sponsor, as evidenced by CID information.  

If the visa holder is intending to hunt an exception to curtailment, they might want to present the small print inside their House Workplace notification for a choice to be made on the interval of curtailment.

Visas while you separate or divorce

Your visa choices to remain within the UK will rely in your circumstances. Every route would require you to satisfy particular necessities. If making use of to ‘change’ to a unique visa class, it is strongly recommended to take recommendation as there are restrictions on switching routes. A number of the potential immigration routes embody:

• Indefinite go away to stay in case you have greater than 5 years’ steady residence with lawful immigration standing.
• Work visa such because the Expert Employee visa when you meet the sponsorship, ability, wage and language necessities.
• Dad or mum route in case you have a baby (or kids) who’s British or UK settled and has lived within the UK for at the least 7 years.
• Primarily based in your non-public life if you’re:
  • between 18 and 24 and also you’ve lived constantly within the UK for greater than half your life, or
  • 18 or over and have spent lower than 20 years within the UK and would have very vital issues dwelling within the nation you would need to return to,
  • or 25 or over and also you’ve been within the UK constantly for 20 years.
• Retained Proper of Residence (see under).

Retained Proper of Residence 

Non-EEA nationals beforehand depending on an EEA member of the family could in a position to retain the Proper to Reside within the UK if the connection breaks down, supplied particular standards are met.

When you’ve got custody or a proper of entry to a baby you will have together with your EEA nationwide former companion, you could be eligible to use for a Retained Rights of Residence on this foundation.

The Proper to Reside could apply when you or your loved ones are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and also you began dwelling within the UK with the shut member of the family earlier than 1 January 2021.

The Proper to Reside applies to these within the UK who’re:

• employed
• self-employed
• registered as a jobseeker
• self-sufficient
• a scholar
• somebody with everlasting residence standing

Amongst these eligible for the Proper to Reside are “shut relations” of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen with the appropriate to reside. Shut relations embody a husband, spouse or civil companion. To retain the appropriate of residence as a former partner or civil companion of a sponsoring EEA nationwide, the wedding or civil partnership will need to have lasted for at the least three years and you will want to show divorce or dissolution proceedings have been began.

If the connection has damaged down acrimoniously, the largest hurdle could also be securing the cooperation of your former companion to supply the unique proof to help your Retained Proper of Residence utility. The House Workplace does have powers to train discretion, notably the place the case includes home violence. This might contain in search of various documentation, reminiscent of court docket or police paperwork evidencing the legal proceedings.

When you’ve got Retained Proper of Residence and have already got a registration certificates, will probably be legitimate till 30 June 2021. You need to use it to show you will have the appropriate to reside within the UK till this date and your standing will stay the identical till 30 June 2021. To proceed dwelling within the UK after 30 June 2021, you have to register underneath the EU Settlement Scheme.

Want help? 

Contact us for a set charge phone session with one in every of our UK immigration specialists to debate the implications of separation or divorce in your visa choices.

Partner visa after divorce FAQs

Final up to date: 21 January 2021