A spouse visa document checklist is not a list of things to include — it is a list of things that must agree with each other. Payslips must match bank credits, addresses must match across documents, and dates must match the form. Applications fail on contradiction far more often than on shortfall.
UK Family Visas
UK Spouse Visa Documents: Overview 2026
Complete UK Spouse Visa Document Checklist
You need both passports, the marriage or civil partnership certificate, relationship evidence, six months of financial documents proving £29,000, accommodation evidence, an A1 English certificate or exemption proof, and a TB certificate if you are applying from a listed country. Anything not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation. Organisation and internal consistency matter more than volume.
Documents are what the whole UK partner visa application rests on, because a caseworker decides from the papers alone without ringing anyone to check. Missing or contradictory evidence is among the most common UK Spouse visa refusal reasons.
- Identity: the applicant's valid passport and the sponsor's passport or identity document.
- Marriage: the marriage or civil partnership certificate, with a certified translation where needed.
- Relationship: photographs, communication records, travel evidence and joint financial documents.
- Financial: six months of payslips, matching bank statements and an employer's letter.
- Accommodation: tenancy agreement, mortgage statement or owner's permission letter.
- English: an A1 SELT certificate or evidence of an exemption.
- Health: a TB certificate where the applicant is applying from a listed country.
- Previous relationships: a final order, decree absolute or death certificate where applicable.
- Translations: certified translations for every document not in English or Welsh.
Evidential Flexibility Exists — But Do Not Rely on It
Appendix FM-SE allows a caseworker to write and ask for a document rather than refuse outright, where one item is missing from an otherwise complete sequence, where a document is in the wrong format, or where a copy was sent instead of an original. It is a discretion exercised when the rest of the file is in order.
It will not rescue an application that is short of a whole category of evidence, and it adds weeks to the decision when it is used. Treat it as a safety net for an oversight, never as a plan.
Proof of Relationship Documents
Relationship evidence should tell the story from how you met to how you live now. Caseworkers grade it in tiers, so a joint tenancy outweighs fifty photographs — see our guide to proving a genuine and subsisting partnership for how that grading works.
Relationship Evidence and What to Include
| Document type | What to include |
|---|---|
| Marriage certificate | The original, with a certified translation if not in English |
| Photographs | Ten to twenty from different periods and occasions, each labelled with date and context |
| Communication | Representative samples of calls and messages showing continuity, not the full archive |
| Travel | Flights, hotel bookings and passport stamps from visits |
| Joint documents | Accounts, bills and policies naming both partners |
| Third-party letters | Signed and dated statements from family and friends |
| Relationship timeline | A short chronology covering meeting, courtship, engagement and marriage |
Source: Appendix FM; relationship with a partner caseworker guidance version 7.0.
If the case is referred for a credibility interview, the same story has to hold up spoken aloud and separately by each partner. Our UK Spouse visa interview questions guide covers what is actually asked.
Financial Evidence Requirements
The sponsor must show £29,000 gross a year, or £88,500 in savings, or a permitted combination. The documents are prescribed rather than suggested: Appendix FM-SE says which papers may prove income, and nothing outside that list will do. Our UK Spouse visa income requirements guide works through each category.
- Payslips: the last six months, showing income at or above the threshold.
- Bank statements: the same six months, with salary credits matching the payslips exactly.
- Employer's letter: on headed paper, confirming the role, salary, start date, employment type and current status.
- Self-employment: tax return, SA302, business accounts and a letter from a registered accountant.
- Savings: statements showing the required sum held for six months without a single dip.
- Pension: pension statements, P60 and bank statements showing the payments arriving.
- Non-employment income: rental agreements, dividend statements and investment returns over twelve months.
Where the Threshold Stands in 2026
£29,000 has applied since 11 April 2024 and is unchanged. The planned rises to £34,500 and then £38,700 were paused, the Migration Advisory Committee reported in June 2025 and nothing further has been laid. There is no scheduled increase.
Transitional Documents and the £29,000 Ceiling
Sponsors whose first partner application predates 11 April 2024 evidence £18,600 instead, with £3,800 for a first child and £2,400 for each further child. The total is capped at £29,000, so the child amounts stop adding once that figure is reached — a detail the public pages leave out.
Accommodation Evidence
You must show adequate accommodation that will not be overcrowded once the applicant arrives, and that at least part of it is for the family's exclusive use. Our spouse visa accommodation rules guide covers the Housing Act 1985 arithmetic.
Accommodation Documents by Situation
| Situation | Documents required |
|---|---|
| Renting | Tenancy agreement with address, rent and names, plus the landlord's written consent |
| Owned property | Mortgage statement or deeds, council tax bill, recent utility bills |
| Living with family | Owner's permission letter and their own proof of ownership or tenancy |
| Shared or multiple occupancy | List of all occupants, evidence of dedicated private space, HMO licence where one applies |
Source: adequate maintenance and accommodation guidance version 13.0, 11 November 2025.
What the Owner's Letter Has to Cover
Where you live in someone else's property, the owner writes confirming their name and contact details, the full address, their right to offer the accommodation, explicit consent for both partners to live there, the number of rooms, everyone currently resident, and that adding the applicant will not cause overcrowding. Attach the deeds or tenancy agreement they refer to.
English Language Evidence
A1 speaking and listening is required for the first application, rising to A2 at extension and B1 at settlement — B2 for settlement applications from 26 March 2027. Our spouse visa English language requirement guide covers the levels and the providers.
- SELT certificate: at A1 or above from a UKVI-approved provider — a standard IELTS result does not qualify.
- Degree taught in English: the certificate for a UK degree, or an Ecctis statement for an overseas one.
- Nationality: a passport from a majority English-speaking country.
- Age: evidence of being 65 or over at the date of application.
- Medical grounds: evidence from a qualified practitioner of a condition preventing compliance.
- Earlier higher pass: a certificate at A2 or B1 satisfies the A1 requirement and can be reused later.
Certificate Validity
SELT results are valid for two years from the date of award, so check yours will still be current when the application is submitted rather than when you started preparing it. A certificate already relied on in a successful application can be reused afterwards even once expired, provided the provider has not withdrawn it.
TB Certificates and Where They Are Required
Applicants who have lived for six months or more in a country on the Home Office list must produce a tuberculosis clearance certificate from an approved clinic before applying for permission of more than six months. The test is a chest X-ray, and the certificate is valid for six months from the date of the screening.
Only clinics designated by the Home Office count. A certificate from an ordinary hospital, however competent, invalidates the application, and there is no discretion to accept it. Book early: appointment waits in some countries run to several weeks, and the six-month validity can expire while the rest of the bundle is assembled.
Translations
Every document not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation carrying the translator's confirmation that it is accurate, the date, and the translator's full name, signature and contact details. Use a professional service — translations produced by the applicant, the sponsor or a relative are not accepted.
Originals, Copies and the Digital Process
Most evidence is uploaded rather than posted, through the commercial partner handling biometrics — UKVCAS in the UK, and TLScontact or VFS Global overseas. Keep originals safe, because they can still be requested. Status itself is now digital: biometric residence permits have been replaced by the eVisa record in the UKVI account.
The same categories return at the UK Spouse visa renewal stage and again at the UK Spouse visa indefinite leave application, so keep the file rather than rebuilding it twice. Sources: Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules and the evidential rules in Appendix FM-SE; Home Office guidance on the minimum income requirement version 13.0 of 11 November 2025 and on adequate maintenance and accommodation version 13.0. Figures verified 22 August 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about UK Spouse Visa Documents
Both passports, the marriage or civil partnership certificate, relationship evidence, six months of financial documents proving £29,000, accommodation evidence, an A1 English certificate or exemption proof, and a TB certificate where the applicant applies from a listed country. Any document not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation. Sponsors protected from before 11 April 2024 evidence £18,600 instead.
Six months for salaried employment under Category A and for cash savings under Category D; twelve months for Category B and Category C. Statements must cover the same period as the payslips and show salary credits matching them exactly. For savings, the required balance must be held throughout without dropping below it on any single day.
It is written confirmation from the property owner that they consent to the applicant living there. You need one when you rent, and when you live in a home owned by family or friends. It should describe the property, name everyone currently living there, confirm no overcrowding will result, and attach the owner's own proof of ownership or tenancy.
The process is largely digital: documents are uploaded through the commercial partner handling biometrics, UKVCAS in the UK or TLScontact and VFS Global overseas. Originals of the marriage certificate and passports should still be available on request. Appendix FM-SE lets a caseworker ask for an original where a copy was supplied rather than refuse for it.
Ten to twenty, spread across different periods and occasions, each labelled with a date and a note of what it shows. Photographs are weak-tier evidence in the caseworker guidance, so they support a case built on documents rather than carrying one. Hundreds of images do not improve an application and make the file harder to assess.
Yes, anything not in English or Welsh. The translation must state that it is an accurate translation of the original, carry the date, and give the translator's full name, signature and contact details. Use a professional translator; work done by the applicant, the sponsor or a family member will not be accepted whatever its quality.
Sometimes. Appendix FM-SE allows a caseworker to request a document rather than refuse, where one item is missing from an otherwise complete sequence, where a document is in the wrong format, or where a copy was sent instead of an original. It does not cover a whole missing category of evidence, and it delays the decision, so do not build a plan around it.
£29,000 gross annual income, unchanged since 11 April 2024, or £88,500 in savings held for six unbroken months, or a permitted combination. The planned rises to £34,500 and £38,700 remain paused with no timetable. Sponsors whose first partner application predates 11 April 2024 keep £18,600, with child amounts capped at £29,000 in total.
Appendix Bereaved Partner allows settlement where the applicant holds or last held permission as a partner and the sponsor has died. There is no minimum qualifying period, and neither the financial requirement nor the English requirement applies to the bereaved partner. You need the death certificate, the marriage or civil partnership certificate and evidence the relationship was genuine at the date of death — see our bereaved partner ILR guide.