Expert UK immigration advice for individuals and families on partner, spouse, fiancé, parent, child, dependant and family visa applications, extensions, settlement and complex immigration matters.
UK Family Visa & Personal Immigration Lawyers
Being separated from your partner, children or family because of immigration rules can be stressful. Whether you are planning to join your spouse in the UK, bring a family member to live with you, extend your existing permission or resolve a difficult immigration issue, getting the application right from the outset can be extremely important.
Knights & Shah Solicitors provide specialist personal and family immigration advice to individuals and families in the UK and overseas.
We advise on UK family visa applications involving spouses, civil partners, unmarried partners, fiancé(e)s, parents, children and dependent relatives, as well as extensions, settlement and complex family immigration matters.
Our solicitors can assess the immigration route available to you, identify potential problems before an application is submitted, advise on the evidence required and prepare and submit your application to the Home Office.
Speak to our immigration solicitors about your circumstances.
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UK family immigration is not a single visa route.
The correct application depends on factors including your relationship with the person in the UK, their immigration status, where you are applying from, your current immigration status, your finances and accommodation, and whether children or other dependants are involved.
Our personal and family immigration services include:
Spouse Visa →
For eligible husbands and wives seeking to join or remain with their partner in the UK.
Unmarried Partner Visa →
For qualifying couples who are not married or in a civil partnership.
Fiancé / Fiancée Visa →
For eligible applicants intending to marry or enter into a civil partnership in the UK.
Civil Partner Visa →
For civil partners seeking to live together in the UK.
Parent Visa →
For eligible parents seeking permission to live in the UK on the basis of their relationship with a child in the UK.
Child Visa →
For eligible children seeking to join or remain with a parent or parents in the UK.
Adult Dependent Relative Visa →
For qualifying adults who require long-term personal care from an eligible relative in the UK.
Family Visa Extensions →
Advice where your existing family visa is approaching expiry.
Indefinite Leave to Remain →
Advice on progressing from qualifying family immigration routes towards settlement.
Bereaved Partner Applications →
Advice where the sponsoring partner has died.
Settlement Following Domestic Abuse →
Confidential immigration advice for eligible individuals whose relationship has permanently broken down because of domestic abuse.
We can also advise where an application involves previous refusals, overstaying or immigration history, difficulties satisfying the financial requirements, questions concerning children, human-rights considerations, unusual family circumstances or potential exceptional circumstances.
The appropriate immigration route depends upon who you want to join in the UK and your relationship with them.
For example, you may need to consider a partner route if you are joining your husband, wife, civil partner or qualifying unmarried partner.
A different route applies to someone intending to marry in the UK before continuing their family life here.
Parents seeking to remain in the UK because of their relationship with a qualifying child may have a potential parent route. The current rules contain specific requirements concerning the child’s status, residence and the applicant’s parental responsibility or access to the child.
Children joining parents and adults requiring long-term care from relatives are subject to different requirements again.
Choosing the correct immigration route at the beginning is therefore important.
If you are unsure which application applies to your circumstances, our immigration solicitors can review your position before an application is made.
[Ask Us Which Visa You Need]
A UK Spouse Visa can allow an eligible husband or wife to live in the UK with their qualifying partner.
The application is considerably more than simply proving that you are married.
Depending upon the circumstances, applicants may need to establish requirements relating to their relationship, immigration status, finances, English-language ability and accommodation, together with providing the specified supporting evidence.
For many new partner-route applications, the current minimum income requirement is normally £29,000 per year, although different rules and exceptions can apply, including transitional arrangements for some applicants who entered the route before 11 April 2024 and cases involving certain benefits.
Because financial evidence can be highly fact-specific, applicants should not assume that earning £29,000 automatically means that the evidential requirements have been satisfied.
Our dedicated UK Spouse Visa Solicitors page explains the application in detail.
[Read Our Complete UK Spouse Visa Guide →]
Marriage is not always required to qualify for a UK family visa.
An unmarried partner may potentially qualify where the relevant requirements of the Immigration Rules are satisfied.
The Home Office will consider the nature and genuineness of the relationship and whether the applicable requirements for the route have been met.
Evidence can therefore become particularly important.
Depending upon the circumstances, this might include evidence concerning the history and continuity of the relationship, living arrangements, communication, shared responsibilities, finances and future intentions.
[Unmarried Partner Visa Solicitors →]
If you intend to marry or form a civil partnership in the UK, a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner route may be appropriate.
This is different from entering the UK as an existing spouse or civil partner.
Applicants need to understand both the initial immigration application and what needs to happen after the marriage or civil partnership takes place.
We can advise on the application, supporting evidence and the subsequent immigration steps required to continue living together in the UK.
[Fiancé & Fiancée Visa Solicitors →]
Civil partners can potentially qualify under the UK’s family immigration framework where the relevant eligibility requirements are satisfied.
The validity of the civil partnership, immigration status of the sponsoring partner, genuineness of the relationship and applicable financial, English-language and other requirements may all need consideration.
We advise both applicants already in the UK and those applying from overseas.
[Civil Partner Visa Solicitors →]
Some parents may be able to obtain permission to live in the UK on the basis of their relationship with a child.
This is a distinct immigration route with its own requirements.
The current government rules require consideration of matters including the child’s age and status in the UK, where the child lives, parental responsibility and, in appropriate cases, the applicant’s direct access to and active involvement in the child’s upbringing.
Importantly, where someone is eligible to apply as a partner, GOV.UK states that they must apply as a partner rather than under the parent route.
Cases involving children can also engage wider family-life and human-rights considerations.
[Parent Visa Solicitors →]
Children may be able to join or remain with their parent or parents in the UK depending upon the family’s circumstances and immigration status.
Applications involving children can require careful consideration of parental status, dependency, living arrangements, financial evidence and the child’s circumstances.
Different requirements can apply depending upon the immigration route held by the parent.
We can advise parents on applications made for children individually or alongside wider family immigration applications.
[Child Visa Solicitors →]
The Adult Dependent Relative route is considerably more restrictive than many families expect.
Under the current rules, an applicant generally needs to demonstrate that they require long-term personal care because of age, illness or disability and that the required level of care is not available or affordable in the country where they live. The UK relative must also satisfy applicable sponsorship, accommodation and maintenance requirements.
For a new application under this route, an applicant will normally need to apply from outside the UK.
These applications can be evidence-intensive.
We can assess the circumstances and advise on the evidence before an application is submitted.
[Adult Dependent Relative Visa Solicitors →]
Finances are one of the most important—and frequently misunderstood—parts of UK family immigration.
For a new application as a partner, applicants and their partners currently usually need to demonstrate combined qualifying income of at least £29,000 per year.
However, the calculation is not simply:
“Do we earn £29,000?”
The source of the funds and the evidence required can matter.
Depending upon the application and circumstances, consideration may need to be given to employment income, self-employment, savings, non-employment income, periods of employment, specified documentary requirements and applicable exceptions.
Different arrangements also apply in certain circumstances, including where the sponsoring partner receives specified disability or carer’s benefits and for certain applicants already on the partner route from before 11 April 2024.
If the financial requirement is a concern, we recommend obtaining advice before submitting the application, rather than discovering an evidential problem after a Home Office decision.
There is no universal document checklist suitable for every family visa application.
Depending upon the route and circumstances, applicants may need evidence relating to:
The Home Office requires applicants to provide information and evidence relevant to their particular route, including financial evidence where applicable.
A strong application is therefore not about uploading the largest possible number of documents.
It is about submitting the correct evidence, in the correct form, addressing the correct legal requirements.
Many family immigration applications are made by people who are currently living overseas and wish to join family members in Britain.
The appropriate entry-clearance route needs to be identified before applying.
Our immigration solicitors can advise clients overseas remotely, review documentation electronically and assist with preparation of the UK immigration application.
Some people who are already legally present in the UK on another immigration route may be able to switch to a family visa before their existing permission expires.
However, switching is not available in every situation and immigration status can materially affect the options available.
GOV.UK confirms that some applicants already in Britain on another visa may be able to switch to a family visa to remain with a spouse or partner, child or parent.
Before switching routes, it is also important to consider the longer-term consequences, including how the change may affect the route towards settlement.
Receiving the first visa is often only the beginning of the immigration journey.
Many family routes require a further application before the existing permission expires.
An extension application may require updated evidence showing that the relevant immigration requirements continue to be satisfied.
We can review your immigration history and advise on the next application before your current permission expires.
[Family Visa Extension Solicitors →]
For many families, the ultimate objective is not simply obtaining another visa.
It is achieving permanent status in the UK.
Depending upon the immigration route and circumstances, an applicant may eventually become eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Some partner and parent cases operate on different routes to settlement, including circumstances where a 10-year family-life route applies. Current Immigration Rules contain a dedicated settlement framework for qualifying people who have permission as a partner or parent under Appendix FM.
Because changing immigration routes can affect the qualifying period, long-term planning should form part of immigration advice from the beginning.
[Indefinite Leave to Remain Solicitors →]
For some clients, obtaining Indefinite Leave to Remain is followed by an application to naturalise as a British citizen.
Citizenship is a separate legal process with its own requirements.
Our immigration solicitors can advise on the journey from family visa status through settlement and, where eligible, British citizenship.
[British Citizenship Solicitors →]
A case should not automatically be assumed to be hopeless because one of the standard requirements appears difficult to satisfy.
The Immigration Rules contain provisions relevant to family life, children, human rights and exceptional circumstances.
For example, the government’s current guidance recognises circumstances in which an applicant who cannot satisfy the ordinary partner financial requirements may nevertheless need consideration because of a qualifying child or because requiring departure or preventing entry would breach human rights.
These cases can be legally complex.
They should not be approached as ordinary form-filling applications.
Our solicitors can assess the facts, identify the relevant immigration provisions and advise whether there is an arguable alternative basis upon which an application could be made.
A refusal does not necessarily mean that the matter is finished.
The appropriate next step depends upon the decision, the immigration route, the reason for refusal and whether the decision carries a right of appeal or another form of challenge.
Depending upon the circumstances, the options may include:
a fresh application, an immigration appeal, administrative review where applicable, judicial review, or another appropriate immigration remedy.
Do not simply resubmit the same application without first understanding why it failed.
Our immigration team can review the refusal decision and advise on the available options.
[Visa Refusal Solicitors →]
[Immigration Appeals →]
Immigration problems can arise at extremely difficult moments in a person’s life.
If your sponsoring partner has died, or your relationship has permanently broken down because of domestic abuse, you may have immigration options that do not require you simply to continue on the ordinary partner route.
The current Immigration Rules contain settlement provisions for qualifying bereaved partners and qualifying victims of domestic abuse.
We provide confidential advice about these applications and the evidence that may be required.
[Bereaved Partner Immigration Advice →]
[Settlement Following Domestic Abuse →]
Family immigration decisions can determine where couples live, whether parents and children can remain together and whether a family can build its future in the United Kingdom.
We therefore approach immigration applications as legal matters—not simply online forms.
When instructed, our immigration solicitors can:
Our objective is straightforward:
to prepare a clear, properly evidenced application that addresses the relevant Immigration Rules and the client’s individual circumstances.
Knights & Shah Solicitors is based in Woking, Surrey, but immigration work is not limited by geography.
We can advise clients throughout England and Wales and work with individuals and families who are currently overseas and planning to come to the UK.
Appointments can be arranged remotely where appropriate.
Whether your partner is in London, your family is in Surrey or you are applying from another country, our immigration solicitors can advise on the UK immigration aspects of your case.
If you require advice contact Knights & Shah Solicitors.
We provide clear, solicitor led advice, strategic case planning and robust court representation to protect our clients.
