Navigating The New UK Unmarried Partner Visa Rules

To enter the UK as a "partner" under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules ("FM" being short for "Family Member"), there are three possible ways to qualify as a "partner". First, as a "spouse". Second, as a "civil partner". Third, as an "unmarried partner".

The way that this third category – "unmarried partner" – is defined in the Rules has recently changed. Against the tide of increasingly high visa application fees and ever-tighter requirements in the Immigration Rules, the "unmarried partner" definition has seemingly been relaxed: the reference to a couple "living together" (i.e. cohabiting) for two years has been removed from the body of the Rules.

This post will compare the new definition with the old, examine the corresponding update in the newly published Guidance, and consider the implications for potential unmarried partner visa applicants.