How Does Covid Affect My Spouse Visa?

The current pandemic has had far-reaching effects across the UK, and indeed throughout the world. Media coverage focuses on the impact on our economy and the strain placed upon the NHS, but there has also been a significant impact on immigration and the issuing of visas in the UK.

Where spouse visas are concerned, the impact upon their requirements has been substantial, leaving people with a sense of confusion as to how to proceed with their applications and a sense of fear as to getting it wrong. With Minimum Income Requirements (MIR) to be met and attendance at visa application centres (VAC) and English language tests required, clarification as to how these now apply can bring peace of mind to people going through the process.

What is a spouse visa?

A spouse visa is also referred to as a marriage visa. Once issued, it allows partners of UK citizens to immigrate to the UK, providing that the person they are intending to marry or form a civil partnership with is 'settled' within the UK with no immigration restrictions themselves.

Initial Home Office guidance

Recognising the potential impact upon spouse visas, the Home Office initially announced an extension of the leave to remain for those who had a wedding or a civil ceremony planned. With the creation of the Coronavirus Immigration Team, applicants had the opportunity to apply for an extension where their ceremony may have been postponed due to Covid-19.

The latest guidance issued by the Home Office states that:

"If you're here with 6 months leave as a fiancé, a fiancée or proposed civil partner and your wedding or civil ceremony has been delayed due to coronavirus you may request additional time to stay, also known as 'exceptional assurance', by completing the online form and providing evidence of when your wedding will take place."

The Home Office goes on to say that you can, alternatively, apply for an extension of 6 months to allow the ceremony to take place.

Minimum income requirement

The Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) stipulates that to be able to sponsor a partner under UK immigration rules, the sponsor must be earning at least £18,600 per year or have £62,500 held in savings. Given the impact of coronavirus on the economy and the job market, this may give cause for concern for those applying for spouse visas.

At the time of writing (14 October 2020), the Home Office has stated that provisions are in place in an attempt to prevent applicants and sponsors from falling foul of MIR where the reasons are linked directly to the current pandemic:

"If you've experienced a loss of income up to 31 August, we will consider employment income for the period immediately before the loss of income due to coronavirus, provided the requirement was met for at least 6 months up to March 2020."

The Home Office goes on to provide a degree of leeway for those who have been furloughed (taking into account 100% of salary rather than furlough payments) and the self-employed (with a loss of self-employed income due to coronavirus being disregarded).

Attendance at Visa application centres

If MIR doesn't present a challenge, couples then face a further hurdle in terms of attending a VAC. Many have been closed during the pandemic, although there are signs of them beginning to re-open.

The Home Office has issued guidance stating that if your VAC is closed, you may apply online and select any VAC worldwide. The pre-requisite to this is that you must already be permitted to travel to the country where the VAC is located.

The Home Office states: "You'll be able to make any type of UK visa application. You must select the country where you would like to submit your biometrics at the start of your application."

English language test centres

Conditions of issuing a spouse visa include being able to demonstrate that you meet the English language requirements. Ordinarily, this would be carried out at a secure testing location. Again, this has been impacted by the coronavirus in that centres have been forced to close. Even those that remain open have been unable to continue to run at full capacity.

In relation to this, the Home Office states: "If you're asked to take an English language test as part of your application, you can apply for an exemption if the test centre was closed or you couldn't travel to it due to coronavirus when you applied."

Specified documents

The Home Office has recognised that the coronavirus may impact the ability to obtain certain documents that have been requested. In relation to this, they have stated that they may be able to decide on applications without seeing these documents or they may ask for them to be submitted after the application date.

What if Covid means the requirements can't be met?

With concessions in place surrounding documents, VACs, and the English language test, perhaps the most severe challenge is posed by the MIR. Evidently, concessions have been made here too but whether these go far enough is a topic for debate.

If a couple is unable to meet the Minimum Income Requirements, there is the potential for an application to still be granted.

If there is the possibility that a refusal of an application could lead to "unjustifiably harsh consequences," then the Home Office has a duty to consider other sources of potential financial support.

However, if it can be shown that a refusal would undoubtedly lead to unjustifiably harsh consequences, then the Home Office must grant the application regardless.

What may be deemed "unjustifiably harsh" is a complex matter. It is possible to submit a visa application without any legal representation, but this comes with the risk that an application will be refused, leading to the need to appeal.

Our advice would be to seek expert legal advice from our team at the earliest opportunity. Whilst Covid-19 has presented challenges to applications for spouse visas, with sound advice and guidance, we are able to assist in overcoming the additional hurdles.