Moving Back to the UK With a Foreign Spouse: Key Income Thresholds Explained

Many returning expats with a foreign partner walk into the process assuming they can turn up at Heathrow and sort the paperwork later.

Not a good idea!

If your husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner or fiancé(e) isn't a Brit, they need a UK family visa before they board the plane home.

Yes, the rules tightened sharply in April 2024, and the financial bar is now £29,000 a year. We’ll get to this figure shortly…

This guide walks you through the reality of moving back as a married couple: the financial specifics, which visa routes apply, and what the Home Office wants to see. We’ll also look at some common mistakes that can get applications refused.

A caveat before we start…

This is general information, not legal advice. If your situation involves previous refusals, criminal convictions, overstaying, complex finances, stepchildren, sole responsibility for kids or anything that smells - how can we say… "exceptional"… then you should get a proper immigration adviser involved before applying.

The old way is the wrong way

Many who have been in this position assume that the British sponsor has to move back to the UK first, get a job, and then sponsor their partner from there.

That's actually wrong.

Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules explicitly says references to "a British Citizen in the UK" include a British citizen who is coming to the UK with the applicant as their partner or parent.

You can apply as a couple while you're both still abroad. You can land at Heathrow/Gatwick/etc on the same flight.

Why does this matter so much?

Because the alternative (where the sponsor returns alone, partner waits abroad, and then family is separated for 6+ months, two sets of housing costs running) is the version of this story most couples dread.

The good news is that you don't have to do it that way.

HOWEVER, you so still need a credible UK relocation plan, you still need to meet the financial rules, and you still need accommodation lined up.

But, yes, you can do it together.

So, about that £29,000…

The minimum income threshold for new spouse and partner applications jumped from £18,600 to £29,000 on 11 April 2024.

The old £18,600 number still floats around Reddit and various expat forums - and even immigration solicitor websites that haven't been updated. It only applies to transitional cases: couples who first applied successfully before 11 April 2024, with child additions of £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional one.

For everyone else, it's £29,000.

Here's how that £29,000 can actually be met, since there are more options than most readers realise.

Option 1: Overseas job + UK job offer

In most cases, this is the most powerful path for couples applying together from abroad.

There are two sub-paths in the rules:

Category A - The sponsor has been with their current overseas employer for at least 6 months at the required pay level, and has a confirmed UK job offer starting within 3 months of returning.

Category B - The sponsor doesn't need to be currently employed, but must have a confirmed UK job offer starting within 3 months of return and show £29,000+ of qualifying income during the 12 months before the application.

For both, the UK job offer letter is required to specify the role, gross annual salary, and start date within 3 months. A signed contract is essential.

Basically, it has to be locked in to form a reliable plan.

Option 2: Cash savings

If income alone won't get you there, savings can be a useful backup plan.

The formula works like this:

£16,000 + (2.5 × the income shortfall)

If you have ZERO countable income, that's £16,000 + (2.5 × £29,000) = £88,500 in savings.

If you have £24,000 of countable income, the shortfall is £5,000, so savings needed = £16,000 + (2.5 × £5,000) = £28,500.

The savings have to be held by the applicant, sponsor or both jointly, under their control, for at least 6 months before the application. What that means is that a gift becomes “qualifying savings” if it's held for the 6-month period.

As for third-party promises of support, these generally don't count.

Option 3: Other qualifying income

Short on savings and lacking a job offer?

There are some other paths you can take:

Pension income, rental income from properties you own, and dividends can all count toward the £29,000, provided the source is permitted and you supply the exact specified evidence.

Self-employment and limited company directorships are both allowed but they are evidence-heavy: so be prepared to submit tax returns, accounts, business registration details, bank statements and so on.

All perfectly doable, but plan early.

Option 4: The exceptions

If the sponsor receives certain disability or carer benefits (PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance), the £29,000 doesn't apply.

Instead you must meet the "adequate maintenance" requirement: enough money and accommodation without relying on public funds.

Things get murky here.

While the so-called exceptional circumstances under Article 8 family life principles can save an application that doesn't meet the financial rules… this is the exception, not a workaround.

We don’t recommend planning around it, or relying on it.

Which visa do you actually need?

Most returning Brits will use one of these…

Spouse or civil partner visa. You're legally married or in a civil partnership recognised in the UK. Applicant applies from outside the UK. If approved, they can live, work and study.

Unmarried partner visa. You've been in a relationship "akin to marriage" for at least 2 years. Evidence is critical here, especially if you haven't lived together continuously. GOV.UK does recognise relationships where couples couldn't live together due to work, study or cultural reasons. But the bar on commitment evidence climbs and you can expect extra scrutiny.

Fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner visa. You plan to marry or enter a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months. The visa is 6 months and the applicant cannot work or study during that period. After the wedding, they will switch over to a spouse visa.

EU Settlement Scheme family permit. Only relevant in narrow situations now, mostly for family members of qualifying EU/EEA/Swiss citizens who were already living in the UK by 31 December 2020. The old "Surinder Singh" route (for Brits who lived in the EU together as a couple) largely closed to new applications on 8 August 2023.

And NO, a visitor visa is not a workaround

We’ve seen this question posed time and time again on forums/Reddit.

GOV.UK is explicit: people in the UK as visitors, or on visas of 6 months or less, generally need to leave the UK to apply for a family visa.

Only very limited exceptions exist (a fiancé(e) family visa, certain family-court-related permissions).

Don't fly your partner over on a tourist visa hoping to switch from inside the country. It almost never works, it creates a worse paper trail, and it can actually prejudice future applications leading to more hassle in the long run.

What about the kids?

Before you pay for a single child visa application… is your child already British?!

(Yes, we’ve seen this overlooked!)

GOV.UK confirms British citizenship is **normally* automatically passed down one generation to children born outside the UK. A child born abroad to a British parent may already be British depending on the parent's status and how citizenship was acquired.

If the child is British, it’s easy here: they don't need a family visa.

They do need a British passport.

Registering the foreign birth with UK authorities is optional in many cases - a local birth certificate is usually accepted in the UK for school enrolment, NHS registration and passport applications.

If the child isn't British, they will need to apply as a dependant alongside the parent's family visa. Stepfamily situations and sole responsibility cases get complicated quickly.

This is one area where paying for a regulated immigration adviser almost always pays for itself. It’s certainly not something we can advise on here.

The other requirements

A few more steps to consider:

Accommodation. You need to show adequate accommodation in the UK that the family owns or occupies exclusively “without overcrowding”. No, you don't have to own or rent a separate property before applying. Staying with family is fine if you provide clear evidence (homeowner letter, proof of ownership, who else lives there, and evidence the home won't be overcrowded).

English language. First-time applicants need at least CEFR A1 speaking and listening via an approved Secure English Language Test. Extensions need A2. At settlement, B1 plus the Life in the UK Test. Nationals of listed majority English-speaking countries, applicants over 65, and those with relevant disabilities are exempt.

TB test. This is required if your partner has lived in a listed country for 6+ months and was there (or in another listed country) within the last 6 months. Even fiancé(e) applicants may need it. It must be done at a Home Office-approved clinic; with a certificate valid 6 months.

Relationship evidence. Contrary to popular belief, a marriage certificate alone is NOT enough. The Home Office wants to see the relationship is genuine and continuing: joint bank statements, tenancy agreements, household bills, council tax, communication records, photos across the relationship, travel records, children's birth certificates.

For couples who haven't lived together continuously, the evidence needs to be much stronger. This is not something to be offended by - it’a a process of due-diligence designed to tackle the very real issue of “sham marriage immigration”.

The cost…

Well…

It’s not to be taken lightly!

A spouse plus one non-British child applying together from overseas costs around £9,561 before you've even factored in the English test, TB test, document translations, or the cost of physically moving back.

The first extension (2 years 6 months, applied for from inside the UK) costs another £1,407 + £2,587.50 IHS = £3,994.50 per adult.

Indefinite Leave to Remain at the end of the 5-year route adds another £3,226 per adult.

Total Home Office fees across a 5-year journey to settlement: over £12,000 per adult, around £8,500 per child.

How long does it take?

GOV.UK quotes the standard processing times as 12 weeks for partner applications from outside the UK and 8 weeks for applications from inside the UK where the financial and English requirements are met.

Cases that don't meet those will obviously take much longer - in some cases, many months.

Priority services exist… but they're not always available, and complex cases stretch for months. We suggest you don't make irreversible travel, job or housing plans based solely on the so-called “standard processing times”.

Especially if your case is anything but standard….

The 5-year route to settlement

Your first overseas spouse visa is granted for 2 years and 9 months. The first extension (from inside the UK) is 2 years and 6 months. After 5 continuous years on the partner route, your spouse can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Keep in mind: time spent on a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner visa does NOT count toward those 5 years.

So if you arrive on the fiancé(e) route, the settlement clock only starts when your partner switches to a spouse visa after the wedding.

If your partner is granted permission on exceptional circumstances or human rights grounds rather than meeting the rules in full, they may end up on a 10-year route to settlement instead of the standard 5-year one.

That's five extra years of visa renewals and fees.

What mistakes get applications refused?

We see the same errors over and over in expat groups:

• Relying on the £18,600 figure when it's now £29,000
• Treating the applicant's overseas salary as UK income (it isn't, until they're working in the UK)
• Applying before cash savings have been held for the required 6 months
• Submitting financial evidence that doesn't match the exact format Appendix FM-SE requires
• Trying to switch from a visitor visa inside the UK (very common!)
• Forgetting certified translations for foreign-language documents
• Booking a non-approved English test
• Missing the TB requirement
• Treating family promises of financial support as income (they're not!)

The Home Office is pretty explicit and there’s "generally no discretion or flexibility" on the minimum income level.

While the rules are strict and evidence-led, and decisions are normally based on whatever documents you submitted with the application. Only limited scope exists for sending more later - so get it right the first time!

Build your application around the rules.

Don't try to explain gaps afterwards.

Moving with a foreign spouse

If you're a Brit abroad with a non-British partner and you're thinking about coming home, the family visa route is doable… but as you can see, there are several roadblocks, and plenty of red tape along the way.

Most importantly: You need £29,000 of qualifying income, or £88,500 in savings, or some workable mix.

You need a credible UK relocation plan. You need accommodation lined up. You need substantial relationship evidence - and without this, the plan will crumble fast.

You also need around £5,000-£10,000 in Home Office fees per family member, before you've factored in the cost of actually moving - which, depending on where you’re travelling from, could add several extra thousand pounds.

The good news for returning expats - and we want to repeat this because many still get it wrong - is that you don't have to come back alone first.

You can apply as a couple from overseas, plan the move together, and arrive in the UK on the same flight.

So, next steps?

Plan early. Get the documents right first time. Get advice for anything complex.

For official guidance, start at GOV.UK's family visa pages. They're kept up to date when rules change, which the Home Office does often.