Spouse visa document checklist for 2026

This is the list of documents required for a UK spouse visa, grouped the way a caseworker reads the file. Not every item applies to every couple: the financial section depends on where the money comes from, and the TB certificate depends on where the applicant lives. Use it to see what you already have and what needs to be found, ordered or translated before you apply.

Documents not in English or Welsh need a full certified translation, with the translator's confirmation that it is accurate, their name and contact details, and the date. Most documents are uploaded as clear scans; keep the originals, as the Home Office can ask to see them.

Identity and status

• The applicant's current passport, and any previous passports that show travel to the UK.
• The sponsor's British passport, or proof of their settled status, pre-settled status or refugee status (an eVisa share code is the usual evidence now).
• Any previous UK visas, refusals or immigration history. A previous refusal must be declared even if it was years ago.

The marriage or civil partnership

• The marriage or civil partnership certificate, with a certified translation if needed.
• For a marriage abroad, evidence that it was legally registered where it took place. A religious ceremony on its own may not be recognised.
• If either of you was married before, the divorce or death certificate that ended that marriage.

Relationship evidence

The Home Office wants to see a genuine and continuing relationship, not just a wedding. Spread the evidence across the whole relationship:

• Photographs together over time, at the wedding and on other occasions, with dates and a few words on each.
• Evidence of visits: boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel bookings.
• A selection of messages and call logs across the relationship. A few pages from different periods is better than hundreds of screenshots from one month.
• Anything in joint names: tenancy, bank account, bills, insurance.
• If you have children together, their birth certificates.

This is not a complete list. What you need depends on your circumstances, and the documents vary from case to case. Your solicitor will tell you exactly what applies to you.

Financial evidence

This section changes most from one couple to the next. Our income and savings checker tells you which route you are on, and the financial requirement guide explains each one. The usual documents:

• Employed sponsor: six months of payslips, bank statements for the same six months showing the salary paid in, a letter from the employer confirming the job, salary, length of employment and type of contract, and the latest P60.
• Self-employed or company director: the full financial year of tax returns and accounts, set out in our self-employed sponsor guide.
• Savings: statements for every account relied on, covering the full six months, plus an explanation of where the money came from. See the savings route.
• Sponsor on disability or carer's benefits: award letters and bank statements, plus the housing figures for the adequate maintenance calculation.
• Pension, rent or dividends: the pension statement or tenancy agreements, and bank statements showing the money arriving.

Every payslip should match a payment on a bank statement, to the penny and on the same date. A mismatch is the most common reason we see for a refusal on money.

This is not a complete list. What you need depends on your circumstances, and the documents vary from case to case. Your solicitor will tell you exactly what applies to you.

Accommodation

• A tenancy agreement or mortgage statement, or Land Registry title.
• If you will live with family, a letter from the owner confirming you can live there, with the owner's proof of ownership.
• A recent council tax bill or utility bill at the address.
• A property inspection report, where the home is shared or the room count is tight. It is optional but answers the overcrowding question before it is asked. See the accommodation requirement.

English language

• An approved English test certificate at the right level, from an approved provider and test centre, or
• a degree taught in English with confirmation from Ecctis, or
• a passport from a majority English-speaking country, or evidence of an exemption. See the English language requirement.

Tuberculosis certificate

A TB certificate from a Home Office approved clinic, if the applicant has lived in a listed country for six months or more. It is valid for six months from the chest x-ray. See the TB test guide.

Letters that pull it together

• A sponsor's letter, in their own words, on how you met, the wedding and your plans in the UK.
• A covering letter that lists each requirement and the documents that prove it. This is what we write for clients; it is the page the caseworker reads first.

Questions people ask