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If you are in the UK on a partner visa and your partner — a British citizen or someone settled here — has died, the Immigration Rules include a route called Appendix Bereaved Partner, which leads to settlement without the usual qualifying period and without the income requirement of the partner route. The relationship must have been genuine and continuing when your partner died. Nothing has to be decided in the first days; the sections below explain the route, and where to find the detail when you are ready.
Losing a partner is hard enough without worrying about whether you can stay. If you came to the UK on a partner visa, it is natural to fear for your right to be here. The Immigration Rules have a route written for exactly this situation.
This guide is general information about how the route works. It is not advice about your own case. For that, see where to get help below.
The route is set out in Appendix Bereaved Partner of the Immigration Rules. It exists so that someone whose partner has died is not left without status because they had not yet completed the years normally needed to settle.
A successful application in the UK leads to settlement, also called indefinite leave to remain.
In broad terms, the Rules look for three things:
The usual suitability checks of the Immigration Rules also apply.
The appendix includes an English language requirement and the Life in the UK requirement, each with exemptions. GOV.UK's list of people who do not need to prove their English when applying to settle includes the partner or spouse of a person who has died who was a British citizen or settled in the UK. Check the current exemptions for both requirements before booking a test.
The appendix gives a right to ask for an administrative review of a refusal.
Only a person regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or a solicitor, can advise you on your own immigration case. GOV.UK has a search for a regulated immigration adviser.
For a fuller walk-through of the route — the documents that support each requirement, the forms, and what settlement means afterwards — see Rowan's guides to settlement as a bereaved partner and what happens to a partner visa after a bereavement. Rowan is a guide to UK visas run by the same team as Farra.
For support with the bereavement itself, Cruse Bereavement Support is free. Our guide on what to do when your husband, wife or partner dies covers the rest of what has to be sorted out.
The Immigration Rules have a route for settling in the UK as a bereaved partner, Appendix Bereaved Partner. Because your immigration position depends on your own permission and dates, get advice from a regulated immigration adviser or a solicitor about your case.
The bereaved partner route does not require you to finish the usual qualifying period, so the time you have already spent on the partner route does not have to add up to it.
Appendix Bereaved Partner sets no income requirement for an adult applicant. Its maintenance and accommodation requirement applies only to children applying.
The appendix includes an English requirement with exemptions, and GOV.UK lists the partner of a British citizen or settled person who has died among those who do not need to prove their English when applying to settle. Check the current exemptions before you book a test.
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