Immigration Rules Appendix Relationship with Partner
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-11)

Relationship with Partner

This Appendix sets out the requirements for an application based on a relationship with a partner: spouse, civil partner, or unmarried partner in a durable relationship of at least 2 years.
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- • Appendix Family Reunion (Sponsors with Protection)
- • Appendix Settlement Family Life
- • Appendix Gurkhas and Hong Kong military unit veteran discharged before 1 July 1997
- • Appendix Statelessness
Age requirement for a person applying as a partner

RWP 1.1. The applicant and their partner must be aged 18 or over on the date of application.

Requirement that the partners must not be closely related

RWP 2.1. The applicant and their partner must not be so closely related that they would be prohibited from marrying, or entering into a civil partnership with, each other as defined in the Marriage Acts 1949 to 1986, the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 and 1986, the Marriage (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.

Requirement for previous relationships to have broken down permanently

RWP 3.1. Any previous marriage or civil partnership or durable relationship of the applicant or their partner with another person must have permanently broken down unless RWP 7.1. applies.

Requirement that any marriage or civil partnership is valid

RWP 4.1. Where the applicant and their partner are married or in a civil partnership, that marriage or civil partnership must be recognised by law in the country in which it took place.

Requirement for a durable relationship where a person is not married or in a civil partnership

RWP 5.1. Where the applicant and their partner are not married or in a civil partnership, they must have been in a relationship similar to a marriage or civil partnership for at least 2 years before the date of application.

Genuine and subsisting relationship requirement

RWP 6.1. The applicant and their partner must have met in person.

RWP 6.2. The relationship between the applicant and their partner must be genuine and subsisting.

Polygamous or polyandrous marriages and civil partnerships

RWP 7.1. If the applicant or their partner is currently in a polygamous or polyandrous marriage or civil partnership, they may only rely on that marriage or civil partnership for the purposes of an application for entry clearance, permission to enter or stay or settlement as a partner where no other partner to the marriage or civil partnership is seeking, or has been granted:
- (a) permission to enter or stay (except as a visitor or person in transit); or
- (b) settlement; or
- (c) a certificate of entitlement to Right of Abode in the UK.