Five mistakes that wreck UK Spouse Visa applications (and how to avoid them)

The UK Spouse Visa is one of the most consequential immigration applications a family can file. Refusals carry an immediate emotional and financial cost, and re-applications take three to six months. Most refusals fall into one of five buckets, and most of those buckets are preventable with planning. Here are the patterns.

1. Income evidence does not span the qualifying period

The sponsor must show £29,000/year for the qualifying period before the application date. Six months for an employed sponsor, twelve months for self-employed. The trap: applicants submit recent payslips and assume that proves the trend. The Home Office checks for continuity. A change of employer mid-period, even at a higher salary, can disqualify if the timing is wrong.

2. Cohabitation evidence reads like a checklist

Unmarried partners need to show two years of cohabitation. Married couples need to show the marriage is genuine and subsisting. Both groups make the same mistake: they assemble joint bank statements and tenancy agreements and assume that is enough. The strong files are the ones that read like a real life — joint travel, photos across years, joint financial decisions, statements from family and employers. A Home Office officer wants to see proportion of evidence, not just type.

3. Savings route maths is wrong

The savings route requires £88,500 in cash, held for six months continuously, in an account in the applicant's or sponsor's name. The formula is: (income threshold − annualised income) × 2.5 + £16,000. Easy to get wrong. We have seen files refused because savings were used to top up income that was nearly at threshold, but the calculation assumed the income was zero.

4. English language certificate is from the wrong list

The applicant needs A1 English at the entry-clearance stage, A2 at extension, B1 at ILR. Only tests on the UKVI Approved Secure English Language Tests list count. We have lost count of applicants who took a perfectly good IELTS Academic test, only to discover it wasn't the IELTS for UKVI variant.

5. Filing under the wrong rule version

The £29,000 threshold from April 2024 applies to new applications. Existing visa holders on the pre-April-2024 £18,600 threshold retain that lower threshold for renewals — but you must file the renewal under the right rule. Filing under the wrong rule has triggered refusals where the substance was fine. Always confirm which rule version applies on the day you click submit.