People who have permission to stay in the UK can join their family members in this country. Family members immigrate to the United Kingdom by receiving a special family visa (UK Family Members Visa). In order to receive the mentioned visa, the family members must provide the necessary conditions, prove several cases, and complete the defined steps of the request to join the family members.

Join family members

People who intend to live with their family in the UK and want to apply for a family reunification visa in this country in order to join their spouse, children or parents, in the rest of this article, complete information about the conditions and documents required to obtain this category of visas. will be provided

Types of family visas

The UK Family Members Visa is issued depending on the conditions of the applicant and his family relationship with the British citizen. In general, the visas for spouse, child, parents, relatives, special, divorce from spouse, and deceased spouse are all types of family visas, and the application form for each of these visas is different.

Conditions

People who have obtained British citizenship, their asylum application has been accepted in the United Kingdom, have obtained a long-term student investment visa, or have stayed in the United Kingdom for at least six months in any way, can invite their family members to this country. In addition to having residence documents, a person living in the UK must have the financial ability to cover the costs of accommodation, food, health insurance and other basic life needs for their family members. Also, family members must prove that they have sufficient command of the English language. It is worth noting that citizens of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, who have chosen housing in the UK before January 1, 2021, are also eligible to invite their family members to the UK.

Which family members can be reunited?

People who are over 18 years of age can invite their spouse and children to the UK. People under the age of 18 can invite their parents to the UK if they meet the conditions. A person who is a divorced or deceased spouse of a British citizen is eligible for this category of visas. Even relatives of British citizens can go to the UK under certain conditions.

Prepare an invitation

British citizens who are eligible first prepare the required documents and their request and submit it to the British Home Office or the UK Home Office. The Ministry of Interior/Home Office will review the application and determine whether this citizen has the necessary conditions to join his family members in the UK or not. After the assurance of the British government, the British citizen’s family member or family members are given an invitation letter, which is the most important document for joining and receiving a visa, based on which the family members can apply for a visa from the British Foreign Ministry and the political representatives of this country.

Required documents

If someone intends to immigrate to the UK by obtaining a family visa, they need to submit some documents and complete the application. To get this type of visa, you need to submit marriage certificate, passport with a minimum validity of 6 months, identity card and birth card, photo of the applicant, proof of knowledge of English language, proof of health and health, biometric information of family members, citizenship or residency document of British family members. , the document of the financial status of the citizen or applicant to bear the costs, the document of the residence of the British citizen and the invitation. All documents must be in English or translated into English. You can refer to the link for the details of financial ability , and for the details of the English language  certificate, you can refer to the link .

Visa application for family members

Family members go to the UK Visas and Immigration website related to the British government and complete the official family visa application by filling out the relevant forms and uploading the required documents and sending it to the British government after confirmation or electronic signature. It should be noted that the online visa application form for this country is filled out separately for each person and the visa has a fee, so family members are required to pay the fee for their visa application according to British laws. You can read all the information that is required to submit an application in this  link  .

To apply for a spouse visa , it is necessary for the spouse of a citizen of this country to be over 18 years old. In addition, a marriage certificate or a valid marriage certificate must be prepared to prove that they have lived together for at least 2 years prior to the application or are engaged and will formalize their marriage within 6 months after arriving in the UK. With this type of visa, the spouse can stay in the UK for 2 years and 9 months, while this period is only 6 months as a fiancé. In order to start the joining process, the spouse of a British citizen who lives outside the UK, goes to this link  and registers his request by filling out the relevant forms and sends it to the British government. In addition to the spouse, the British citizen himself can submit his request by referring to this link .

To apply for a child visa , it is necessary for the parent to have some form of British residency and for the children to be under 18 years of age. Children under the age of 18 must be single, live with their parents, and their living expenses must be borne by their parents. If the children are present in the UK and they are over 18 years of age, single, living with their family and dependent and under the protection of their parents, they can obtain a child visa to be with their parents. If the child was born in the UK, the conditions of the parent’s visa will automatically apply to them, that is, they will be allowed to stay as long as their parents. To apply for a child visa, children to join their UK parent visit this link Go and fill out the relevant forms and send your application to the British government. In addition to the children, the British father or mother can  submit their request to join their children by referring to this link . It should be noted that children over 18 years of age cannot apply for a visa in the UK, but it is necessary for the father or mother to apply for a child visa for them and bear their expenses.

To apply for a parent visa , the child must be under 18 years of age, reside in the UK and have the financial ability to sponsor their parents. For this category of visas, the purpose must be to care for a British child, the child must be unmarried and live together in the UK. If this request is made from within the UK, the child must have lived continuously in this country for at least 7 years and it would be unreasonable for him to leave the UK. With this type of visa, parents can live in the UK for 2 years and 9 months. Father or mother or both of them should refer to this link  and fill out the relevant forms in order to apply for a visa to join the child of the British or Irish citizen.

There are other family visas that British citizens, in addition to parents, spouses and children, can invite their other relatives such as grandchildren, brothers, sisters, sons or daughters over 18 years of age as sponsors and invite them to the UK under very special conditions. A family reunification visa is issued to an adult who is sick, has a disability, or has an unpleasant physical condition and needs long-term care from his or her relatives. Applicants for this type of visa should go to this link  and, in addition to receiving more information, submit their application by fulfilling the conditions. The spouse of a deceased British citizen goes to this link  , and the divorced spouse of a British permanent resident goes to this link They go and submit their visa application under special conditions. The applicant needs to provide documents to prove the authenticity of his relationship with the deceased person.

It should be noted that after completing the visa application, the applicant will be directed to make an appointment at the VFS Global visa application center to obtain his biometric information and photo.

request review

The diplomatic mission or embassy of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office will process the application for family reunification visas. The application at the embassy is processed in stages, and if necessary, the British member of the family is contacted, and the authenticity of other documents is also ensured. Then, the date and time of the interview will be set for the family members and the family members will be notified via email.

interview

Family members go to the relevant British embassy for an interview on a certain date and time. During the interview, family members are asked questions about their request. It is necessary for the family members to have all the necessary documents with them at this stage so that the authorities can examine them if necessary.

Request acceptance

If the request to join the family members is in accordance with the applicable laws of the United Kingdom and the Geneva Convention, the required documents are completed, there are no defects in the forms, and there are no special obstacles to the issuance of a visa, this request will be accepted. The British Embassy makes the final decision and issues family reunification visas to the family members. According to the procedure, the duration of visa issuance takes about 3 weeks, but in most cases, visa issuance takes much longer than this time. After checking, the British Embassy will send the result of the visa application to the applicants by email. The family members go to the embassy at a certain time and receive their visas, and they can immigrate to the United Kingdom, keeping in mind the visa expiration date.

Visa application follow-up

There is no definite possibility or option to follow up the visa application and the only way to follow up the visa is to send an email to the embassy. Now, if the applicant sends an email to the embassy and asks for the result of the application, the embassy invites the applicant to be more patient and wait.

Extension of visa and residence

After the expiration of the visa of the spouse, child or parents, a request for visa extension is given again, in which case the visa will be extended for another 2 years and 6 months. In this category, you can also apply for a visa for children, provided that the children do not live independently and are single. You can refer to this link to find out about the conditions and obtaining residence .

In which case is the visa application rejected?

Publicly deceiving the British visa officers by presenting fake and unreal documents, not following the procedures set by the embassy, ​​not presenting passports and valid travel documents, not presenting documents of not committing a crime or having a history of imprisonment for 4 years and some others. It can be one of the reasons why the visa application was rejected. If the visa application is rejected by the embassy for any reason, the applicant can appeal it. To protest against the visa rejection, the applicant sends an e-mail to the embassy stating the reasons for his/her visa rejection, attaches the required documents and appeals to the decision taken.

Get help and advice

You can read more information about joining family members in the UK on the official website of the government of this country. It is recommended that the applicants consult with lawyers who provide services in order to know the relevant laws in line with the mentioned visa.