UK Family Visa From Pakistan

If you wish to live with your family in the UK for more than six months, you will need to apply for a Family visa. You can apply from Pakistan, or inside if you’re already in the UK on the Family visa, as long as you extend it before your current visa expires.

There are different types of visa available depending on different criteria, for example, your relationship to the family member in the UK, whether you need full time care, or even the citizenship of your parents or grandparents. Each visa has different eligibility criteria and required documents so it is vital that you apply for the right one for your circumstances to increase your chances of receiving a successful decision on your visa.

In many cases, you will need to prove you meet the English language requirement by providing an academic qualification or taking a test. There are some cases where you won’t need to prove your language level, for example, you’re a child, an adult dependent, over 65 years old, or from an exempt country or territory.

Page Contents

• Overview of a Family Visa UK
• UK Spouse Visa
• Ancestry Visa
• Adult Dependent Visa
• Child Dependent Visa
• Financial Requirements for a UK Family Visa
• English Language Requirements
• EEA Family Permit and EEA Settlement Scheme Family Permits
• How to Apply for a UK Family Visa
• Documents Required
• Tuberculosis (TB) Test Requirements
• Family Visa to Settlement in the UK
• Visa Fees
• Extending Family Visa
• How Can Total Law Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

Ancestry visas are available to people whose parent or grandparent was a British citizen by birth; this visa application is available if you are a Commonwealth citizen (which includes Pakistan), are planning to work in the UK, are applying from outside the UK and are older than 17 years old.

This visa allows you to remain in the UK for five years. You will have to reapply if you want to stay in the UK after this time or apply for indefinite leave to remain to stay permanently in the UK.

The Home Office estimates that it will take three weeks to process, though it may take longer if your case is particularly complex.

If you are an adult over 18 years old who needs long-term care from a family member who lives permanently in the UK, you may be eligible for an Adult Dependent visa. The family member in the UK can be your child, grandchild, parent or sibling and must be a British citizen or have indefinite leave to remain.

This can be a particularly difficult visa to be accepted for and you will need to demonstrate that:

• You need care and help to do everyday activities, such as personal and household tasks because of a disability, illness or your age
• You won’t receive care in Pakistan because it’s not available or affordable
• Your family member in the UK can support, care and accommodate you for a minimum of five years without help from the UK state benefits

If you are accepted for this visa, you will have indefinite leave to remain and don’t need to extend your visa or apply for settled status.

The processing time for the Adult Dependent visa is approximately 12 weeks; however, as this is typically a more complex visa to process, you can expect this visa application to take longer.

You will generally have to meet a financial requirement when applying for a UK Family visa.

If you’re applying for a Spouse or Partner visa, you will have to show that you and your partner’s combined income equates to at least £29,000 a year.

You can show you meet this requirement through proof of salaried employment, bonds, pensions, cash savings of over £88,500 or passive income sources.

You may be exempt from having to meet the financial requirement if your UK sponsor is in receipt of certain benefits in the UK.

Other types of Family visa, such as the Parent visa or Adult Dependent visa, do not have a formal minimum income requirement. Rather, you must simply show that you have enough funds to support you and your family in the UK, the exact figure for which will vary based on your circumstances.

You may need to demonstrate that you can speak English to the required minimum level when applying for a Family visa.

You can do this by either:

• Passing a secure English language test with an approved provide at at least level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale or higher
• Showing proof of an academic qualification that was mostly taught or researched in English

Alternatively, you will be exempt from this requirement if you can show proof you are a citizen of an exempt majority English language-speaking country.

You will also be exempt if you’re:

• Applying for a Child visa or Adult Dependent visa
• Over 65
• You have a physical or mental condition that prevents you from meeting the requirement.

If you are a national from Pakistan but have a close or extended family member who is from the European Economic Area (EEA) and is living in the UK, the Home Office offers an EEA Family Permit which means you may be able to join them in the UK.

A close or extended family member could be a sibling, parent, child, aunt or uncle, cousin, niece or nephew who is a national of the EEA. The EEA Settlement Scheme Family Permit is similar but applies only to immediate family members, that is, siblings, parents or children.

If your application for either of these visas is accepted, you will be permitted to stay with your family for six months. These visas can take 15 days to process.

Once you have decided which visa is most appropriate for you, you will have to prepare the documents required for your family visa application from Pakistan. There are different forms to complete depending on if you are in Pakistan or inside the UK, but either way, your application can be made online through www.gov.uk.

First, you will have to complete the application form, pay the visa fee and health surcharge fee, and provide your passport, TB test results and other documents.

Next, you must arrange an appointment at a local visa application centre to have your fingerprints and photograph taken, this is for your biometric immigration document. You may also have to attend an interview with an immigration officer if required, so they can ask for further details about your trip to the UK.

Finally, your application will be processed and you will receive a decision on your visa.

If you’re coming to the UK on a Family visa, you may need to take a tuberculosis (TB) test before travelling.

You will have to take the test if:

• You’ve lived in any of the specified countries for 6 months or more, and
• You were living there (or another listed country) within the last 6 months

Pakistan is on the list of required countries, so Pakistani applicants currently residing in Pakistan (or who have resided in Pakistan or another required country in the last 6 months) will have to take a TB test before coming to the UK on a Family visa.

The TB test involves having a chest x-ray taken. If the x-ray is not clear, you may be asked to give a sputum sample. You must be tested at a Home Office-approved clinic in order for the test to be accepted with your visa application.

The full list of countries where you will need to get a TB test can be found on the Home Office website.

Family visas are an eligible route to settlement in the UK, otherwise known as indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

Generally speaking, it takes 5 years to become eligible for ILR on a Family visa. However, it is also possible to be on a 2-year or a 10-year route to settlement.

To be eligible for ILR, you must still maintain a family relationship with your UK sponsor and you must have been continuously resident in the UK for the entire duration of your visa with no significant leaves of absence from the UK. There may be additional criteria you have to fulfil based on the specific Family visa you have.

You must also still meet the minimum income requirement or still have enough funds to support you and your family in the UK.

You must also intend to live in the UK permanently after obtaining ILR, as well as meet English language requirements and pass the Life in the UK Test.

It costs £3,029 to apply for ILR form within the UK.

The fees for a UK Family visa are variable depending on where you are applying from:

• If you are outside the UK: The cost of joining your partner, parent or child is £1,938, and the cost for each dependent added to your application is also £1,938 per person.
• If you are inside the UK: The cost is £1,321 and the same for each dependent.

Applicants for the Ancestry visa have to pay £682 and the EEA Family Permit or EEA Settlement Scheme Family Permit is free of charge.

If you cannot pay the fee, you may be eligible to apply for a fee waiver in certain situations.

Applicants from Pakistan must also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge of £1035.

UK Family Visa Processing Time

According to the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), the standard processing time for family visas from Pakistan or anywhere outside the UK is 12 weeks – this applies to visa categories including partner/spouse, parent, child, or adult dependent relative. In some cases may extend to 14 weeks or more, depending on document verification, background checks, and application completeness.

If you are already in the UK on a Family visa, you can apply to extend your visa as long as you extend it before your current visa expires. If it is to stay with the same family member, you will only be granted up to an additional 28 days.

If you’ve been in the UK for a certain amount of time, you may be able to apply to settle in the UK; you may also be able to stay based on your private life depending on how long you’ve been in the UK.