If you have a criminal record in the UK or another country, whether you can obtain a Spouse Visa will depend on various factors, such as the nature of the conviction, when it occurred, and whether any exceptional circumstances apply. If you have a criminal record, it is important to disclose all of the relevant facts within your Spouse Visa application.
When assessing spouse or partner visa applications, Home Office caseworkers refer to the Immigration Rules Appendix FM: Family Members (Appendix FM). Applicants are assessed on both suitability and eligibility. Prior criminality is considered as part of the suitability assessment for entry clearance, leave to remain, and settlement (ILR). Caseworkers will also take into account the general grounds for refusal under Part 9 of the Immigration Rules, which cover issues such as offences where exclusion from the UK is deemed “conducive to the public good,” as well as deception, failure to disclose material facts, and previous breaches of immigration rules.
In most cases, it is the applicant’s criminal record that determines the outcome. Your husband or wife as a sponsor has little impact on the result of your Spouse Visa. However, in rare cases where the UK based sponsoring partner has a criminal record and concealed it in their ILR or British citizenship application, resulting in their settled status or nationality being revoked, the Spouse Visa application may also be refused. This is because the applicant would no longer be considered the spouse or partner of a person who is settled in the UK.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to whether you can obtain a Spouse Visa with a criminal record. If you have any questions about your or your partner’s criminal record, or are concerned about its impact on your Spouse Visa application, contact our immigration lawyers to get legal advice by calling 020 3744 2797 or filling in our enquiry form.
What criminal records lead to a mandatory refusal of a spouse visa?
Under the immigration rules, ‘mandatory refusal’ means that if you meet certain criteria (for example, a specified sentence or type of offence), the Home Office must refuse your spouse visa application. A spouse visa application must be refused on criminality grounds because refusal is ‘conducive to the public good’ if:
- You were sentenced to at least 4 years in prison
- You were sentenced to between 12 months and 4 years in prison, unless 10 years have passed since you completed your sentence
- You were sentenced to less than 12 months in prison; unless 5 years have passed since you completed your sentence.
What criminal records lead to a discretionary refusal on a spouse visa?
‘Discretionary refusal’ means that even though you may not meet the suitability requirement due to a criminal record, the Home Office may still accept your spouse visa application if there are reasons in your favour or exceptional circumstances. If your criminal conviction does not meet the mandatory refusal grounds, it might still lead to a discretionary refusal. When deciding whether to use their discretionary powers to refuse a spouse visa on non-conducive grounds, Home Office case officers will look at:
- Whether the prison sentence was less than 12 months
- Whether the applicant received a non-custodial sentence or out-of-court disposal
- The nature and seriousness of the crime
- Whether the applicant has a history or pattern of offending
- The “conduct, character, associations or other reasons” of the applicant.
Deception or failure to disclose material facts in the visa application can also trigger discretionary refusal. Even if the conviction itself would not on its own cause refusal, withholding or misrepresenting information can.
Exceptional circumstances: when a visa may be granted despite convictions
Even if an applicant does not meet the suitability criteria under Appendix FM due to prior criminality, they may still be able to make a successful application for a spouse visa if there are ‘exceptional circumstances’. Appendix FM states that there may be exceptional circumstances if refusal of entry clearance or leave to remain would be a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because it would result in “unjustifiably harsh consequences” for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child or another family member.
Exceptional circumstances might include:
- Where the UK-based partner or child has a serious medical condition or disability and relies on the applicant for day-to-day care.
- Where the applicant has lived in the UK lawfully for a long period, has a settled spouse/partner here, and refusal would break up a genuine and subsisting relationship with no realistic prospect of relocation abroad.
- If moving to the applicant’s home country would put the UK-based partner or children at risk due to conflict, persecution, or lack of access to essential healthcare.
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