Under the UK’s immigration rules, it is possible to bring your second wife to the UK permanently if you don’t already have a partner settled here with you. However, the complexity of individual cases depends on your circumstances. For a polygamous marriage to be legally recognised in the UK, the parties must have entered into the marriage in a country which permits polygamy. That said, the UK’s immigration rules generally prevent individuals from forming a polygamous household in the UK. These state that it is not possible for a UK resident to sponsor a non-British national to remain in the UK as their spouse if another person has previously been granted the same permission and the marriage has not been dissolved.
Due to the restrictions imposed by the UK immigration rules, it can be extremely difficult to bring a second wife to the UK, hence it is advisable to seek expert legal guidance. To discuss bringing your second wife to the UK, please speak to one of our immigration lawyers for a free telephone consultation on 020 3744 2797 or complete our enquiry form.
In this article, we will discuss some of the immigration routes that may allow you to bring your second wife to live with you in the UK.
Options to Bring your Second Wife to the UK
Despite the fact that the Home Office will generally refuse a leave to remain application for a second wife, depending on their personal circumstances, it may still be possible under one of the following immigration routes. It is important to note that these immigration routes will not legally recognise your second wife in the UK if you already have a spouse here. However, these options will allow your second wife to join you in the UK in their own right.
UK Spouse visa
The UK Spouse visa is a popular visa route enabling foreign nationals to join their UK-based partner in the UK. Your second wife may be able to apply for a Spouse visa under the family migration scheme if you have no other spouse in the UK. As such, you can have more than one wife outside the UK, but only one can legally join you here.
If your first wife has passed away or your first overseas marriage has ended (where talaq/Islamic divorce/customary laws apply), you may be eligible for a Spouse visa. In such circumstances, you will need to provide suitable documentary evidence to the Home Office to support your application in the form of a death certificate or a document confirming the termination of your first marriage.
Spouse visa applicants must be able to demonstrate to the Home Office they:
- Are in a marriage that is legally recognised in the UK
- Are married to a British or Irish national, or a person who has settled in the UK
- And their partner meet the minimum income requirement – this can be met through several ways, including employment, pensions, income from investments, and savings, and
- Meet the Spouse English language requirement (CEFR level A1)
If granted a Spouse visa, your wife will be able to come to the UK for an initial period of 33 months. This can be further extended for 30 months, at which point they can apply for permanent settlement (ILR) in the UK.
Returning Resident visa
Your wife may be able to apply for permission to come to the UK as a returning resident if they previously held indefinite leave to remain (ILR) but spent more than 2 years outside the country. Under the UK’s immigration rules, a person can lose their residency rights if they leave the UK for more than 2 years. Applying for a UK returning resident visa means that they can regain their ILR status.
To apply for a Returning Resident visa, your wife will need to provide evidence of their strong ties to the UK, their current circumstances, and why they lived outside the UK for more than 2 years.
In this scenario, your partner will technically not be applying for a visa based on your settled status, but rather they will be returning to the UK in their own right as a resident returning visa will restore their right to residency.
UK Visitor visa
Another immigration route to consider for your second wife is the UK Standard Visitor visa. The UK Visitor visa is ideal for anyone who needs to come to the UK to visit for short periods of up to 6 months. However, not everyone needs a visitor visa to come to the UK. For this reason, it is important to check if your wife needs a visa before applying using the Home Office’s online checking service1.
To make a successful application for a UK Standard Visitor visa, your wife will need to show that they:
- will leave the UK at the end of their visit
- can financially support themselves and their dependant children during their time in the UK (or you provide funding for this purpose)
- can pay for a return or onward ticket, and
- will not use the visitor visa route as a way of living in the UK by making frequent successive visits.
Standard Visitor visas currently cost £127 for a stay of up to 6 months, and your wife can apply up to 3 months before they travel to the UK to visit you.
How can Reiss Edwards help?
We represented a client who had two wives. His first wife was living in the UK, from whom he was separated, and his second wife resided overseas. Although the country where he married his second wife permitted polygamous marriages (and therefore he had not acted unlawfully there), the UK does not recognise such marriages, as they are considered null and void under UK law.
Our client subsequently divorced his first wife and submitted a spouse visa application for his second wife to join him in the UK. The application was refused on the basis that the marriage was not legally valid in the UK and therefore did not meet the requirements for a spouse visa.
The client contacted us for advice on appealing the refusal. During our consultation, we advised that the Home Office’s decision was correct and that there were no merits in pursuing an appeal. We explained that, because the second marriage was legally void in the UK, it was open to the couple to remarry in the UK once he was legally free to do so. On this basis, his wife could apply for a fiance visa to enter the UK and, after their marriage took place, then apply for a spouse visa. Despite the earlier refusal, both the fiance and subsequent spouse visa applications were successful. While this example involved proceeding with a fiancée visa, in other situations an Unmarried Partner Visa may be appropriate—provided the couple can demonstrate that they have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years.
For assistance bringing your second wife to the UK, please speak to our immigration lawyers for a free telephone consultation on 020 3744 2797 or complete our enquiry form.
