What happens if you are not a British citizen living in the UK with your partner who is a British citizen and they die? This tragic situation has certain implications for your right to stay in the UK.

If you are not a British citizen but you have been living in UK with your partner (who was a British Citizen or had Indefinite Leave to Remain status), then you can apply to settle in UK if your partner dies, this is known as Bereaved Partner Route. You do not need to pass the life in the UK test or meet the English Language Requirment to apply for Indefinite Leave to remain under this route.

A ‘partner’ could mean a spouse, civil partner or someone you’ve been living with in a relationship, such as a marriage or civil partnership. The relationship with your partner must have been genuine, and you both must have intended to live permanently with each other in the UK at the time of their death.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to settle in the UK following your partner's death, you would need to satisfy the following requirements:

• You are holding a visa as the family member of settled person in UK
• You and your partner must have been in a genuine relationship
• You and your partner intended to live in the UK permanently before your partner died
• Your partner must have been present and settled in UK at the time of his/her death.
• You don’t hold any criminal records in or outside UK
• You must not have broken any UK law

How to Apply

You can only apply from within UK and it is better to apply as soon as possible after the death of your partner. For this, you need to download a SET (O) Form and - after completing - send this form to the address given on the form. You need to pay the fee amount which is listed on the form while applying.

After the death of your partner it may be difficult for you to deal with UK immigration. If so, we are here to help. We can help you to provide all the necessary information, filling out all the forms and providing any legal advice so that your effort to settle in UK becomes easy in such tough times. Contact our experts to find out more.