Family route guidance
British and living in South Africa with a South African spouse or partner? Explore a move together, or joining a partner already in the UK. Start with the relationship, finances and each child’s position.
Household planning: R199 Family Move Organiser
Start with your household
You can plan a return to the UK together. If the British partner is already there, the evidence and employment timetable may look different. Choose the question you need to answer next.
Not ready for the questionnaire? Ask a family question first. Other sponsor statuses and family routes remain in the full guide library.
Your family’s plan
Agree who wants to move and whether you are moving together or joining a partner. List each person’s nationality and UK status.
Map eligible financial sources, accommodation, children’s care and the costs for each applicant. Identify evidence gaps before choosing dates.
Confirm the category for each person. The initial planning is provisional until the route and its rules are checked.
Collect the route-specific evidence, compare names and dates, explain changes and resolve material inconsistencies before submission.
Follow the application’s identity instructions and respond to requests. UKVI makes the decision; a processing estimate is not a travel guarantee.
Record permission dates after approval. Each later stage has its own requirements; the first spouse visa is not ILR or citizenship.
Start with the spouse guide if this is your first family move, or compare first permission with later settlement.
A useful answer first
Joining a British or settled partner raises a different route question from joining someone with temporary work or study permission. A relative offering a home or financial support does not, on its own, create a right to live in the UK.
Joining a settled spouse and accompanying a spouse who has a work visa can both bring a household together, but they are not interchangeable applications.
Identify who you want to join, their UK status and which members of your household hope to move. This gives the enquiry a useful starting point.
Compare family and dependant questions →Support that fits the question
A family review can bring the relationship, sponsor’s position and household circumstances into one discussion. Agreed representation can address the individual applications and the evidence relevant to that route.
A temporary trip to see relatives may belong in visitor guidance. A relative’s offer to help financially is not the same as an eligible family route.
Before paid work begins, confirm the written service scope, professional fee and separate government or third-party charges. A focused review and full application representation are different appointments.
A client’s experience
Supportive guidance helped the reviewer feel reassured throughout a spouse-visa application.
Kacey · Paraphrased client feedback
One person’s experience, shared to help you understand the support. Your circumstances and outcome may differ.
Plan your costs
Government charges and professional help are separate costs. Start with the application that matches your circumstances.
Total for this application, including the listed charges
Fees reviewed 08 Apr 2026
At your pace
An existing refusal or approaching expiry? Start with the time-sensitive matter.
Start with the question that matters to your household. Each guide explains what to consider and points you towards the next useful step.
Understand how your partner’s route, your children’s status and your return to the UK fit into one family move.
Read this guideFinancesSee what a returning British sponsor needs to check about overseas earnings, UK employment, savings and the evidence for their circumstances.
Read this guideChildrenStart with your child’s citizenship position, then understand which passport, registration or visa questions need checking.
Read this guideCostsBuild a family budget covering application charges, any health surcharge and the practical costs of preparing and making the move.
Read this guideEvidenceConnect each document to the requirement it supports, then spot gaps or inconsistencies before preparing the application.
Read this guideTimingConnect preparation, application and decision stages so you can plan work, school and travel with room for uncertainty.
Read this guideExplore family routes
Choose a topic to see what each guide will help you understand.
Connect the relationship with the UK partner's status, household circumstances and application location.
Read this guide ↗Bring the household picture together: who is joining whom, their status and the relationships the evidence must explain.
Read this guide ↗Bring relationship, financial, accommodation and application-location questions into one preparation plan.
Read this guide ↗Start with the main applicant's route, then explore how a partner or child's position needs to be considered.
Read this guide ↗Explain the relationship, contact arrangements and child's circumstances before investigating the relevant application.
Read this guide ↗Explain the relative's care needs, dependency and circumstances before investigating the relevant family route.
Read this guide ↗Look at the child's relationship to the adults, their circumstances and the evidence needed to explain the family arrangement.
Read this guide ↗Separate a family immigration route from the nationality question and identify which facts require investigation.
Read this guide ↗Explore the parent-child relationship and household circumstances before assuming which family application applies.
Read this guide ↗Investigate nationality and historical status records before choosing how to document a possible right of abode.
Read this guide ↗Explain the relationship history and supporting evidence before investigating how the partner route applies.
Read this guide ↗Understand which financial facts and records need review for the household and proposed application.
Read this guide ↗Separate preparation and appointment time from decision timing when planning the family's move.
Read this guide ↗Identify the evidence or exemption question relevant to the particular family application before arranging a test.
Read this guide ↗Preserve the full decision and its instructions so the available response and relevant timing can be assessed.
Read this guide ↗Review current permission and changes in the household before preparing the evidence for the next application.
Read this guide ↗Connect current permission, application history and family circumstances before choosing the next in-country step.
Read this guide ↗Review the current route and the evidence that needs updating before preparing an extension application.
Read this guide ↗Check the existing status, family circumstances and route history before investigating an indefinite-leave-to-enter question.
Read this guide ↗Bring together previous settlement evidence and time spent outside the UK before reviewing a proposed return.
Read this guide ↗Organise permission and residence history before checking the requirements relevant to a settlement application.
Read this guide ↗Find more guides connected to this opportunity and the practical decisions around it.
Browse more family routes guidance ↗Your next conversation
Tell us who you hope to join and what living together would make possible. We can help you understand the relevant family route and plan the case-specific work with you.
Talk to Move Up ↗Put your plans into context
Use a focused questionnaire to share the facts with Move Up.
Family routes
Living in South Africa with a British spouse or partner? Understand how employment history, a UK job offer and qualifying savings can shape a move together.
Published 2026-10-19
The former EEA family permit is no longer valid for travel to the UK. An EU Settlement Scheme family permit is a different application with its own eligibility rules; European nationality or marriage alone does not establish eligibility.
Start with your family member's UK status, residence history and your relationship. Read the official EU Settlement Scheme family permit guidance, then ask Move Up which family enquiry fits your circumstances. You can also use our existing family questionnaire to share the facts.
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