Reunite Families UK are researching the impact of the spouse and partner migration rules on couples and families.  

Our 2023 research found that many couples experience separation, distress, and enforced single-parenting as a result of the rules. Since then, the rules have changed, impacting more people, with harder to meet thresholds. We want to capture the impact of the new rules on affected partnerships and families.  

Our 2023 research was well received: we were invited to present our findings to both the Home Office and the Home Affairs select committee. We want to use our new research to build evidence on the impact of the rules, in order to inform policy making and debate. 

We hope that you will help us by contributing your experience and perspective to this important research.  

We would like to invite you to participate by completing our 2024 survey. The survey will take between 20 – 30 minutes to complete. All responses will be anonymised.  

Who is the survey for? 

The survey is designed to be completed by people who have applied or considered applying for the UK’s spouse and partner visa between 2012 and now, including people who are not able to apply, for example due to the financial threshold.  

One of the partners – the ‘sponsoring’ partner, must be a British or Irish citizen; or have settled in the UK – for example, they have indefinite leave to remain, settled status or proof of permanent residence.  

Our research does not include: 

–       Refugees applying for family reunification 

–       Applications for the EUSS family scheme 

–       Applications for the Ukrainian family scheme 

–       Dependents of skilled workers or students 

Specifically, we are interested in people who are subject to Appendix FM and Appendix FM SE. You can find out more about the applications and the rules here.