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My husband is going to UK on business visa. Do I need to produce marriage certificate if I apply for general visa? I'm a housewife and dependent on my husband's income.

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  • @MarkMayo, if they are making an application for entry clearance, then nationality doesn't matter; same rules for everybody. Nationality makes a difference for visa-on-arrival questions. hth
    – Gayot Fow
    Sep 3, 2015 at 12:25

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Your husband will be a business visitor to the UK and you want to accompany him and so you will need an entry clearance as a dependent.

There is no explicit requirement saying that a dependent needs to produce a marriage certificate. Consider the case of unmarried partners and partners in a 'de facto marriage'; they are able to obtain visas without producing a marriage certificate.

On the other hand, they are entitled to some degree of comfort that you are, in fact, what you claim to be. If they have reason to suspect your relationship is not genuine, they will look for some evidence supporting your claim. For most people it's convenient to enclose a marriage certificate, but they will also look for other things, such as...

  1. joint bank accounts
  2. joint mortgages or property holdings
  3. life insurance policies
  4. family situation, other dependents
  5. apparent life-style and social circumstances
  6. previous travel history

If these things show a durable relationship, then they would not refuse an application for lack of a marriage certificate.

Your question is framed in such a way that you do not have a marriage certificate at hand. If you are unable to obtain your certificate and unable to obtain an authentic copy, then it's best to include a short explanation in Part 9 of the form along the lines of...

This application has been informed by your guidance and I have submitted evidence of my marriage and on-going durable relationship with First Name, Last Name. This evidence does not include a marriage certificate because it was lost in a house fire that occurred on 20 April 2004. I have noted that there is nothing in the guidance explicitly asking for a marriage certificate, accordingly (and per your guidance) this constitutes my explanation of why a given document has not been submitted.

NOTE: This is an example. You should make up your own statement with your own words. Mixing different writing styles in your application will may result in credibility problems.

NOTE: There are also cases where lovers, paramours, people having affairs, and so on have obtained visas to accompany their partner, but these are outside of the normal case and it's best not to apply for these without substantial travel history that demonstrates a committed relationship.

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