What you need to know
Benefits are available to family members not from the UK who are married to, or in a civil partnership with, Regular Personnel of the UK Armed Forces. The benefits outlined below are dependent on the family member coming to the UK under the immigration rules appendix armed forces. European nationals who have registered under the EU Settlement Scheme will be subject to the benefits accruing from that scheme.
- immigration health surcharge exemption. You don’t have to pay the normal health surcharge, which costs £624 per year for an adult and £470 for children, for those applying for a visa to come to the UK under a different immigration route
- time out of UK for Service reasons counts towards settlement. You can obtain indefinite leave to remain after 5 years, even if you have spent some of that time out of the UK
- visa renewal at public expense if you are on, or about to go on, an overseas posting with your spouse
There are certain circumstances when you are accompanying your spouse on an overseas posting when you don’t have to pay the cost of upkeeping your passport or visa. This also applies to children born when at that location.
What you need to do
In order to find out more these benefits, you should contact your unit; information is also available from your local HIVE or your appropriate Families Federation:
- Army Families Federations website
- Navy Families Federations website
- RAF Families Federations website
- Army Hive
- RAF Hive
Families of Army personnel can also consult Part 2 of the Guide for Non-UK Personnel and Unit Support (Defence Gateway access required).
