Home · Guides
Guide · Updated October 2026
UK partner visa approved: what's next?
The approval email is a huge relief, but there are still a few steps before you can rent a flat or start working in the UK. None of them happen automatically with the visa: you have to do them yourself.
By Sara · Not legal advice
Short answer
Check the date you can enter the UK in your approval email. Then create a UKVI account to get a share code, which you'll need to rent or to work. And once you're in the UK, apply for your National Insurance number.
1. Check when you can enter the UK
The approval email tells you the date from which you can enter the UK and until when your permission lasts. In our case the email arrived on 15 September and the visa started on 24 September 2026, so you can't necessarily travel the day you're approved.
We explain the rest of that email, and what the eVisa means for your passport, in our eVisa guide.
2. Create your UKVI account and get a share code
If you want to rent a flat or look for a job, you'll need a share code. It's how landlords and employers check your right to live and work in the UK.
To get one you have to register on the UKVI website. This is completely separate from everything you did to apply for the visa: you create a new UKVI user from scratch.
- Create the account and link it to your email address and phone number. You can also add other people's contact details, for example your partner's.
- Pass the identity checks: take a photo of your passport, upload your passport again and take a photo of yourself.
- Get your share code. Once the checks are done, you can generate it.
Official information: get access to your eVisa (UKVI account).
How the share code works
- It lasts 90 days (three months). After that you generate a new one.
- It's linked to the photo you took of yourself.
- You send it to the landlord or employer. When you apply for a job or a flat, you normally send them the code, and they check that you're the person linked to it, for example on a call, because the code comes with your photo.
Official information: prove your right to rent and prove your right to work.
3. Apply for your National Insurance number
To work you'll also need a National Insurance number, the UK's social security number. It doesn't come with the visa either: you apply for it separately on GOV.UK.
And you can only apply once you're in the UK. I tried to apply from Spain and couldn't, so leave it for when you arrive.
Official information: apply for a National Insurance number.
Still preparing your application?
Our templates come from the application that got us here: the same structure, letters and order we used to get approved without living together. €52.32.
We're not solicitors and this guide isn't legal advice. It's our own experience in 2026. These processes can change, so always follow the official instructions on GOV.UK.