Spouse Visa Accommodation Requirement

There seems to be a gray zone in  imigrationl instructions. Most of details apply to a situation whereby a UK based sponsor invites a spouse to join them in the UK. It is assumed that the UK sponsor either owns or rents adequate size accommodation. The situation when a UK sponsor lives with the applying spouse currently abroad is not described.

Imagine a situation, the family lives abroad and wants to return to the UK. There is no family or friends for accommodation purposes. The application meets all other spouse requirements including financial via cash savings in a bank account. The common sense approach would be to rent a hotel or airbnb or short term apartment via booking.com for a couple of months while looking for a long term rent in the UK... ha! common sense applied to visa applications... foolish, right?

Here's the question: Can hotel/airbnb/short-term satisfy the accommodation requirement for a returning UK citizen with their spouse?

It is possible to use short-term rental/AirBnB/hotel, and visas have been granted using it, but it’s usually used as a last resort option.

Normally what happens in the situation where the UK sponsor has been living abroad is either:
- they get permission from family or friends in the UK to live with them (most common option)
Or
- they travel to the UK ahead of applying for the visa and sign a lease for rental accommodation, then get a letter of permission from the landlord that the applicant can live there too, and travel back to the US with the signed lease and letter to apply for the visa


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Thank you ksand24. I hate to bother cousins or elderly aunts with requests to stay with them so I thought the airbnb would be a better option. I appreciate hearing that it is a possibility. Cheers.

I had a serviced apartment booked for a month when I moved here and that met the requirement.  So yes, it's not an issue.  You just have to show you have SOMEWHERE to go.  They don't want you turning up and declaring yourselves homeless and asking the state to house you. 

Thank you ksand24. I hate to bother cousins or elderly aunts with requests to stay with them so I thought the airbnb would be a better option. I appreciate hearing that it is a possibility. Cheers.

Welcome to the forum.

Be prepared for a shock at the price of short term accommodation in the UK at the moment. Because of Covid, huge amounts of people who otherwise would have gone abroad are vacationing in the UK instead. So it may help to be strategic about the timing and location of your move.

Fortunately, or unfortunately I currently live in Boston so I am accustomed to overpriced housing!