# Arranged-marriage evidence for a UK spouse visa from Punjab UK caseworkers accept that an arranged marriage can be a genuine and subsisting relationship. What they need is evidence that the couple know each other, communicate, have met, and intend to live together: wedding photographs, cards, visit records, call and chat logs, money transfers, and family statements. Thin or staged evidence is the main cause of relationship refusals. Source: https://ukvisadesk.com/procedure/arranged-marriage-evidence-uk-spouse-visa · Updated 2026-10-08 · Reviewed by UK Visa Desk counselling team, licence 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024 · UK Visa Desk, a brand of Pro Lifeset Overseas Private Limited, Patiala, India. WhatsApp +91 91155 80911, Mon to Sat, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM IST. ## Steps 1. **Tell the story once, consistently** Write a short relationship statement from each partner: how the match was made, who introduced you, when you first spoke and met, the roka or engagement, the wedding, time spent together, and the plan in the UK. Dates must match the photos, the tickets and the marriage certificate. Contradictions between the two statements are worse than a short statement. 2. **Prove the marriage is legally valid** Marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act or Special Marriage Act, or an Anand Marriage Act certificate for Sikh weddings. A gurdwara or temple letter alone is not enough. If the certificate was issued late, add the affidavit used for registration. 3. **Collect the wedding evidence** Twenty to thirty photographs across the roka, engagement, mehndi, anand karaj or pheras, and reception, showing both families, with dates and names on a list. The wedding card, the venue booking, the photographer's or caterer's invoice. Do not submit 500 photos; a selected set with captions is read, a bulk upload is not. 4. **Show visits since the wedding** The UK partner's passport pages with Indian entry and exit stamps, flight tickets and boarding passes, hotel or family-stay evidence, and photos from each visit. A single visit for the wedding with no return visit is a weak point; a trip for Diwali, a birthday or a festival after the wedding helps. 5. **Show daily contact** WhatsApp call logs and chat screenshots showing dates, names and regular contact across the whole period, not one week. International call records from the Indian mobile operator. Video call screenshots. Pick a sample from each month rather than a thousand pages. 6. **Show financial and household links** Money transfers from the UK partner to the applicant through bank, Western Union or Remitly with the receipts; a joint account if one exists; gifts with receipts; the UK partner's name on the applicant's medical insurance or vice versa; and the tenancy or mortgage in the UK showing where the couple will live. 7. **Add family statements** Short signed letters from both sets of parents, and from the relative who arranged the match, confirming the marriage, the dates and that the couple are living as husband and wife when together. Attach the writer's ID. Letters should be in the writer's own words, not a template repeated five times. 8. **Address the common doubts head on** Age gap, a previous marriage of either partner, a short engagement, a wedding during a short trip, or a UK partner who has sponsored before: explain each one in the statement with documents. Silence on an obvious issue is read as hiding it. 9. **Organise the bundle** One index, sections numbered: identity, marriage, wedding, visits, contact, finances, family statements, accommodation, income, English. Each document labelled with a date. The caseworker reads hundreds of files a week; a clear index gets your evidence seen. ## FAQ **Is an arranged marriage a problem for a UK spouse visa?** No. The Home Office guidance recognises arranged marriages. The test is whether the relationship is genuine and subsisting now, shown by contact, visits and intention to live together. **How many photos should I include?** Twenty to thirty well-chosen photos with captions, covering each ceremony and each visit, is better than hundreds. Include photos with both families and some casual ones, not only studio shots. **We married 3 weeks after meeting. Will that be refused?** Not by itself. Explain how the match was arranged, who introduced you and what contact you had before the wedding. Show contact since, and ideally a visit since the wedding. **Do we need a joint bank account?** No. Few Punjab couples have one before the visa. Regular transfers from the UK partner, with receipts, show the same financial link. **Can a court marriage work instead of a religious wedding?** Yes. A certificate under the Special Marriage Act is fully valid. The caseworker will still want evidence the relationship is real, so photos, contact and family statements remain important. **What if my husband has sponsored a previous wife?** Disclose it. The previous relationship must have broken down permanently, shown by a divorce decree. The caseworker looks harder at the new relationship, so the evidence of contact and visits must be strong. --- UK Visa Desk is a brand of Pro Lifeset Overseas Private Limited, a visa consultancy licensed by the Government of Punjab, India. We are a private company, not affiliated with the UK Government, and we are not regulated by the UK Immigration Advice Authority. We serve applicants who are in India; applicants already in the UK are referred to a regulated UK adviser. We do not handle work visas. Information here is general, not legal advice, and no visa outcome is guaranteed. We do not handle UK work visas. Applicants already in the UK are referred to a regulated adviser.