Glossary
Appendix FM — explained for Turkish readers
The part of the UK Immigration Rules that sets out the family routes: partners, fiancé(e)s, children and parents of British citizens and settled people.
Appendix FM (“family members”) is the section of the Immigration Rules governing applications to join or stay with a partner, parent or child who is British or settled in the UK. It sets the relationship, financial, accommodation and English-language requirements, the five-year and ten-year routes to settlement, and the exceptions for cases where refusal would breach family life. Most Turkish spouse, fiancé(e) and partner visas are decided under it.
Türkiye has no single equivalent text; the comparable rules for a foreign spouse sit in the Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu and its regulation, which grant an aile ikamet izni. The UK rules are far more prescriptive about evidence, which is why the accompanying Appendix FM-SE exists to list exactly which documents count.
For a Turkish applicant the practical effect is that nüfus records, marriage certificates, divorce decrees and financial documents all need certified translations. Our step-by-step guide to bringing your Turkish spouse to the UK lists the usual set.