After five years of residence in the UK under the 5-year spouse visa route, you and your spouse are eligible to apply for an extension to renew or extend your visa.
When it comes to visa applications, our immigration lawyers have you covered. Just dial 02033939272 to get in touch with us. We are more than willing to help you.
To apply for a spouse visa 5 year extension route from inside the UK before your original 2.5-year leave ends, you can use application form FLR (M). With the 5-year spouse visa extension, you can extend your stay by an additional 30 months, for a total of 2.5 years. You can stay in the UK for five years and then apply for spouse permanent resident status through this process. When applying to renew your spouse’s visa, make sure to follow the steps in Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules.
To get your Spouse visa extension approved, you must still satisfy all of the requirements for this visa. The following are included:
To get your Spouse Visa extended, you must provide evidence that your connection with the original sponsor is still valid.
Additionally, you’ll have to provide proof that you and your partner have been sharing a home in the UK during your residence.
As proof of the connection, you may provide letters that were mailed to both the applicant and their spouse at the same address.
Bills for council taxes, utilities, and banking might be requested by the Home Office. The original, dated, and official letterhead form of any proof you provide is required.
When applying for an extension to your UK residence, it is essential to provide evidence that you and your partner have been living together throughout your residency and will continue to do so for the duration of the extension and perhaps beyond.
Renewing spouse visas often requires applicants to detail both their own and their partner’s financial situations.
When you first filed for your Spouse visa will determine the financial criteria that you must achieve.
If your visa application was submitted before 11 April 2024, you will need to provide evidence of a combined annual income of £18,600.
It is also required that you provide evidence of having sufficient finances to cover:
You will require a minimum of £3,800 annually for the first child and £2,400 for each subsequent child.
If your kid is a citizen of the United Kingdom or Ireland, has pre-settled status, or is permanently established in the UK, you will not be required to provide further evidence of money.
At the stage of the application procedure, the applicant will not be required to satisfy the £18,600 income standard if their spouse in the UK receives any of the following benefits or allowances. They will just have to provide evidence of “adequate maintenance.”
Those looking to extend their Spouse Visa must fulfil the character appropriateness requirements, sometimes called the good character criterion. Your immigration status and actions while in the country will be taken into account by the Home Office.
Your character will not be considered suitable if you have a criminal record or have violated any restrictions imposed on your UK residence. The amount you owe the National Health Service or any lawsuit debt will also be considered by the Home Office.
In most cases, the character suitability criteria may be satisfied if you have legitimately resided in the UK and have acted properly.
Applicants seeking Spouse Visas are often required to provide proof of a spoken and hearing English proficiency level of A2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
To be eligible for an extension, you must pass an English proficiency exam at the A2 level, even if you passed at the A1 level when you first filed for your Spouse visa.
For your extension, you won’t need to retake the exam if:
If you would want to extend your Spouse Visa, you’ll have to provide certain paperwork to prove your eligibility.
Although there is some flexibility with financial papers, you still need to provide them in their original format.
The following details may be required of you depending on your situation:
The application price for extending a spouse’s visa is £1,048. But there might be other fees to think about.
A professional translator will be required to convert any of your records from a language other than English or Welsh. You should also factor in the expense of taking the English language exam if it is mandatory.
The immigrant healthcare premium, which amounts to £1,035 per month, must also be maintained.
The processing time for an application to extend a spouse visa may range from eight to twelve weeks, depending on the applicant’s eligibility.
Once you have gathered all your evidence and documents together and completed the FLR (M) form, your application needs to be sent to the Home Office.
It is essential that you make the full payment once the application is complete and ready to send. If you fail to make the payment in full, your application will be automatically rejected,
Standard UK spouse visa renewal applications should take no longer than eight weeks to process. However, a much quicker decision can be obtained through the super priority service available for most UK visas. This service will process the renewal application within one working day and costs an additional £1,000.
Applying for an extension on your spouse’s visa may be moved quickly using the Super Priority Service (SPS). So long as you submit your biometrics at an authorised service facility within 24 hours, the Home Office UKVI will decide on your application.
With the help of our professional spouse visa lawyers, you may speed up the application process by having them submit your paperwork to the Home Office, UKVI via the SPS. So, you may expect a response from them in the next day or two. In this approach, the decision on your application to extend your spouse’s visa will not take months—or even years—to come.
You must renew your spouse’s visa at least once if you want to remain in the country permanently. If your spouse’s visa is valid for five years and you are currently in the UK, you are required to renew it within 28 days of the expiry date. You will have spent five years in the country with the additional vacation time. Your application for ILR may then be submitted.
The cost of applying for an extension:
Cost of the visa: £1048
Immigrant health surcharge: £2587.50 (calculated by multiplying £1035 by 2.5).
You will be granted an additional 30 months of residence in the UK if your application to extend your spouse’s visa is approved. Once the extension ends, you will have spent a total of five years in the UK.
Indefinite Leave to Remain is the next logical step for anybody planning to make the United Kingdom their permanent home. An individual may live and work freely in the UK with this kind of permanent residency.
Anyone with 12 months of continuous lawful resident status in the United Kingdom may apply for naturalisation and eventually become a citizen of the United Kingdom. Additionally, they will be able to apply for a passport to the United Kingdom.
Our dedicated team of solicitors is committed to assisting couples in the United Kingdom in renewing their spouse visas. From figuring out if you may extend your visa for another five years to advising you on the paperwork you need and making sure it complies with Home Office UKVI immigration regulations, we take care of it all. We also help with making an appointment to have your papers checked and biometrics registered at the application centre, as well as with paying the application cost and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). If your spouse’s visa expires after five years, our immigration lawyers can help you extend it. Just dial 02033939272 to get in touch with us.
If your application to renew your UK Spouse Visa is denied, you will have 14 days from the day you received the decision letter to choose a First Tier Tribunal.
After the fourteen-day limit has passed, you must provide a reason for your late appeal submission.
After that, the decision to hear your case will be made by the First Tier Tribunal.
If you feel that you will not have a good chance of winning your appeal against the Home Office UKVI’s decision to deny your spouse visa extension request, you may be eligible to reapply for the extension via the 5-year option. According to paragraph 39E of the Immigration Rules, each new application must adhere to certain standards. Additionally, for a decision on the application to be made within 24 hours, it is recommended to submit any such new application via Super Priority Service.
If the Home Office UKVI has denied your request to extend your spouse visa and you have been granted the right to appeal, you must submit your appeal to the First Tier Tribunal no later than fourteen days after the decision was made. If you can prove that the denial decision violates the regulations or your right to privacy and family life, as outlined in Article 8 of the ECHR, you may be able to have your appeal against the decision upheld. An Immigration Judge at the First Tier Tribunal will listen to the case and make a decision. If you have been denied a spouse visa, our team of expert lawyers can help you file an appeal to overturn that decision.
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