Spouse Visa Extension Solicitor

You can apply to extend before your current permission expires. Preparation should start early enough to assemble the right financial and relationship documents, but submission timing needs care: when extending with the same family member, only up to 28 days of unexpired permission can be carried into the next grant.

Check the period still needed for settlement before applying very early. Do not assume that your original permission lasted 30 months: entry clearance and in-country grants can differ. Use your actual decision and immigration record.

• Family visa routes, costs and extension timing

An extension normally requires the continuing genuine relationship with the qualifying partner and the intention to live together permanently. Evidence covering the period since the previous grant helps explain shared residence and any periods apart.

Separation, bereavement or domestic abuse should not be presented as an ordinary extension with unchanged circumstances. Different provisions may be relevant and need individual advice. An extension is not automatic because the original application succeeded.

• Current permission and the previous decision letter.
• Updated address and household records, including explanations for time spent apart.
• Details of changes to employment, children, accommodation or the sponsor’s immigration status.

For applicants outside the transitional arrangements, the usual partner minimum is £29,000. Appendix FM preserves different rules for a person with the relevant current five-year partner or fiancé permission following a successful application made before 11 April 2024, extending with the same partner.

For that qualifying cohort, the base is £18,600, with £3,800 for the first relevant child and £2,400 for each additional relevant child, capped at £29,000. Not every child attracts an addition: nationality and immigration status matter. Changing partners does not preserve the old threshold.

Specified disability or carer’s benefits can lead to an adequate-maintenance assessment instead. Income and savings still need the correct evidence; changes in employment or self-employment may alter the period and documents required.

• Partner income rules and transitional arrangements
• Immigration Rules: Appendix FM

If your first successful partner application relied on an A1 test, an extension after two and a half years normally requires at least A2 speaking and listening, unless an applicable exemption or other permitted evidence meets the requirement. A qualifying higher-level result may be reusable; check its acceptance rather than assuming every applicant needs a new test.

Use current financial and accommodation documents as well as relationship evidence. The required period depends on the evidence category, so six payslips are not a universal checklist for self-employment, savings or a recent job change.

• English evidence and extension requirements
• Appendix FM-SE: specified evidence

Use the correct in-country application for your circumstances, provide identity evidence as instructed and keep a record of the submission. Disclose relevant changes and respond to requests for further evidence. Check current processing guidance for your route; priority availability and a particular decision date are not guaranteed.

A standard partner extension is generally for a further two years and six months, subject to applicable rules and any carried-over permission. Specified protection-status cases may be capped by the sponsor’s shorter remaining permission. An extension does not itself establish eligibility for settlement.

When contacting Highfin, provide the expiry date, original application date, previous decision and any change in circumstances. Ask the team to confirm assistance with the extension and a separate assessment of settlement timing.

• Coordinating a child’s extension
• Spouse route overview