Spouse Visa Extension

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How Can I Apply For Spouse Visa Extension?

If you have been in the UK on a Spouse Visa or Marriage Visa, you can seek a Spouse Visa extension once your original visa expires. The duration of the original Spouse Visa is 30 months. If you are eligible and successfully receive an extension, you are allowed to stay in the UK for another 30 months.

However, you must meet a wide set of requirements when seeking an extension to your Partner Visa. The Spouse Visa solicitors at the London-based Adam Bernard’s law office can help you with meeting these requirements and filing an application.

Requirements for Spouse Visa Extension

The requirements for an extension to your Spouse Visa are like those that govern the standard Spouse Visa. Our visa extension lawyers can explain these requirements to you in detail.

In general, these requirements ask you to prove your relationship to the UK partner or spouse, your ability to meet your financial needs during your stay in the UK, and your commitment to follow British rules and laws.

You can break down the requirements for a visa extension into four broad categories:

  • Relationship Requirements. You must be able to demonstrate that you live in a meaningful relationship with your UK spouse. The Home Office requires you provide relevant evidence to substantiate this.
  • Financial Requirements. You must meet a minimum income threshold to show that you and your partner or spouse has the combined means to support your extension stay in the UK.
  • English Language Test Requirements. When you apply for an extension, you must undergo English language test and meet a minimum required level of proficiency if you do not qualify for an exemption.
  • Good Character Requirements. The Home Office also requires you to meet Good Character requirements to be eligible for a Spouse Visa extension.

You can consult our experienced Spouse Visa solicitors to get step-by-step help and guidance in meeting each set of requirements.

Relationship Requirements

The first condition to be eligible for an extension to your Marriage Visa is that you must be in an ongoing, meaningful relationship with your UK spouse or partner.

If you married to your spouse or in a civil partnership, a marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate will be required as a proof. If the relationship between you and your spouse or partner is not legally formalised, you must provide other evidence that shows that an ongoing relationship exists.

A part of this is to prove that you and your spouse have been living together during your stay in the UK. You can provide evidence such as correspondence addressed to both of you, bank statements, utility bills, or council tax bills to prove cohabitation.

You must also show that you intend to continue living with your partner or spouse once you are granted a visa extension. If you are not sure how to meet this requirement, our visa extension lawyers can guide you.

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Financial Requirements

Financial requirements are an important of a Spouse Visa application. They also carry significant important when you are seeking a visa extension. It is best to get the help of visa extension lawyers when understanding and fulfilling these requirements.

You and your partner must have a combined income of at least £18,600 for you to meet the financial requirements. You can meet this requirement by using cash savings if they are £16,000 or above, income from employment or self-employment means of your partner and yourself, as well as any bereavement benefits or maternity allowances.

If you also have a child who qualifies as a dependant, the combined income requirement threshold is increased to £22,400. For more than one child, the threshold increased by another £2,400 for each subsequent child.

A child qualifies as a dependant if he or she is aged under 18, has a non-EEA country of origin, and is financially dependent on your or your spouse.

Our Spouse Visa extension solicitors can help you compute the total financial commitment you must be able to meet when applying for the visa.

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Financial Requirement Exemptions

Most applicants seeking an extension to their Spouse Visa must meet the financial requirements noted above. However, some applicants can qualify as an exemption. Whether or not you can qualify for an exemption depends on the status of your UK spouse, also known as the sponsor. You qualify for an exemption if your spouse receives any of the following:

  • Police Injury Pension
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • Armed Forces Compensation Scheme’s Guaranteed Income Payment
  • War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement
  • War Pension Scheme’s War Disablement Pension
  • Constant Attendance Allowance under War Pension Scheme
  • Carer’s Allowance
  • Severe Disablement Allowance
  • Benefits under Industrial Injuries Disablement
  • Personal Independence Payment
  • Disability Living Allowance
  • Attendance Allowance

If you are not sure whether you qualify for an exemption, you can consult our Spouse Visa extension solicitors for detailed help.

Get in touch with our expert Spouse Visa Extension Solicitors today.

Good Character Requirement

You must also demonstrate ‘Good Character’ to be eligible for a Spouse Visa extension. The Home Office considers the following two elements when determining if you meet the requirement:

  • Your Immigration History. You must not have breached any immigration rules or broken any other rules that were applicable to your UK residency during your stay on the Spouse Visa.
  • Your Life in the UK. You must not have been convicted of any recent or severe criminal offence. If you owe any money related to litigation or NHS funds, the Home Office will also take this into consideration when deciding whether you meet the Good Character requirement.

Our visa extension lawyers can work with you to determine if anything exists on record that can create a problem in meeting the ‘Good Character’ requirement.

English Language Test Requirement

When applying for an extension to your Partner Visa, you are typically required to show that you meet the A2 level of English language proficiency in listening and speaking. You can take any approved language test, such as IELTS, to meet this requirement.

You must take the test at a designated centre. In some cases, an applicant is exempt from taking the test if:

  • The applicant is aged under 18 or over 65
  • The applicant has studied in an English-language degree program at a UK NARIC-recognised institute
  • The applicant is physically or mentally unable to take the test
  • The applicant is the national of a country whe