When spouse visa renewals are turned down, the effect on a family can be catastrophic. Married couples and those in civil partnerships who assumed they were settled in the UK are left torn apart by a Home Office decision that often makes no sense to them. Establishing your rights is difficult, the UK spouse visa extension processing time can be long and the whole system can leave you feeling confused and isolated. At A Y & J Solicitors, we provide expert legal advice and representation to those who are applying for a UK Spouse/Civil Partnership Visa extension. We’re proud of our strong track record of successful applications, which we’ve compiled because we believe families deserve the chance to stay together.
At A Y & J Solicitors in London, we understand spouse visa renewal requirements can be frustrating. We also know the Home Office is notoriously strict in this area, and failed extension applications lead to devastating consequences. We’ve helped many people who have found themselves fearful of facing a life without their loved ones through no fault of their own. We know the challenges and how to address them. The stakes are too high to go through this process on your own, hoping you’ve filled in the correct spouse visa renewal documents and crossing your fingers for a favourable outcome. We do all the hard work for you, ensuring everything is correct and timely. Let our specialists take the weight off your shoulders so you can rest assured you’ve done everything you can to secure your UK spouse visa extension.
Case study: Click here to read how we helped secure an extension of leave for the spouse of a person present and settled in the UK despite her husband’s income falling below the minimum income requirement.
Madhu Kirani
We are specialists in immigration law and have supported more than 4,000 business owners and professionals around the globe to successfully navigate the UK system. We work quickly, always responding to any queries within 24 working hours. And we work closely with the Home Office to pre-empt issues before they jeopardise sponsorship applications, extensions or breach compliance. We manage all United Kingdom immigration matters including visa applications under the new points-based immigration system, Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), Spouse Visas, nationality and more. We also handle complex cases of appeal, administrative reviews, judicial reviews and the many immigration challenges involving European Union law and human rights.
A Y & J Solicitors has more than 1,200 positive client reviews across Google and Trustpilot and is listed in The Legal top 500 best UK law firms, so you can rest assured your immigration challenges are in safe hands when you take these three simple steps:
"Highly recommended for visa services. Imad’s professionalism, clear guidance, and prompt responses were outstanding."
"Very much recommended. Thank you Imad for the help."
"I had a really good experience with AY&J solicitors. I was working closely with Imad who helped me and my partner apply for a visa. Imad was really helpful and reliable, he would answer any questions we had without hesitation and would reply to emails promptly. Imad reassured us for any worries we had in regards to the visa application. For any immigration related issues that I will have in the future, i know where to come back to. Thank you AY&J solicitors"
"The amazing work from solicitor and always kind helpful with me and also quick response that help us to give great results."
"Must read negative reviews before you decide"
"Really incredible and understanding and talked me through the entire process."
A spouse visa extension or civil partnership extension is required to continue your stay in the UK if you are:
You will be given the opportunity to extend the visa for a further 30 months. For a spouse visa extension after five years, you may be entitled to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
To successfully obtain a UK spouse/civil partnership visa, you must meet the following (non-exhaustive) criteria:
All these requirements must be evidenced when you apply for a UK spouse/civil partnership visa extension.
To apply to extend your UK spouse/civil partnership visa, you will need to apply using the Form FLR(M).
For the application to be valid, you need to ensure you have ticked off everything on the spouse visa renewal checklist :
Our lawyers can assist you with correctly preparing your extension application. It is essential that it is filled in correctly as if it is returned to you, not only will you have wasted precious time and energy but if your spouse visa expires you may lose your right to remain or work in the country.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) officials may want to see the following (non-exhaustive) list of documents included with your application:
By choosing to extend your UK spouse/civil partnership visa, not only will you be able to remain in the country, you will be one step closer to being able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain and, eventually, British citizenship.
It is possible that your extension could be refused. The British government has a goal to bring net migration down into the tens of thousands – despite growing opposition to what is considered an unrealistic and harsh target. One group of applicants who have been targeted to bring down immigration is families. This can result in refusing family visas, including spouse/civil partnership visa extensions on even the slightest pretext.
We understand the emotional rollercoaster couples can go through when they are forced to challenge the Home Office. Our lawyers provide sensitive and compassionate service and have the expertise and experience needed to appeal a negative decision by UKVI.
As highly experienced immigration experts, our lawyers will work with you to ensure your application is filled in correctly and all the correct documentation is provided. We have helped many clients and received successful outcomes for them. By working with us, you can be confident your best interests will be protected and the visa extension application process will go through smoothly.
Although there are no mandatory restrictions on the amount of time you can spend out of the country, there is a general requirement that you and your spouse must prove that you genuinely intend to ‘permanently reside together in the UK’.
If you spend vast periods of time abroad, this can be difficult to establish. Therefore, it is wise to talk to our team if you need to spend large chunks of time overseas so that we can advise you on any possible detriment to the extension application.
The best way to prove you and your spouse/civil partner have been cohabitating over the course of your visa is to provide official letters such as council tax letters, utility bills or bank statements in both your names (or addressed to you individually at the same address) evenly spaced across the 2.5 year period If you do not have a lot of correspondence addressed to you at your shared home, you may be able to supplement your application with other sources of evidence that you have lived together throughout the period.
How much it costs depends on who you’re joining and how you apply.
Apply outside the UK | Apply in the UK | |
Cost if joining your partner, parent or child | £1,846 | £1,048 |
Cost for each dependent added to your application | £1,846 each person | £1,048 each person |
