UK spouse visa extension

Keep building your life together in the UK.

A spouse-visa extension is a new stage in your family journey. It involves reviewing your current permission and the circumstances that now apply to your household.

Review the four preparation checks ↓

Review this stage of your UK life

Why is the earlier approval not the whole answer?

Relationships, income, accommodation and other circumstances may change between applications. The next decision needs to reflect the current position as well as the existing route history.

Four checks before the next application

Use your last decision and current household facts to plan the next step. These are preparation checks, not a fixed application schedule or an eligibility result.

Permission & expiry
Confirm the exact route, grant history and current expiry date. Read the decision letter alongside your immigration-status record.
Question to prepare
What permission do I hold, and what is the deadline for my next step?
Household changes
Note changes in employment, address, relationship circumstances, children or your partner’s status since the last application.
Question to prepare
What is different now, and which records explain it?
Current evidence
Check the applicable financial, relationship, accommodation and English requirements. Build the specified records for this application.
Question to prepare
Which evidence can be reused, updated or needs collecting?
Next application
Check whether extension or settlement is the relevant enquiry. Coordinate submission, identity checks and travel around the assessed route.
Question to prepare
Which application and timing fit my actual history?

A route check, not a countdown

Extension or settlement?

Staying longer on the route and applying for settlement are different questions. Which one is relevant depends on the person's history and the requirements at that stage.

Extension: A further period of permission, subject to the requirements that apply. It does not by itself grant indefinite leave to remain.
Settlement: A separate eligibility and qualifying-time check. Five years is not a universal rule for every partner. Confirm your route from the last decision before assuming a settlement date.

Check the official family-partner settlement routes

Fictional household · changed circumstances

Same couple. A different evidence picture.

Leah holds family permission as a partner. Since the last application, her British spouse Ben has changed employers and they have moved to a new rented home. Leah is reviewing the next stage before her current permission expires.

These invented facts show what to investigate. No income, qualifying period or application outcome is assumed.

New employer: Record employment dates and current income sources. Review the relevant financial category and specified evidence; a job change is not an automatic approval or refusal.
New address: Keep the current tenancy and address records, alongside the household’s relationship history.
Existing permission: Bring the decision letter and immigration history. Check the next application rather than using the old approval as the answer.

Two questions worth checking early

Can Leah reuse the old financial evidence?

Start with the financial requirement relevant to Leah’s route and history, then review the records for the current application. Old documents may explain the history without proving today’s position.

Check the partner financial guidance

Can Leah reuse the English evidence?

That depends on the earlier evidence, any exemption and the requirement at this stage. Check the official guidance before assuming the previous test or exemption settles the next application.

Check English evidence for an extension

Keep dates and travel together

Prepare early. Choose the application date carefully.

GOV.UK says a family-visa extension can be made before the current permission expires. The best date still needs a route and qualifying-time check, especially if settlement may be relevant. Do not assume the expiry date, an anniversary and a settlement eligibility date are interchangeable.

Travel while an in-UK application is pending: leaving the Common Travel Area before a decision on a permission-to-stay application treats the application as withdrawn under rule 34K. Check any travel plan before submitting. The Common Travel Area includes the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; this is not a promise that every trip within it is appropriate for your circumstances.

Read the withdrawal rule in Immigration Rules part 1

Bring these facts to the next conversation

Your last decision, route history and current permission end date.
Changes in household, relationship, employment, income and accommodation.
Existing relationship, financial and English evidence, with dates and any known gaps.
Any children’s separate permission dates, previous refusals or other immigration decisions.
Travel already booked or proposed, and the question you need answered about extension or settlement.

If permission has already expired, the relationship has ended or the decision history is unclear, seek case-specific advice promptly rather than following a general extension plan.

Official sources for this guidance