Extend My Stay

Hello,

I have been in the UK on a Spouse Visa for a little over 2 years. My 2 years and 9 months will be up in August, and I will need to apply for a extension to stay for another 2 years and 6 months. I have looked at the immigration website, but it is not clear as to what form I need to fill to apply for my extension. Can someone please point me in the right direction.

Thank you.

Welcome back .

The form you need is FLR(M):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-extend-stay-in-the-uk-as-a-partner-or-dependent-child-form-flrm/apply-online-form-flr-m

The FLR(M) visa costs £1,033, plus £19.20 biometrics fee, plus £1,560 IHS surcharge.

You can actually apply up to 28 days before you reach 2 years and 6 months (30 months total) in the UK, so there's no need to wait until August to apply.

I see from your previous posts that you arrived in the UK on 10th December 2019? If so, you will reach 30 months in the UK on 10th June 2021, and you can apply for FLR(M) up to 28 days before that, which will be 13th May 2021.

So that means that your window to apply will be any time between 13th May and your BRP expiry date in August. You only need to have submitted the online application before your visa expires, as your immigration status will be automatically extended under Section 3C Leave if your visa expires while your new application is processing.

The documents you need for FLR(M) are mostly the same as for your spousal visa, except this time, instead of providing evidence of regular communication and visits to each other, you provide evidence of living together in the UK for the last 2 years before applying for FLR(M) (cohabitation evidence).

The evidence you need for cohabitation is:
- 6 items of official mail in each of your names (either 6 joint items or 12 individual items, or a combination of both to make 6 in each name)
- spread evenly over the last 2 years... so 1 item in each name dated every 4 months (usually means sending 7 items to cover the beginning and end of the 2 years)
- from at least 3 different official sources (i.e. bank statements, electricity bills, gas bills, water bills, council tax etc.)
- all the items must have been received in the mail in the months they were issued... you cannot use online documents

The overall timeline/process for applying is:
- gather all your documents
- check the documents are all in order
- fill out the online application and pay for the IHS surcharge
- when completely ready to apply, submit the online application and pay for the visa
- wait to receive an email with a registration code for the UKVCAS website
- register on the UKVCAS website and book a biometrics appointment (you will likely need to pay up to £130 for this as free appointments are hard to get)
- upload all your documents to the UKVCAS website (including your passport and BRP)
- attend biometrics
- wait for your visa to be processed and new BRP to be mailed to you

You do not mail any documents anywhere for this one, not even your passport or BRP card, though you can't travel while the visa is processing.

FLR(M) takes up to 8 weeks to be processed, though there is usually the option to purchase Super Priority processing for £800 to get a visa decision within 24 hours of your biometrics appointment.