Family visa extension or switching
For people in the UK who need to extend a family visa, or move onto one from another visa.
Last reviewed:
From £1,800 legal fee
Fixed legal fee for an extension or renewal, including VAT. Home Office fees are extra.
The main requirements at a glance
Timing
Apply before your current permission ends. Extending with the same family member, only up to 28 days of your remaining stay is added.
Switching
Visitors and people with 6 months or less usually leave to apply, except from a fiancé(e) visa or permission for a family court case or divorce.
English
If you passed level A1 for your first visa, you usually need A2 in speaking and listening to extend after 2.5 years.
If you got engaged
Unmarried partners who become engaged extend with the status they have now, not as a fiancé(e).
Who this may be for
- People on a family visa as a partner, parent or child whose permission is coming to an end.
- People who came on a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner visa and have now married.
- People on another visa who may be able to switch to a family visa as a partner, parent or child.
Visitors and people with a visa of 6 months or less usually have to leave the UK to apply. Apply before your current permission ends.
The financial requirement
£18,600 a year
The combined income usually needed if you first applied as a partner (or fiancé(e)) before 11 April 2024 and are extending with the same partner, according to GOV.UK. Most other partner applications use £29,000.
Figure checked on GOV.UK:
Financial requirements for partners · GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
When different rules apply
- On the older figure, extra money is needed for some children: £3,800 for the first and £2,400 for each additional child, up to a total of £29,000. British, Irish and settled children, and those with pre-settled status, are not counted.
- Your partner gets certain disability or carer's benefits. There is no set income figure; instead you show you can support and house yourselves without relying on additional public funds.
- You cannot meet the requirement, but you have a child in the UK in certain circumstances, or refusing you would breach your human rights. The route to settlement is then usually longer.
What can count
Employment
Salary earned in the UK before tax, shown with payslips, bank statements and a letter from the employer.
Self-employment or a company
Income from self-employment or as a director of a UK limited company, based on tax returns and other records.
Savings
Cash savings above £16,000 can count towards the requirement, instead of or alongside income.
Pension
Money from a state, occupational or private pension.
Other income
Non-work income, for example from renting out property or from dividends.
What is usually looked at
- Timing
- Applying before your current permission expires, and how the time already spent counts.
- Which rules apply
- Financial and other requirements can differ depending on when you first applied as a partner.
- English level
- A higher English level may be needed for an extension than for a first visa.
- Changes since your last application
- A new partner, a new child, a change of job, or time spent abroad.
- Settlement
- How the extension fits into your route to indefinite leave to remain.
What the application usually asks for
A general list from GOV.UK, not a checklist for your case. Bright & Day can review your documents and tell you what your application needs.
Your current status
- A share code for your eVisa, or your biometric residence permit while it can still be used
- Details of previous immigration applications
Your relationship now
- Evidence you still live together, such as council tax or utility bills, less than 4 years old
- Details of any new children, even if they are not applying
Money
- Payslips and bank statements covering the period the rules require
- A dated letter from the employer on headed paper confirming the job and salary
- Different documents for self-employment, savings, pensions or other income
English
- A test result at the level now required, or your earlier result if it still counts
- Proof of an exemption, for example after 5 years on a family visa as a partner or parent
The application, in general terms
This information is general and is not legal advice. Whether a route is open to you depends on your personal circumstances and the rules at the time you apply.
Check your dates
Note when your current permission ends and plan to apply well before.
Update your evidence
Refresh relationship, financial and English evidence.
Apply in the UK
Apply online and pay the fees and healthcare surcharge.
Biometrics and decision
Give biometrics if asked, and wait for the decision.
How Bright & Day can help
Tell Bright & Day's team a little about your situation. The first form only asks for the basics.
Discuss your case- Look at your circumstances and advise which application, if any, fits best, including other routes worth considering.
- Explain the requirements of the Immigration Rules that apply to you, and where your case may need more support.
- Review the evidence you have, give feedback on your documents and help you identify what else may be needed.
- Prepare and submit the application with its documents, if you instruct the firm to do so.
- Explain the possible outcomes and the steps that may follow.
Official GOV.UK guidance
- UK family visa: extending and switching · GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
- Apply as a partner or spouse: extend or switch · GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
- Financial requirements for partners · GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
- Knowledge of English: extending after 2.5 years · GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
Last reviewed:
This information is general and is not legal advice. Whether a route is open to you depends on your personal circumstances and the rules at the time you apply.