Whenever your initial Spouse Visa comes to an expiry date, you may apply for a renewal or extension to the Spouse Visa intended to stay in the UK. This extension remains valid for 60 months or 2 years 6 months. After that period, you may have a chance of being granted an Indefinite Leave to Remain status, which would eventually lead to acquiring British citizenship.

The stipulations that will apply to the extension will be similar to those under the original Spouse Visa, which requires that one should be able to show that a genuine relationship with the spouse/partner exists and all other requirement terms remain in force as per when the visa was first applied.

It is compulsory to submit your application for an extension of your visa before the expiration of your current permission. 

Transitional Arrangement of Cash Savings for Applications Before April 2025

The transitional measures were available for people under the partner route before the income and cash savings requirement was increased in April 2024. 

Those persons applying to settle with the same partner or extend their permission with whom they were previously granted permission are among those who can maintain the eligibility to satisfy previous requirements. This means a cash savings level of at least £62,500 or a minimum income requirement of at least £18,600. The child element applies, which means you have an additional saving of £3,800 for the first child and an extra £2,400 for each additional child. However, the maximum income requirement for a UK Spouse Visa extension is capped at £29,000.

If a couple is meeting the financial requirement of the UK spouse visa through cash savings alone, they will need to demonstrate that they have cash savings of at least £62,500. Also, these savings must have been held by the couple for not less than six months. Where the settlement application is made, the £62,500 requirement decreases to £34,600.

New Financial Requirements for Applications Post 2025

For new UK Spouse Visa applications submitted after April 2024, couples will be required to prove that their net savings are at least £88,500, which should have been saved for at least six months before the application. For example, if the application is for settlement, this amount will be reduced to £45,000.

To qualify, the savings must include all amounts held in cash in an individual bank, savings accounts or even held jointly by the couple with one of them as holder.

These may be deposit, current, or investment accounts as long as they fulfill the following conditions:

• The account should be maintained in a financial institution that is regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which it operates

• Regular bank statements must be attached

• The financial institution is not one of the excluded institutions set out in the Immigration Rules

• The funds must have been held for the required period and must be covered by the bank statement for the entire period

• The savings must be cash or the cash worth of such savings should be clear

• Savings must be immediately withdrawable

• The source of funds must be legal

• The source of funds needs to be declared
  
  

If Your Partner is Receiving Carer’s or Disability Benefits 

You will not be required to satisfy a minimum income threshold if your partner receives one of the following benefits:

• Severe Disablement Allowance

• Disability Living Allowance

• Personal Independence Payment

• Attendance Allowance

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

• Carer’s Allowance

• Guaranteed Income Payment under the Scheme of Armed Forces Compensation or Armed Forces Independence Payment

• Constant Attendance Allowance

• War Disablement Pension or Mobility Supplement under the War Pensions Scheme

• Child Disability Payment

• Police Injury Pension

• Adult Disability Payment

Proving that you and your family have enough money for housing and support without any public funds must be done.

Failure to Meet the Financial Requirements 

You may still qualify to apply for a UK spouse visa or an extension of stay if: 

• You have a child in the UK who is an Irish or a British citizen or has lived in the United Kingdom for 7 years and it would be completely unreasonable for the child to leave the UK; or 

• It would breach your basic human rights to make you leave or stop you from coming to the United Kingdom. 
  
  

Spouse Visa Extension Process 

After having collated all your evidence and documents and completed the FLR (M) form, you will send your application to the Home Office.

It is a must to pay in full once the application is filled out and ready to be sent through. If you fail to pay in full, your UK Spouse Visa extension request automatically be rejected.

Standard processing times for the UK spouse visa renewal applications are typically no longer than eight weeks. However, a significantly quicker decision through the super priority service is available. For most UK visas, this super-priority service will process the renewal request within one working day by adding £1,000 to the normal fee. Once your application for the UK spouse visa gets accepted you will be allowed to stay in the United Kingdom for another 2.5 years or 30 months. This means you will be allowed to live in the UK for a total duration of 5 years which makes you eligible to apply for the ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) status. 

Conclusion 

The UK Spouse visa requirements must be met carefully if you don't want your application to get rejected. If you want to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes in your application, you can hire an immigration solicitor. They will ensure that you meet all the requirements and comply with the immigration rules of the UK.