Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay

Extend your leave to live in the UK as the wife, husband, civil partner or unmarried partner

The Spouse/Partner Permission to Stay is for those who have come to the UK as the Spouse or Partner of a British Citizen or someone who holds Indefinite Leave to Remain (the 'Sponsor').

You will have come to the UK with permission to enter for 33 months. Before that period expires you must apply for Permission to Stay to extend your lawful immigration status in the UK. It is vitally important to apply to extend your permission before the expiry of your current permission. That ensures you are still here legally while waiting for the decision on your extension application from the Home Office.

How you apply depends on your circumstances. There are strict rules relating to Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay applications and precise evidence must be provided or the application will fail.

For Spouse Visa Extension applications you must show:

  • That you and the Sponsor in the UK are still in a genuine ongoing relationship and have lived together since you arrived in the UK
  • That the Sponsor is British or has Indefinite Leave to Remain or Pre-Settled Status as an EU citizen
  • That you have a valid marriage or civil partnership and that, if you or your partner have been married or in a civil partnership previously, that relationship has formally ended
  • That there is still adequate accommodation for you and your partner
  • That you have passed an English Language Test at level A2 unless you are from a recognised English speaking country
  • That you meet the financial requirement that you and/or Sponsor earn over £18,600 per year from employment or self employment - or that there are cash savings, pensions, non-employment income that can meet the financial requirement. If the Sponsor is on certain welfare benefits, you must show that you and the Sponsor can adequately accommodate and maintain yourselves. 

Working with us

It is vitally important that the evidence given to the Home Office to support your application is absolutely correct - otherwise your application runs a high risk of refusal and you will lose your Home Office application fee.

The financial evidence in particular is complex and specific. We are meticulous when we prepare applications and will not submit the application until we are satisfied that there is no reason for the Home Office to refuse the application. That's why our success rate is very high.

We work on a fixed fee basis so we do not charge by the hour. The fixed fee covers ongoing advice and the entire preparation and submission of the application and supporting evidence.

Our experienced team will take all the stress and work out of these applications. At Immigration Legal Services, we know how important it is that you are able to live with the person you love. We have successfully applied for a huge number of Spouse/Partner Permission to Stay applications.

How does the process work?

We work with you and your partner in the UK to gather the evidence. We then submit the application online and arrange an appointment for you to attend your local visa application centre where you will present your passport and register your fingerprints and have a photo taken.

Once you have attended the appointment, it takes around 8 weeks to get a decision from the Home Office. There are Priority Services which secure a decision much sooner.

"Excellent people, excellent service."

Lindy Pine

When your new Permission is granted, you will be issued with a new Residence Card by the Home Office. The spouse visa extension allows you to work, study, rent property, open a bank account and drive in the UK. When you have lived for 5 years continuously in the UK as a Spouse or Partner, you will be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Frequently Asked Questions

I came to the UK as the wife of a British Citizen. I have had a baby since I came here but my husband has lost his job and no longer earns over £18,600 per year. What can we do?

You will need to switch to the '10 year route to settlement'. If you can meet all the requirements of the Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay route, you can apply for 'settlement' or 'indefinite leave to remain' after 5 years. If you cannot meet any of the requirements, you can use an exception to the normal rules that allows you to stay, but you must wait 10 years until you can apply for indefinite leave to remain.

I came to the UK on a Skilled Worker Visa and I have since entered a civil partnership with my partner who has Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. Can I change to the Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay route?

Yes you can. If you change, you will rely on your relationship with your partner to continue living legally in the UK, rather than relying on your employment.

My employer thinks she will have to dismiss me because my permission to stay in the UK has run out. I applied for Spouse or Partner Permission to Stay before my leave expired. What can I do?

Because you applied for a spouse visa extension before your previous permission expired, you are able to continue living in the UK on the same basis as your previous permission - so you can continue working. We can provide a letter to your employer confirming your application. This will assist your employer to check your immigration status with the Home Office. 

Get in touch
Extend your leave to live in the UK as the wife, husband, civil partner or unmarried partner
Find out more about Spouse/Partner Leave to Remain Extension by calling or emailing us. We offer a free initial consultation where we will assess your circumstances and advise on your options. The consultation can be face to face or by phone or email.
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  • We couldn't praise Sallie and her team high enough. Extremely professional and acted very fast to meet our deadline. 100% recommended!
    Mr E
  • Always thorough and highly professional throughout the application process for both my children, and I would definitely recommend! They also had a welcome sense of humour when it came to dealing with the bureaucracy involved in the process.
    Mr B
  • Great experience working with Sallie. Professional and understanding! Will work with her again, with no doubt.
    Ms L
  • We have been very impressed with the service we have received over the years of dealing with Angela. She went above and beyond to solve our specialised problem with very pleasing results. We would strongly recommend her work and knowledge in the field. A true professional.
    Mr Aldalis
  • I highly recommend Sallie for her professionalism and lovable, kind approach. I am very happy to get her as my immigration lawyer for processing my kids Visa.
    Shiva K
  • I highly recommend both Angela and Karen. They both have been amazingly helpful throughout the visa application process of my wife. They do truly care for their clients. They look at the case in reasonable time periods and return with any missing information rapidly. Consulting them during this exciting yet stressful process was the best decision that I made. Today my wife got granted the visa just after 5 weeks of her biometric scans.
    Mr Yazici
  • They are so honest and professional . Clear answers and guidance to all my questions 👍👍. Thanks a lot .
    Mr Khalil
  • Just received a decision from the Home office that I would’ve NEVER thought was possible. So happy and over the moon! I would definitely recommend your services to friends & family if required in the future. Huge thanks to Sallie and the team, best immigration solicitor in the business!!
    Mr Bamba
  • Angela Cole is a wonderful, hardworking, honest, kind and reliable Solicitor. Her work is very high standard, very professional and her team is friendly. Me and my husband have no hesitation in recommending Angela Cole's excellent services.
    Ms Small
  • "Simply a team of experienced people who gave us excellent and honest advice. Having now taken an appeal through to a successful conclusion for the (very reasonable) price promised, I have no hesitation in recommending this firm."
    Jon Chrimes - Google Review
  • "The team went an extra mile and fought my case much more and much better than I would have expected. In the end, my case was successful and I cannot thank them enough for all they have done. If I ever need legal help in the future I will definitely use their services again and recommend them for their reasonable prices, supportive advice and first rate legal services."
    ANONYMOUS - Google Review
  • "Excellent people, excellent service. They made the process of bringing my husband to the UK painless. Couldn’t have done it without them, highly recommend!"
    Lindy Pine - Google Review
  • "I am ecstatic, thanks to you all. My life is complete now and anything else is a bonus. Even if it seemed impossible I knew we were going to win this and that is why I never gave up. Thank you for your work, support and encouragement."
    MRS. Last
  • A BIG THANK YOU , for your help in helping me acquire my British settlement and British citizenship application successfully done. Your professionalism and kind warm attitude and nature made this process very easy and stress free. You took all my concerns away. 

    My Lawyer, Sallie Davies, is very knowledgeable and competent and I have implicit trust in her. The fees are also reasonable compared to other law firms. I highly recommend Sallie and her team.
    MRS. H
  • Thanks to Sallie, my wife is finally in the UK after a horrible year and long delays with Home Office. Highly recommended Immigration Legal Services! 
    MR. B
  • Angela Cole and everyone at Immigration Legal Services will work to produce the best outcome for you and, from our experience, they only concern themselves with your goal and not your wallet. Immigration Legal Services' charge was a very good price for all the help and security they provided
    MR. C
  • Despite the high professionalism practiced within the firm, there is always a strong sense of compassion , and care, from both Angela, and lovely Karen, which has really helped to set our minds at ease. Absolutely recommended & Eternally grateful
    Ms. f
  • I would like to thank both of you, Sallie and Karen for your assistance in the way you handled my wife's Spouse Visa Extension to remain here with me in the United Kingdom. We will recommend The Immigration Legal Services here in Ipswich to anybody who wants to apply for a visa to come or remain here in the United Kingdom because the service they provided proved to be most reliable, simple and quick process. Much appreciated Sallie and Karen. Thanking you once again. We will be back again.
    Robert
  • Excellent service, Sallie is very professional and lovely. Thanks to you what we thought it will be a long and exhausting experience, was so smooth and fast we couldn't believe it. Thank you very much.
    Mrs T
  • We engaged this firm based on a recommendation made by a friend who had used their services before. We required their assistance for my wife's first renewal of her spousal visa. The process was quite painless, they got in touch to collect documents and go over details but most communication was done by email. We received the renewal without any issues.
    BL
  • Sallie was the best solicitor I've met for immigration matters. She was straight to the job, focused on the matter and had an excellent transparent work process, a reasonable fee and no hidden charges. She is very helpful, confident and had the best communication. We got our parents' visa in one go! Thank you very much for the excellent job.
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