spouse of scouse

It's not that no one believes you, it's that the Home Office gives two pieces of written advice - one is that you can apply 28 days before 30 months, the other that you need to apply no earlier than 28 days before your visa expires. I've seen both.

It's annoying because the Home Office's written guidance is what people should follow, rather than advice given in a telephone call from someone who may or may not be totally across the requirements - but the two bits of written guidance are different.

spouse of scouse

Here you go - from a Freedom of Information request made to the Home Office.

UK Visas & Immigration recommend that any application to extend should be
made no earlier than 28 days before the visa expiry date.

However, there is nothing to prevent an applicant from applying outside of
the 28 day timeframe but it may impact on any future application for
Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) as the applicant may fall short of the
qualifying due to extending / applying early.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reque...end_spouse_vis

michali

This is what feelbritish is referring to in Appendix FM

Page 14, 4.1

'A person in the UK with entry clearance or limited leave to remain as a partner granted under Appendix FM on the basis of an application made on or after 9 July 2012 should apply for further leave to remain no more than 28 days before their extant leave expires or no more than 28 days before they have completed 30 months in the UK with such leave. Where such an applicant has extant leave under Appendix FM as a partner, up to 28 days of the extant leave remaining at the date of application will be added to any period of further leave as a partner granted under Appendix FM. '

As you say SOS, you have to be careful about applying too early and not having five years under your belt when applying for ILR, when you have to have been in the country for 60 months ( but, there again, you can apply twenty eight days before the 60 month anniversary).

michali

This one says it too
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reque..._in_the_uk_can

We applied about 44 days before the expiry date of the visa.

feelbritish

Thanks for looking up this information. As spouse says, it is not that I dont believe you Valerie, it is the conflicting information given by Home Office. I arrived on the date my visa started and my visa is actually for 33 months, so if I apply 28 days before my visa expires, it will be 32 months I have been in the UK. I will have to leave it until the 28 days before visa expires (can't risk it) and apply in person if our house is sold and we have to move. I just did not want further complications to an already stressful process. Thanks for all your input.

feelbritish

Reading the notes it says you can book an appointment 45 days in advance. Again conflicting information because is that to book the appointment so you get an appointment 28 days before your visa expires? They may be so busy that you have to book so far in advance. If I have an appointment and can talk to someone then I can explain why we may be at a different address. My OH is now stressing that maybe we should put our move on hold but we may then miss the early spring sales of houses in our area and the new houses that come up for sale where we want to go to. Also we would probably have to go to Croydon but would Cardiff be quicker. This is doing my head in. Maybe I should just leave it until next Spring then see what has changed, if anything!

michali

Sorry you are so stressed! What we did was decide on a date which would be somewhere within the 28 days before our 30 month 'anniversary' when we knew that we would have the latest bank statement (within 28 days of the appointment) and then we knew that appointments for that date would become available/ accessible 42 days before that. So you can start looking for your chosen date 42 days before. Hope that makes sense! At the moment, appointments can be hard to get but some people leave it too late but, when we did it, there were loads of availability. We booked ours just over a month before our chosen date. I don’t see a problem with being at a new address as long as you submit evidence of purchase, council tax or utility bill.

feelbritish

Thanks for this advice. I will plan my date for after the 30 month anniversary and check my bank statements and then book appointment. We probably would not have moved yet as house buying takes a while and we still have to find a place to move to. I seem to stress for nothing. If only those at Home Ofice knew how this can affect and impact on us genuine families who have made our homes here.

michali

I agree! And each time a new visa is required, I find it even more stressful as we have become so settled, even older and the prospect of having to leave terribly daunting!

alfista1

We're almost in the same situation. I just opened a thread

House purchase moving fast and 28 days minus 30 month anniversary was yesterday.

House move may happen in the next 6-8 weeks?

Do we try to book a premium appointment now?
Send off the application now and hope it comes back before the house move?
Wait until we've moved house, but then we'll have no history of utility bills etc.

ah hmuch stress

feelbritish

The reason we are actually waiting before selling house was to get this visa out of the way so that we have "history" in our home for 2 years! Therefore I have decided to apply at a premium service rather than post as I do not think we could deal with the stress of waiting for a visa to go to an address we no longer have and then trying to change address etc. At my 30th month anniversary, I will go online and book appointment.

I personally could not take that chance! I stress too much and moving already is stressful enough. It is however, a lot of extra money which could help with something in new home so is a difficult decision to take.

Please let us know how you get on and good luck with your move!

alfista1

Yes I am sooo stressed right now too.

Please let me know when you were able to book a premium appointment? Are there appointments available in the coming weeks or is there a long waiting list?

I'm looking to see if we can use Royal mail redirection service also. another option.

good luck

feelbritish

I am only due to apply next year April/May. Will be interesting to see how you get along. Good luck to you also