UK Visit Visa Extension - ICS Legal
UK Visit Visa also known as Standard Visitor's can be extended in the UK and our UK Immigration Lawyers can advise & how to prepare your application to be successfully granted. Many individuals enter the United Kingdom-based upon a 6 months visit visa, and prior to their visa expiry, you would like to stay in the United Kingdom longer. There can be grounds for you to remain, or apply for an extension, however, this will depend upon certain circumstances.
Speak to our UK Immigration Lawyers Visit Visa team who can advise and support on your UK Visit Visa extension application. You can call us on 0207 237 3388 or you can complete our visa assessment form, clicking here to complete this.
The requirements to meet for the extension of a UK Visit Visa can be found here, click to read more on the requirements of the UK Visit Visa.
General requirements to extend your UK Visit Visa
You may be able to extend your visa as long as the total time you spend in the UK is less than 6 months - eg if you apply for a 3-month visa, you can apply to extend it for 3 more months. You should apply before your current visa expires to avoid becoming an overstayer.
If you’re receiving private medical treatment in the UK
You can apply to extend your visa for a further 6 months if you:
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have paid for any treatment you’ve already had in the UK;
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can and will pay the further costs of your treatment;
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continue to meet the eligibility requirements.
You must also get a medical practitioner or NHS consultant who’s registered in the UK to provide:
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proof of arrangements for your private medical consultation or treatment;
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a letter saying how long your treatment is likely to take;
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details of the progress of your treatment, if it’s already started.
Eligibility
You must apply while you’re still in the UK and should do so, before the visa is to expire.
How to extend your visa
The application process has now changed and you will need to apply through the new online services.
Fees
The visa fees to extend your visitors visa depends on the services you have chosen, which may include choosing the 24 hour priority visa service.
How long it takes
A decision will be made:
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within 8 weeks for a standard visa decision;
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usually within 24 hours if you have chosen a priority visa service.
You’ll be contacted if your application is complex and will take longer, eg:
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if your supporting documents need to be verified;
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if you need to attend an interview because of your personal circumstances (for example if you have a criminal conviction).
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Once you’ve applied you can stay in the UK until you’ve been given a decision, as long as you applied before your last visa expired.
Frequently asked questions on the UK Visit Visa
Can I extend my visit visa?
As a general rule, you will not be able to extend your UK visit visa in-country unless you were granted a visit visa of fewer than six months. In which case you can extend your visit visa in the UK to reach the maximum six months. Under a UK visitor visa you will be able to stay in the UK for a maximum period of 6 months, although you may get a visit visa that lasts for 1, 2, 5 or 10 years if you need to make repeat visits to the UK.
Even with one of the longer visas, each individual visit to the UK must not last longer than the maximum 6 month period. Under the UK visit visa you will need to leave after 6 months and then re-apply in your country of origin if you need extra time for your visit, but it is not possible to extend your visit visa whilst still in the UK. If you are looking to remain in the UK for longer than 6 months, we would suggest that you take legal advice on this and can speak to a member of our team on 0207 237 3388.
I am here as a visitor, can I apply to stay here with my spouse/partner?
If your spouse is an EU national or a native of Switzerland, then you can apply to stay in the UK with your spouse/partner, although there are requirements that will need to be met in order for you to do so. Following the changes being implemented by Brexit, you must take legal advice by speaking to one of our UK Immigration Lawyers to ensure you do not become an overstayer in the UK.
If your partner or spouse is from outside the EU or (Switzerland), you may be able to apply from the UK, however we recommend that you take legal advice from us, so that we can discuss your options. Submitting an application without fully understanding the requirements and the impact to you especially, to your future travels to the UK are sometimes overlooked. For further information on the requirements needed to apply, or if your spouse/partner is living in the UK on a visa from outside of the EU then speak to one of our UK Immigration Lawyers who will be able to advise you on the best option to suit your situation.
Related FAQ's
Our speciality lies in the field of Immigration, Nationality and EU Law, so it means we always are dealing with this side of the law. We are able to support you in making a correct decision, avoid delays on your case, save money and time, not forgetting the stress of any doubts with your application.
There are many routes available to come to the UK, extend or switch, some of them do not allow extension or even switching. Knowing what is right can be a difficult task and this is why we are here. Simple task of not using the prescribed forms can mean your application is invalid, which means if you have no valid stay, you would have to return back and there is no appeal rights.
Our initial consultations are a chargeable service. We initially discuss the requirements of the application to ensure you meet the requirements and have the documentation required at hand for the submission. It gives you an opportunity to meet us and ask questions.
Each case will be checked thoroughly, everything will be cross referenced so guidelines are met and we will also add our legal document which would outline the Immigration Rules and how the client has satisfied the rules. We use documents that are used by Home Office case workers, so we know exactly what they would look for in your case.
The most important fact is that law constantly changes, policy guidelines and requirements are always changing, so it is best that you always use specialised services to support you. We never compromise our services, our fees remain very competitive but our expertise is at the very highest standard.
We place our clients first, so when you sign the customer care letter and we go through your case file, and we believe that the case would not be successful, we will terminate the agreement and return your documents. We will also provide alternative solutions with no added costs. We also have a cancellation period should you feel you want to withdraw your file.
Please note that all cases cannot be guaranteed as circumstances depends and whether you met guidelines, however the Home Office caseworker can still refuse cases on the balance of probabilities and other factors. Our job would be to prepare your case in the best possible way.
1) You contact us through e-mail or phone.
2) We take some basic information, we ask some relevant questions to understand the type of query and what type of support is required.
3) Your case then gets passed to a case worker.
4) Case Worker would contact you to set up an initial meeting.
5) You attend a consultation, an action plan is drawn up and we find out whether ICS Legal can support your case. A report would be sent where there is a requirement to outline what was discussed and what to do next.
6) You authorise us to be your legal representative by signing our customer care letter.
7) We will then start to request documents and information about your case this will build up your case pack.
8) We will then write our legal report and use Home Office caseworker’s documents to ensure everything has been checked and all requirement have been met.
9) Where possible we will go through every aspect of your case before case submission.
10) We will continue to update you throughout the case life cycle .