Complicated Spouse Visa

I’m a BC and my wife is on her first spouse visa due to expire in Sept 2022. We have committed to a couple of trips to Europe in July and Sept. On looking to apply for a Schengen visa for her the requirement is that her U.K. visa has to be valid for at least 3 months after leaving the Schengen area so doesn’t work for either trip.

We have therefore rushed to apply for her spouse visa extension and have the biometric appointment next Tuesday 21/06/2022. While I was on a tier 2 sponsored visa myself prior to becoming a BC, renewals always had the unexpired portion of the expiring visa added e.g. if I needed to apply for a 3 year tier 2 visa in 2 months time but instead applied now then my new visa would be granted for the 3 years plus the extra 2 months I had on my old visa. I assumed spouse visa worker the same but on reading the spouse visa guidance further this morning it appears that the spouse route doesn’t do this i.e. if my wife was granted her new spouse visa today then her new visa will be valid for 2.5 years from today and she would lose the portion between now and September that is left on her current visa.

My question after all this context is how will this affect her 5 year timeline when applying for ILR as it may come up slightly short given she could lose 1-2.5 months of her current visa?

Follows-ups:
I anticipate her new visa will be 2-3wks short of 5 years when it expires.
Can we apply for another extension at a later point or is the limit 2 spouse visa terms? Is there an alternate visa to fill the 2-3 week gap?
Should we be thinking of withdrawing and postponing our spouse visa application and sacrificing the Europe trips and committed expenses? If we did then would we get a refund for the spouse visa and IHS fees (c£2700) already paid?

TheDon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:39 am

Can we apply for another extension at a later point

You can do that.

TheDon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:39 am

is the limit 2 spouse visa terms?

There is no such limit. You'll just have to ensure that your wife meets all the requirements (Minimum Income Requirement, language requirement, etc) at the time of each application.

TheDon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:39 am

Should we be thinking of withdrawing and postponing our spouse visa application and sacrificing the Europe trips and committed expenses? If we did then would we get a refund for the spouse visa and IHS fees (c£2700) already paid?

Once the biometrics are done, I believe that there will be no refund of the application fees (there will be a refund of the IHS fees). But wait for others to advise on this point.

Thanks for your response secret.simon.

I have read a bit more on the forums and guidance.

Dates:
1st spouse visa start date: 25/02/2020
5 year ILR qualification date: 25/02/2025
Optimistic second spouse visa start date assumption: 1/07/2022.
I have read that UKVI will add a max of 28 days from the expiring visa onto the extensions. Therefore with 2.5 years visa term + 28 days, the second visa expiry will be 29/01/2025.
I have also read that the 5 year qualification period (I’m paraphrasing) can be short by a max of 28 days which brings the qualification date to 28/01/2025 effectively. So should be all good to progress straight onto ILR after the extension visa.
Alternatively if the dates fall slightly short for the 5 year qualification then we ought to make sure to lodge her ILR application just before the expiry of her extension but delay her biometric appointment a few weeks from her application date (effectively during an expired period) such that her decision date would occur after 25/02/2022. The main aim is to avoid having to put in a 3rd spouse visa application if avoidable as that will cost c£2700.

I think this is problem solved but please advise if I’m going wrong anywhere.

*28/01/2025