Tier 2 Dependent Visa Renewal situation unclear

Hello everyone,

I was reading about Tier 2 (Skilled) Dependent Visa renewal on Gov UK as my wife (my dependent) needs to renew her visa in a few months. Information on the site is hard to follow.

I am a non-EU migrant, I came to the UK on a Tier 2 (Skilled) worker visa in August 2014. I was granted ILR on March 2021 and naturalised on April 2022.

My wife's Tier 2 Dependent visa was issued on October 2019 with expiry on August 2020:

• The length of the visa was short because my Tier 2 Visa expired on the same date. That's when we applied for ILR and Dependent renewal. A new Dependent visa was issued on March 2021 with expiry on March 2024 (i.e. current visa).

• She applied from the UK as she was on a student (Tier 4) visa when we got married.

I have spent hours reading through GovUK site to get my head around what is the right course of action when renewing her visa. However, there is a lot of ambiguity:

• Although I am a British citizen now, is it correct to say that the rules of UK Dependent Visa still apply to her? i.e. She can apply for ILR (settlement) after 5 years of her first visa being issued, and apply for citizenship one year after ?

• If the above is true, my wife meets all conditions to apply for ILR starting mid September 2024 - 28 days before the completion of 5 years in the UK on Dependent visa. This is less than 6 months after the expiry of her visa.

• From all the information I found so far, it seems that the minimum length on a renewed visa has to be 3 years. I have also found that you normally have to apply for settlement after 6 years on a Skilled worker visa or Dependent visa, which is 18 months from her visa expiry. Which rule applies here and what should we expect: 18 months visa or 36 months visa ?

• From what I could gather in other resources online, as I couldn't find information on this on GovUk, the visa renewal cost is £1048 and NHS surcharge is £624 for each year on your visa. If this is correct, and the visa has to be for 3 years, then the total will cost £2920, when we technically only need a 6 months visa before applying for ILR.

• We will apply for ILR on September 2024 anyway, which means that if the above applies, we will be paying £1872 NHS surcharge for 6 months as you don't need to pay the surcharge when you are settled. Normally, for any 6 month visa, that will be £312. As a matter of fact, we only need a 6 months visa extension/renewal from her expiry.[/list]

What do you think is our best course of action here ? How can we get in touch with the Home Office to get some answers on what to expect ? All our prior visas were handled by immigration lawyers, a benefit I got from my employers up until settlement. If possible, we would like to apply ourselves without any professional assistance.

Thanks a lot in advance

Why did it take you so long (~8 months) to get your ILR/get her a new dependent visa? When did you apply and what status did you hold in the meantime?

She can apply for ILR once she got 5 years on dependent visa, so seems to be Sept 2024 (depending on the information given by answering the question above).

I don't understand your statement about "we need to pay less IHS because we're applying for ILR" - what does it mean?
You apply for a 3 year extension, you pay for 3 year extension (visa and IHS charges). Yes, you will apply for ILR after 6 months, but since it's not compulsory, it's your own choice, you won't get any IHS back. You can't just pay for 6 months - visa won't be granted at all then.
Also IHS charges are increasing to 1,035 pounds per year, so you have to pay 3,105 in IHS plus visa fees.