Global Talent dependent extension (lead has ILR): any way to pay only 3 years’ IHS upfront?
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2025 7:38 pm
I would appreciate practical input from anyone who has gone through a Global Talent dependent extension where the lead applicant already holds ILR.
Under Appendix Global Talent and the caseworker guidance, where the lead applicant has settlement, a dependent partner can be granted a fixed 3-year period of leave. In principle, the IHS should align to the period of leave actually granted.
However, in the current online dependent extension application:
there is no option to select the length of stay,
no “intended length of stay” field,
and no free-text section to record that a 3-year grant is being sought.
The system instead automatically calculates a longer period (effectively to reach 5 years) and charges the corresponding IHS.
My question is purely practical:
Has anyone recently found a legitimate way to ensure that only 3 years’ IHS is paid at the point of application in this situation?
For example:
Was a 3-year IHS charge achieved through any specific routing within the form?
Or was the system-calculated IHS always payable upfront, with any correction or refund only possible (if at all) after the decision?
I am not looking to circumvent the rules or provide inaccurate information — only to understand whether there is any recognised procedural route under the current application journey.
Any recent, first-hand experiences would be very helpful.
Under Appendix Global Talent and the caseworker guidance, where the lead applicant has settlement, a dependent partner can be granted a fixed 3-year period of leave. In principle, the IHS should align to the period of leave actually granted.
However, in the current online dependent extension application:
there is no option to select the length of stay,
no “intended length of stay” field,
and no free-text section to record that a 3-year grant is being sought.
The system instead automatically calculates a longer period (effectively to reach 5 years) and charges the corresponding IHS.
My question is purely practical:
Has anyone recently found a legitimate way to ensure that only 3 years’ IHS is paid at the point of application in this situation?
For example:
Was a 3-year IHS charge achieved through any specific routing within the form?
Or was the system-calculated IHS always payable upfront, with any correction or refund only possible (if at all) after the decision?
I am not looking to circumvent the rules or provide inaccurate information — only to understand whether there is any recognised procedural route under the current application journey.
Any recent, first-hand experiences would be very helpful.