Extending Spouse visa of a British Citizen before 28 days

[bhoopal]

How early can we apply for Spouse visa extension of British Citizen.

Initially visa issued for 2 years 9 months and Visa expiring on 24 April 2016 but we where out of UK for more than 1.5 year so I need to extend 2 times instead of 1 time for 5 year route ILR.

Question is can we apply before 17th March 2016 because we don't need to worry about short of residence as we already have 9 months of stay from initial visa. I want to apply early because of new visa fees from 18th March onwards or we can only apply before 28 days of expiry.

Can anyone here please share your experience or advise on this matter or will my application will be rejected if I apply early.

Thank you for your help

[CR001]

You can apply before the fee increase if you wish. As you seem to be aware of a potential shortfall in the 5 years residence.

Was the 1.5 years absence all in one go?

[bhoopal]

You can apply before the fee increase if you wish. As you seem to be aware of a potential shortfall in the 5 years residence.

Was the 1.5 years absence all in one go?

Thank you for your reply - Yes, we where out of UK for 1.5 year on a business trip.

[CR001]

She will also have to pay the £500 immigration health surcharge before she can submit the application.

There is no absence limit for a spouse visa, but absences should be valid and for good reason. I suspect 1.5 years might be too long.

For ILR she only needs to declare absences of 6 months of more.