Global Talent dependent extension (lead has ILR): any way to pay only 3 years’ IHS upfront?

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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.