Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons her Department’s public guidance on applying for, extending or switching a family visa states that the earliest an application can be made is 28 days before current permission to stay in the UK expires; and for what reasons that guidance states that a decision will be made within 12 weeks if the application is from outside the UK and 8 weeks if the application is from within the UK.

We advise on our website that if you wish to apply to extend your leave to remain on the basis of your family life, the earliest you can apply is 28 days before your current permission to stay in the UK under the family Immigration Rules expires.

If an applicant applies more than 28 days before their leave expires or they are within 28 days of completing the relevant period of time spent in the UK, they are likely to face a shortfall at the end of their qualifying period for settlement, necessitating an additional application with associated fees and charges.

The above requirement plays an essential part in the department’s workforce planning, allowing us to anticipate demand based upon previous grants of leave and to allocate resource appropriately.

These Rules provide for extant leave in the relevant category at the date of application to be added to the new grant of such leave, up to a maximum of 28 days, ensuring that no leave is lost.

UK Visas & Immigration is currently reviewing application service standards. Current service standards reflect how long an application may take to assess due to a wide range of factors.