Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a 12 month Tier 5 (Temporary worker - Charity workers) visa can be extended where the original visa was approved substantially after the desired start date.

Where a Charity Worker visa (Temporary Work) is granted for less than 12 months at Entry Clearance, they can apply to extend in-country for the remaining leave up to that amount. However, if the full 12-month period has already been granted, it cannot be extended any further.

No cost exemption will apply for an in-country visa extension unless there has been an error in the original period of leave granted. If an error has occurred, the Home Office will correct this.

The applicant pays for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) based on the duration of immigration permission requested. If the applicant is granted a shorter period than which they applied, they may receive a partial IHS refund.

Currently UKVI are within the published service standard for the Charity Worker (Temporary Worker) route and have continued to meet this target. The unique circumstances of 2022 created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine temporarily prevented the normal service standards being met. Any application which is not considered within service standard at present is due to the complexity of its nature and therefore, no change to application start dates are being considered.