Extending Your Spouse or Partner Visa
FLR(M) is the application used to extend a spouse, civil partner, or unmarried partner visa in the UK. It is the second stage of the partner route, submitted at the end of the initial 30-month visa to continue leave for a further 30 months before qualifying for settlement.
It sounds straightforward. In practice, FLR(M) is one of the most time-sensitive applications in UK immigration. The deadline is absolute. The income requirement must be re-evidenced in full. And any change in circumstances since the original visa was granted, a change of employer, a gap in income, a change of address or relationship status, must be accounted for correctly.
Deadline warning: Your FLR(M) application must be submitted before your current visa expires. There is no grace period in UK immigration law. One day late means an overstay, which is permanent on your immigration record and must be disclosed on every future application including ILR and naturalisation.
Who Needs to Submit FLR(M)?
FLR(M) applies to anyone who is in the UK on a partner visa and needs to extend before the 30-month leave expires. This includes spouses and civil partners of British citizens or settled persons, unmarried partners who have been together for at least two years, and those who entered on a fiancé(e) visa and married in the UK.
If you entered on an initial entry clearance spouse visa and your 30 months is approaching, FLR(M) is the form you need. We recommend instructing a specialist at least eight weeks before your visa expiry date.
What FLR(M) Requires
The Minimum Income Requirement Must Be Re-Evidenced
The income requirement does not carry over from your original application. You must demonstrate that the sponsor currently earns at least £29,000 gross per year, evidenced through payslips and bank statements covering the required period. If the sponsor has changed employer, been promoted, or had any gaps in employment since the original visa was granted, each of these must be addressed in the evidence.
Transitional Protection from before April 2024 may still apply to some applicants, but this must be verified carefully. The transition period is not automatic and can be broken by leave gaps or changes of circumstances.
Genuine and Subsisting Relationship
UKVI must be satisfied that the relationship is still genuine and subsisting at the point of extension. This means updating the relationship evidence to reflect the period since the original visa was granted. New evidence of cohabitation, shared financial commitments, and continued contact must be provided. The original evidence from the entry clearance application is not sufficient on its own.
Continuous Cohabitation
The couple must have been living together in the UK throughout the leave period. Evidence of a shared address is required across the full period since the original visa was granted, not just at the point of application.
Section 3C Protection
If your FLR(M) application is submitted before your current visa expires and is accepted as valid, Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 automatically extends your existing leave while the application is processed. This means you remain in the UK lawfully during the wait for a decision, on the same conditions as your original visa.
Section 3C only activates if the application is submitted in time and is valid. A fee payment failure or biometric non-compliance voids Section 3C protection even if the application was submitted before expiry.
Why FLR(M) Applications Are Refused
Leave expired before the FLR(M) was submitted. There is no remedy once this happens. The overstay is permanent and must be disclosed on every future application. The only prevention is a timely submission with a meaningful buffer before the expiry date.
The sponsor's income has changed since the original application, or the evidence is not presented in the format UKVI requires. A change of employer, a period of lower earnings, or incorrectly calculated self-employment income are the most common issues.
Resubmitting the same evidence from the original visa application without updating it to cover the intervening period is a common mistake. The caseworker needs to see that the relationship is still genuine and subsisting now, not just when the original visa was granted.
A change of employer, address, or relationship status that was not reported to UKVI during the leave period creates a compliance issue under the Earned Settlement model. Material changes must be reported during the leave period, not just at the renewal stage.
Some applicants believe they are still entitled to the old £18,600 threshold when their Transitional Protection has in fact been broken by a leave gap or change in circumstances. This leads to an income shortfall the applicant was not expecting.
How ClearVisa Prepares Your FLR(M)
We handle FLR(M) applications from start to finish. We verify your visa expiry date, calculate the income against the current threshold, review your employment history and relationship evidence since the original visa, and prepare a complete submission well ahead of your deadline.
We check Transitional Protection eligibility, review bank statements for funds parking risk, and draft any covering letter needed to address changes in circumstances. You will not be submitting blind.
We work on a fixed-fee basis. We are IAA-regulated (F202536292).