Spouses or partners of British or settled persons can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK up to 28 days before they reach 60 months in the UK with leave as a partner so long as they have been granted leave in the 5 year route.

ILR applications can be processed very quickly – the super priority service is available for a fee and offers 24 hour processing by the Home Office.

Requirements in an ILR application as a partner

To successfully apply for ILR, applicants must show that:

The Financial Requirement

The Financial Requirement in spouse ILR applications can be one of the most complicated aspects of the application. Failing to meet the specified evidence requirements leads to applications being refused.

The level of finances to be proven is £18,600 where there are no dependant non-British children, with an additional £3,800 for the first non-British child (£22,400) and an additional £2,400 per child thereafter (£24,800, etc.)

Our blog, here, sets out details of when ‘adequate maintenance’ cn be relied upon, rather than the standard levels of finances.

In order to meet the minimum income threshold (as opposed to adequate maintenance), Applicants can rely on:

It is possible to combine some of the sources of income, but not all. For instance, self-employment cannot be combined with cash savings. It is important therefore to plan how an application will be structured well ahead of time.

Cash savings and differences between ILR and earlier applications

Interestingly, the cash savings required in entry clearance and extension applications is different from those required for ILR.

In initial and extension applications the calculation is as follows:

(Level of savings – £16,000) / 2.5 = Amount which can be relied upon

E.g. (£62,500 – £16,000) /2.5 = £18,600

However, in ILR applications, all savings held for six months or more above £16,000 can be relied upon:

(Level of savings – £16,000) = Amount which can be relied upon

E.g. (£62,500 – £16,000) = £46,500

This means that the level of savings required in an ILR application is much lower than in the first two applications:

£34,600 – £16,000 = £18,600

Contact Our Immigration Lawyers In London

If you would like further advice in relation to partner entry clearance, leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain applications under Appendix FM, please contact our immigration barristers direct in London on 0203 617 9173 or via the enquiry form below.