To renew or not to renew...

[elbuttano]

Hi all,

My unmarried partner's visa expires on 31/12/24 and we are debating whether or not to renew. She is a Colombian citizen and, when we first got the visa, Colombian's weren't permitted to enter the UK as tourists whereas they can now enter for 6 months without visa, so she could re-enter the UK next year without visa (she just couldn't work). She is working currently but only earns around £4k per year and I believe the renewal fee for another visa would be about the same cost so, if she were to continue with the same job next year, all her work would only be to pay off the visa fee, seems like a waste of time.

Of course there's the point that she can only stay 6 months, we are currently in the UK about 8 months of the year and 4 months in Colombia, so we would need to switch to 6/6 (doable).

One downside I can see is that if we don't renew then if in future we wanted to settle all year in the UK we'd need to start the process from scratch and she will have lost these past 2 years on the "5 year route" to permanent leave to remain?

I'm just wondering if there is anything I may have forgotten about or not considered that we need to think about before making our decision? Thanks in advance for any input.

[vinny]

Will she get bored, if she’s not able to work?

[secret.simon]

Keep in mind that for visit visas (which is what she gets when she comes without a visa), the rule is not "6 months out of 12" (though that is a common over-simplified way to look at it). Rather one of the requirements is that she will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home.

So if she keeps coming back to the UK every six months, after a couple of entries, she may very well get refused and barred from entering the UK.

She may be better off extending her partner visa and paying it off through her earnings.

[Br28016]

One of major things to consider is medical. On spouse visa NHS access is covered whereas on tourist visas using NHS has to be paid for or need insurance. Certain amount of ability to take a risk on this when young but should really include annual medical or travel insurance costs when comparing options as well. Next visa plus ILR costs compares with lifetime medical/travel insurance costs.

Also income vs visa cost is only comparing a single year. Real comparator should be income over period to ILR vs costs to ILR - about three years.

Also worth confirming can meet ILR residency/citizenship residency requirements as if cannot then ma change your decision.

Final factor to consider is that requirements to get partner visa can change over time so may not be an option in future.completing route to ILR/citizenship gives certainty.