Once you have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK you must not forget to extend it in time unless you have been granted indefinite leave.
Anglia Immigration Law has many years of experience in helping people to extend their visas, switch or apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain whilst in the UK. Many people make a mistake thinking that once they have been granted leave to remain in the UK, it will be the easiest to extend it. You are lucky if your application is straight forward and your circumstances have not changed during your stay. However, laws might have been changed since you have been granted your stay in the UK and that might affect your extension application.
The biggest problem people encounter trying to apply for a visa extension themselves is not knowing which application form needs to be completed and what is the correct fee payable to the Home Office. Completing the right application form, paying the correct application fee, submitting all the necessary supporting evidence is crucial for your application to be valid. The biggest risk doing all without a help of an immigration expert is getting your application back from the Home Office as invalid when your current leave already expired. In this unfortunate scenario you would become on overstayer in the UK, you would not be able to continue working or studying and you might have to leave the UK.
To avoid disappointment we highly recommend contacting our immigration specialists for advice or assistance at least 2 to 3 months before the expiry of your visa. Although you can only make an extension application not more than 28 days before the expiry date of your current leave, that would give you sufficient time to prepare all the necessary supporting documents well in time.