Family visa partners of protection sponsors may get a shorter grant
04 Aug 2026
If your partner has permission to stay in the UK based on protection status, such as refugee or humanitarian protection, and you're applying for a family visa as their partner, new rules may change how long your own permission lasts.
Updated Appendix FM rules say that where your protection-status sponsor holds exactly 30 months' permission, your partner visa will now end on the same date as your sponsor's permission, rather than running for the usual standard period. Normally, entry clearance from outside the UK is granted for up to 33 months and leave to remain in the UK for up to 30 months. The rule text for both routes says the grant will instead run "for a period which ends on the same date as the sponsor's permission" whenever the sponsor holds 30 months' permission on the basis of protection status. This appears in guidance updated on 3 August 2026.
This matters for your renewal timing. If your grant is shortened to match your sponsor's remaining permission, you'll need to apply to extend sooner than the standard period would suggest. Your settlement route still depends on building up continuous qualifying periods on this visa, so a shorter grant means an earlier renewal date to plan around.
What to do: if your sponsor holds permission based on protection status, check the exact expiry date on their visa before you apply or extend. Use that date, not the standard 30 or 33-month period, to work out when your own permission will run out and when you need to renew.
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