🇬🇧 Further Leave to Remain (FLR) in the UK – Complete 2025 Guide

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🇬🇧 Further Leave to Remain (FLR) in the UK – Complete 2025 Guide

If you're living in the UK on a temporary visa and your current permission to stay is about to expire, applying for Further Leave to Remain (FLR) is often the safest way to maintain your legal stay — especially when you don’t have a new sponsor or visa route lined up.

This guide explains:

What FLR means

Who it applies to

When and how to apply

Common mistakes

Costs, documents, and tips to avoid immigration trouble

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✅ What Is Further Leave to Remain (FLR)?

Further Leave to Remain (FLR) is an application made within the UK to extend your stay. You’re asking the Home Office for more time to remain in the country, typically for another 2.5 years, depending on your visa category.

It is not a new visa. It’s an extension or continuation of your existing stay — often used by those in the UK under:

A family visa (partner/spouse/parent route)

Private life route

Human rights considerations

Discretionary leave

Or if your immigration situation changes unexpectedly (e.g. job loss, relationship breakdown)

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📌 Why FLR Matters – Especially Without a New Sponsor

If your visa is close to expiring and you haven’t secured a new job, sponsor, or legal route — you must apply for FLR to:

Avoid becoming an overstayer

Protect your right to work and rent (if applicable)

Maintain access to healthcare via the NHS (if you pay the IHS)

Stay legally in the UK while awaiting new opportunities, legal aid, or family support

Under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, if you apply before your visa expires, your legal stay in the UK is automatically extended until a decision is made on your application, even if your original visa has expired during this time.

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🗂️ FLR Routes: Which One Do You Need?

1. FLR(M) – Family Life as a Partner or Parent

Used if you’re extending your stay as a:

Spouse or civil partner of a British citizen or settled person

Unmarried partner in a genuine relationship

Parent of a British child

2. FLR(FP) – Family and Private Life

Based on:

Long residence in the UK

Being in the UK since childhood

Having no meaningful connections in your home country

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to family and private life)

3. FLR(HRO) – Human Rights Outside the Rules

For applicants making a human rights claim that doesn’t fall neatly within other immigration routes

🔗 Official References for Further Leave to Remain (FLR) UK (2025)

1. UK Government – Extend Your Stay

https://www.gov.uk/extend-your-visa

(General guide on applying to extend your visa inside the UK)

2. FLR(M) – Family Life as a Partner or Parent

https://www.gov.uk/family-visa/extend-your-visa

(Apply to stay as a spouse, partner, or parent)

3. FLR(FP) – Family and Private Life

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-extend-stay-in-uk-flrfp

(Form and guidance for FLR(FP))

4. FLR(HRO) – Human Rights Outside the Rules

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-extend-stay-in-uk-flrhro

(Human Rights-related application)

5. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Fees

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table

(Official UKVI fee tables – updated regularly)

6. Section 3C Leave Guidance

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leave-extended-by-section-3c-and-3d-of-the-immigration-act-1971

(Explains legal stay in the UK during pending decisions)

7. Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)

https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application

(Paying the IHS and access to NHS care)