family visa fee waiver and 5-year partner route

[ulovecraft]

My husband currently has leave to remain as a Partner (Standard) under Appendix FM on the 5-year route to settlement. His current leave expires at the end of August 2026, and he will shortly need to apply for an FLR(M) extension.

We continue to meet the partner visa requirements, including the financial requirement. However, since his last visa application we have had two British children, and with our mortgage, childcare and other essential household costs, we simply cannot afford the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge. We are therefore considering applying for a family visa fee waiver.

The difficulty is that the online fee waiver form only appears to offer the following options:

• 5-year partner route (where the sponsor receives specified benefits) – this doesn't apply as I don't receive any of the qualifying benefits.
  5-year parent route – my husband is now the parent of two British children, but we're unsure whether this category is intended for someone who is currently on the 5-year partner route, or what impact selecting it would have on his immigration route.
  10-year partner, parent or dependant route – we are concerned that selecting this option could mean his subsequent application is treated as a 10-year route application. This would significantly delay settlement and increase the overall cost of his immigration journey.

As we are not relying on specified benefits, there doesn't appear to be an option for someone already on the standard 5-year partner route. We are both working but our earn ing are modest and only just cover our living expenses.

• Which fee waiver category should someone in our circumstances select?
  If we select the "10-year partner, parent or dependant" option because there is no standard 5-year partner option, does that mean any subsequent FLR(M) application can only be made on the 10-year route?
  Or, if my husband continues to meet all the Appendix FM partner requirements, can he still apply to extend his leave on the 5-year partner route after a fee waiver has been granted?
  We are not seeking to change immigration route—we simply want to understand how to access a fee waiver, if we are eligible, without unintentionally affecting my husband's existing 5-year route to settlement.

This is the only issue preventing us from deciding whether to apply for a fee waiver or instead explore borrowing the money to pay the application fees. We would prefer not to take out another loan as we are already in a reasonable amount of debt and worry we could not afford the repayments on top of everything else.

I'd be very grateful for any advice or guidance you are able to offer.