Plan your ECAA extension with the right evidence

01

Extending as a Turkish Businessperson

Your business must be genuine and viable, with evidence of your active involvement. Your investment, responsibilities and share of the costs matter. The profits available to you must support you and your dependants without needing a separate job.

A business arrangement must not disguise employment for another business. Changing activities, adding a business or joining an existing business needs a careful explanation supported by records. A company registration alone does not establish eligibility.

02

Extending as a Turkish Worker

The employment history determines the conditions. The Rules distinguish three years of lawful employment with the same employer from four years including three with that employer and the remaining period in the same occupation. Permission between years three and four is more restricted; after four qualifying years it can allow work for any employer in any occupation. Check your own grant before changing work.

03

Partners and children need their own assessment

A partner extending under this Appendix must already hold the relevant ECAA dependant permission and apply from the UK. It is not a new entry route for a partner who has never held that status. Eligible children may be able to apply to join a parent, so the closure does not exclude every new dependant application.

Age, dependency, parental responsibility and care arrangements matter. An existing dependent child turning 21 is not automatically excluded from extending. Where the main holder has settled or become British after ECAA settlement, a partner may need the separate further-permission provisions in Appendix ECAA Settlement.

04

Prepare a coherent record

Start with your current permission, expiry date and any earlier applications. Then gather records appropriate to your category; explain changes and inconsistencies clearly.

• Businesspersons: accounts, tax records, bank statements, invoices, investment evidence and relevant insurance or registrations.
• Workers: contracts, employer confirmation, payslips and bank statements covering the employment history.
• Family members: relationship, dependency and living-arrangement evidence relevant to each applicant.

05

Apply in time and check travel plans

Prepare before your permission expires. A businessperson extension can be granted for up to three years; a shorter grant is possible. Worker grants depend on the qualifying employment history. Do not treat an expected grant length as guaranteed.

Leaving the Common Travel Area while an in-country application is pending can cause it to be treated as withdrawn. Discuss travel before booking or departing.

06

If you have received a refusal

Contact us promptly with the decision date, any stated deadline and a short summary. Administrative review may be available, depending on the decision. The appropriate challenge, time limit and effect of a fresh application or travel need checking. An enquiry does not stop a deadline.

• How refusals and review procedures are assessed
• Make an ECAA refusal enquiry

Common questions