After the first year of a marriage ARC, you can renew it and get the 3 year one, which has significant benefits when doing anything with banks or phone companies, as it signifies you will stay in the country longer which makes them more willing to take you on as a customer.
But, how early before the expiration date of your 1 year ARC can you apply for the 3 year one?
Obviously you’ve got to do it a bit early to avoid the card and your residence becoming void…
I don’t think there is a time limit. But people were asked to come back later when getting there one month early. They even had a reason, leaving the country and returning after the expiry date.
Really depends on which person you get when you come in.
I am not sure if they give you the 3 year one if you accidentally loose your ARC card one month before expiry date.
They will not give you the 3 year ARC if you lose your 1 year ARC or update the information on your 1 year ARC before the one month renewal date on the card. They will actually give you a new ARC with the same expiry date as the one you lost or are updating. So if your ARC is expiring in December and you update it in October, it will only have a validity of a couple months. They do this as you have only paid for 1 year, and they don’t want to charge you for a whole new year until the year you have already paid for expires. A few years back I encountered this when I first had a marriage ARC and after six months of having the card needed to update my passport number, I presumed they would give me the three year one, but they didn’t. This was really annoying as my new six month ARC couldn’t be used to do the driving test, which I never ended up doing, and am only now again considering taking. However, I know people who have successfully renewed their ARC before the one month renewal period by saying they will be travelling abroad, and showing the NIA staff a ticket.