Using 401k to fulfill Category D for Financial requirement

Reading through the guidance documents (Appendix FM Annex 1-7, April 2015) on the Financial Requirement for Family Visa, I stumbled across the following:

"For example, in the UK a ‘stocks and shares’ Individual Savings Account (ISA) does
meet the definition of a savings account and the funds can be considered as cash
savings if all the requirements above are met. Likewise, a pension savings account from which savings can be immediately withdrawn (like the 401K in the US)."

This seems to good to be true.

Does anyone have experience with using their 401k to fulfill Category D for the Financial requirement?

You can use the retirement assets to meet the requirement but you must disinvest it prior to applying. So you would need to have the actual cash value as proven by a statement from your plan administrator showing the cash proceeds.

Just to clarify, are you saying ?
1. that the retirement assets meet the requirement only if they can be shown to be sitting in your retirement account as cash as opposed to shares or bonds prior to applying.

or

2. you need to withdraw the necessary cash completely from the retirement account prior to applying (in which case it is just cash sitting in a bank account).

Thanks in advance.

The first. You need to show six months' worth of statements as evidence that the money has been under your name and then show the liquidation of the stocks/bonds into cash before you apply.

Per the appendix:

(c) Funds held as cash savings by the applicant, their partner or both jointly at the date of application can have been transferred from investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds within the period of 6 months prior to the date of application, provided that:

(i) The funds have been in the ownership and under the control of the applicant, their partner or both jointly for at least the period of 6 months prior to the date of application.

(ii) The ownership of the funds in the form of investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds; the cash value of the funds in that form at or before the beginning of the period of 6 months prior to the date of application; and the transfer of the funds into cash, are evidenced by a portfolio report or other relevant documentation from a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which that institution is operating.

(iii) The requirements of this Appendix in respect of the cash savings held at the date of application are met, except that the period of 6 months prior to the date of application in paragraph 11(a) will be reduced by the amount of that period in which the relevant funds were held in the form of investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds.

(iv) For the purposes of sub-paragraph 11A(c), “investments” includes funds held in an investment account which does not meet the requirements of paragraphs 11 and 11A(a).

Thanks that makes sense.

I appreciate your assistance.