Category B for Spouse Visa?

My husband has been working at the same company as a permanent, full time salaried employee for 2 years now. He was recently promoted and given a new job title and a new salary. His starting position was 18,000 per year and his new position is 23,000 per year. His most recent P60 shows that he has been paid (combining both salaries from the previous 12 months) above the minimum 18,600 yearly threshold. Therefore, if we have the last 12 months of pay slips and 12 months of his bank statements corresponding, can we apply under Category B using the last 12 months? It is "variable income". 

I know that he has completed part 1 of Category B by being in a full time position at an appropriate salary, but what about the prior 12 months? His salary before he was promoted was under the threshold but over the entire 12 month period, he has made more than the threshold when you combine salaries.

Am I safe to apply under category B?



From the guidance: "CATEGORY B: This category can be used where the applicant’s partner (and/or the applicant if they are in the UK with permission to work) is in salaried or non-salaried employment at the date of application, but has not been with the same employer and/or not earning the income level relied upon in the application for at least 6 months prior to the date of application. It can therefore be used by those who have been with their current employer for less than 6 months, or who have been with their current employer for at least 6 months but earning a variable income and wish to be considered in this category rather than under Category A."

Also from guidance under the category B example: "The applicant’s partner works in the UK. She started a new job 3 months prior to the date of
application and her gross annual salary is £22,000. She meets part (1) of the calculation for Category B because she is in salaried employment at the date of application and her gross annual salary at the date of application meets the financial requirement. In addition, she must have received in the 12 months prior to the application the level of income required to meet part (2) of the calculation for Category B. Before starting her new job, she worked for another company for 7 months during the last 12 months. Including her current and previous job, the total amount she has earned from employment in the last 12 months is £20,000.
The financial requirement is met under Category B because the applicant’s partner is currently in a job paying at least £18,600 a year and has earned more than £18,600 from employment in the last 12 months."

What date did he start his new salary?

If it was less than 6 months ago, you HAVE to apply under Category B - you don't have a choice because you cannot qualify under Category A, due to his previous salary being less than £18,600.

For Category A, he must show:
- he is currently earning at least £18,600 salary
- he has earned a salary of at least £18,600 for a minimum of 6 months
- his lowest payslip from the last 6 months is not less than £1,550 before tax
- for Category A, they will only consider the LOWEST payslip amount from the 6 months. They will multiply this amount by 12 to get the total annual salary. If this is less than £18,600, the visa will be refused

For Category B:
- he must currently be earning £18,600 or more salary
- if he has not been earning at least £18,600 salary for at least 6 months, he must ALSO have earned at least £18,600 before tax in the previous 12 months
- they will consider ALL income earned over the last 12 months... as long as the total figure is £18,600 or more, the requirement will be met


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He started his new salary in January 2017 so it is 4 payslips at a higher salary and 8 payslips at the 18k salary. OverAll it adds up to more than 18600.
I suppose category B is in order then!

This is the part I am most nervous about so I am double checking that it is safe to apply.

Yeah, as long as the total pre-tax amount on the 12 payslips is £18,600 or more, you should be fine.

Working it out, each payslip at the £18,000 salary should be £1,500 and each payslip at the £22,000 salary should be £1,833.33

So,
8 x £1,500 = £12,000
4 x £1,833.33 = £7,333.33

£12,000 + £7,333.33 = £19,333.33

That's more than £18,600 so you'll meet the requirement .

For the financial evidence, you'll need:
- 12 full months of original payslips
- 12 full months of original bank statements showing the deposit of every single payslip
- a letter from his employer stating:
1) employment and current salary
2) length of employment
3) length of time earning current salary (£22,000)
4) type of employment (permanent, temporary, full time, part time etc.)
- His original job contract
- his latest P60


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I've got all of that! Thank you so much!

Hello again! I was looking through and I have a predicament.

My husband's latest bank statement is dated for 31 March 2017 and his bank statements end on the 24th of each month. So He could only provide me with his bank statements up until March 24. Therefore, the latest payslip is not shown to be deposited to this account. However, the other payslips correspond to his bank statements.

Will this be an issue? Will they ignore anything not corresponding?

It will be an issue because every single payslip must show on the bank statements. The only reason you have to send the bank statements is to prove that all the payslips were deposited.

You MUST get a bank statement that shows the March 31st payslip being deposited.

Can he get the bank to print a statement up to the current date, showing the March 31st pay?


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Hello again! I was looking through and I have a predicament.

My husband's latest bank statement is dated for 31 March 2017 and his bank statements end on the 24th of each month. So He could only provide me with his bank statements up until March 24. Therefore, the latest payslip is not shown to be deposited to this account. However, the other payslips correspond to his bank statements.

Will this be an issue? Will they ignore anything not corresponding?

To add to Ksand's post, when were you planning to apply? You're getting really close to the 28day mark. The most recent of the pay slips/bank statements must be dated within 28 days of the date you submit your online application.

Sure. I will have to now I suppose. My only issue is if he can quickly do this before the 10 days mark of my biometrics. I am doing biometrics tomorrow.

The horrible part is that the bank statements are given out on the 25th of each month and his payslips are given out on the last day of each month.

So this month, the available slip is 31 March 2017 and the available bank statement showing this deposit will be available on 25 April. Since I applied on 19 April, the bank statement showing this 31 March deposit is "in the future".

Hang on, you said above that he started the new salary in January and would have 4 months of payslips at the higher salary - but that only looks like 3 months to me: Jan, Feb and March payslips.

If that's the case, then surely it will be 9 previous salary payslips and 3 higher payslips... which gives a total earnings of £17,500 meaning you wouldn't qualify for the visa.

Or am I interpreting it wrong?


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No you are right, January February and March are the higher. He has made a large bonus in December 2016 and overtime every month so it all calculates out to more than the threshold gross earnings.

I am just confused about how to solve this bank statement payslip match up issue.

It also shows on his latest P60 tax document (dated april 2017) he has made well over the 18600 threshold

I am just confused about how to solve this bank statement payslip match up issue.

Have him visit the bank. Have them print off and stamp the most recent months transactions up to date. This will show the pay being deposited on the 31st.
He'll then have to send it to you by courier.

Okay, cool - just wanted to make sure.

However, the deadline from biometrics is just 5 days, not 10 days. So, if you do your biometrics on Tuesday (assuming 'tomorrow' means Tuesday), you must mail everything to Sheffield by Sunday at the latest (or by Monday if your biometrics is on Wednesday).

Situations like this are the reason we say not to apply online until you have every single document in your hands and have double-checked that everything is in order.

If you don't think you will get his extra bank statement in time, it is possible to cancel the application and get a refund, as long as you cancel it BEFORE you attend biometrics. Once you have attended biometrics, there is no way to get a refund, and cancelling means you lose the visa fee and will have to pay again.