Newbie struggling with payslips and financial requirements

Hi all,

Feels good to finally be able to speak in here as my wife and I have been lurking for a few months now. We got married on October 27th 2018 and finally ready to apply but first... I have a question regarding financial requirements and it has really been stressing me out. Hoping that somebody who has already been through the process (or just knows) can help us out.

I have been at my place of employment for 10 months now and earn over the minimum - £23k per annum. Started Jan 2018. Prior to this, I was in employment from August 2016 - September 2017. Unemployed from September 2017 until Jan 2018. I'm just putting my payslips together and wanted to know

1. On my payslips, it says that I have earned YTD 13k so far. I have honestly NEVER really understood payslip formats so I'm probably just being really stupid in this situation. In regards to the entry clearance officer, do they take your YTD into consideration or do they look at your per annum as a whole and as the figure you will make after a year? I'm just really confused over this.

2. My pay in the last 3 months has been £165 less due to work benefits that are taken straight out of my pay. Does my letter from my employer need to explain this or does this not matter?

3. This isn't payslip related but it is under financial - is an overall letter from my bank confirming that my bank statements are authentic enough or is it best to just get each page signed/stamped?

thank you so much for your help in advance

Welcome to the forum . And congratulations on your marriage .

For the financial requirements, you just need to have been in your current job for at least 6 months, earning at least £18,600 for all of that time.

If this is the case, then you apply under Category A and provide the most recent 6 months of payslips and bank statements, plus a letter from your employer confirming your employment details.

1. On my payslips, it says that I have earned YTD 13k so far. I have honestly NEVER really understood payslip formats so I'm probably just being really stupid in this situation. In regards to the entry clearance officer, do they take your YTD into consideration or do they look at your per annum as a whole and as the figure you will make after a year? I'm just really confused over this.

As above, you only need to show you have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 salary before tax for the last 6 months.

If you are salaried, they will take your lowest pre-tax monthly payslip from the last 6 months and multiply it by 12 to get the annual income that can be used towards the requirements. As long as this payslip is at least £1550 before tax, you will meet the requirement.

If you are non-salaried (paid by the hour), then they add up all your payslips from the last 6 months and work out an annual average (by dividing the total by 6 and multiplying by 12). This annual average must be at least £18,600 before tax.

2. My pay in the last 3 months has been £165 less due to work benefits that are taken straight out of my pay. Does my letter from my employer need to explain this or does this not matter?

What base pay is shown on your payslips, and what kind of work benefits are they?

It will depend on the payslip amounts before/after the deductions as to whether they need explaining and whether they will affect how you qualify for the visa.

3. This isn't payslip related but it is under financial - is an overall letter from my bank confirming that my bank statements are authentic enough or is it best to just get each page signed/stamped?

You either need:

- original bank statements sent in the mail or printed in branch

Or

- online banking statements you have printed at home that are either
a) stamped by the bank branch on every page
or
b) accompanied by a letter from the bank confirming their authenticity



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Welcome to the forum . And congratulations on your marriage .

Thank you very much!

For the financial requirements, you just need to have been in your current job for at least 6 months, earning at least £18,600 for all of that time.

If this is the case, then you apply under Category A and provide the most recent 6 months of payslips and bank statements, plus a letter from your employer confirming your employment details.

As above, you only need to show you have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 salary before tax for the last 6 months.

If you are salaried, they will take your lowest pre-tax monthly payslip from the last 6 months and multiply it by 12 to get the annual income that can be used towards the requirements. As long as this payslip is at least £1550 before tax, you will meet the requirement.

If you are non-salaried (paid by the hour), then they add up all your payslips from the last 6 months and work out an annual average (by dividing the total by 6 and multiplying by 12). This annual average must be at least £18,600 before tax.

Okay this makes sense - thank you for clarifying. My pretax pay has never changed, always been £1,859.16 per month. it was just the net pay that changed a little in the last few months. It was benefits such as gym, things like that. all spelt out in each payslip. by the base pay has not changed. I wasn't too sure if they looked at base pay or net pay so was very confused. thanks for clarifying.

What base pay is shown on your payslips, and what kind of work benefits are they?

It will depend on the payslip amounts before/after the deductions as to whether they need explaining and whether they will affect how you qualify for the visa.

You either need:

- original bank statements sent in the mail or printed in branch

okay so I had my statements sent to me via mail to my house - perfect!

Or

- online banking statements you have printed at home that are either
a) stamped by the bank branch on every page
or
b) accompanied by a letter from the bank confirming their authenticity


Just one more question (hopefully lol) - in regards to the payslips, I know that it is imperative that I send the full 6 months. what constitutes as a month? Is it counted per month (eg. June 28th - one month, July 28th - 2 months...) or is it June - July - one month, july - aug - 2months. I hope this question makes sense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay this makes sense - thank you for clarifying. My pretax pay has never changed, always been £1,859.16 per month. it was just the net pay that changed a little in the last few months. It was benefits such as gym, things like that. all spelt out in each payslip. by the base pay has not changed. I wasn't too sure if they looked at base pay or net pay so was very confused. thanks for clarifying.

No problem . It's the base pay they look at, before tax or any other deductions.

However, even if they did look at the benefits taken out, if it's only £165 each month, then you would still meet the £1550 per month requirement anyway, so it wouldn't matter.

okay so I had my statements sent to me via mail to my house - perfect!

Great, so they will be considered original and won't need to be stamped or anything .

Just one more question (hopefully lol) - in regards to the payslips, I know that it is imperative that I send the full 6 months. what constitutes as a month? Is it counted per month (eg. June 28th - one month, July 28th - 2 months...) or is it June - July - one month, july - aug - 2months. I hope this question makes sense.

It's counted by days... so, in terms of the full 6 months... you must be able to show 6 months to the day, and not a day less.

Your most recent payslip and bank statement (and the employer letter) must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the date you submit the online application, so you take the date printed on the most recent payslip and count back exactly 6 months from that date.

For example,

If your latest payslip is dated November 28th, then your 6 months will be:
May 28th
to
November 28th

So, you need to make sure that your first payslip covers the 28th May, and that your bank statements cover every single day from May 28th to November 28th.

This may mean including 7 months of each, to make sure you cover every single day of the 6 months (it's probably safest to include 7 months anyway, just to be sure)..

No problem . It's the base pay they look at, before tax or any other deductions.

However, even if they did look at the benefits taken out, if it's only £165 each month, then you would still meet the £1550 per month requirement anyway, so it wouldn't matter.

Great, so they will be considered original and won't need to be stamped or anything .

It's counted by days... so, in terms of the full 6 months... you must be able to show 6 months to the day, and not a day less.

Your most recent payslip and bank statement (and the employer letter) must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the date you submit the online application, so you take the date printed on the most recent payslip and count back exactly 6 months from that date.

For example,

If your latest payslip is dated November 28th, then your 6 months will be:
May 28th
to
November 28th

So, you need to make sure that your first payslip covers the 28th May, and that your bank statements cover every single day from May 28th to November 28th.

This may mean including 7 months of each, to make sure you cover every single day of the 6 months (it's probably safest to include 7 months anyway, just to be sure)..

Okay thank you for clarifying! You're a star!