Welcome to the forum 
In regards to your visa options, there’s actually no such thing as a ‘Family Visa’… because there are a number of different types of Family Visas, also known as ‘Settlement Visas’, which cater for various different family members and situations (fiancés, spouses, civil partners, children, adult dependants, elderly dependants etc), so you apply for whichever type of Family/Settlement visa that applies to your relationship.
In your case, the Settlement Visa options are:
-
Marriage visa (also informally nicknamed the fiancé visa)… which is a 6-month visa that allows you to come to the UK to get married to a UK citizen and then switch to a 30-month FLR(M) (spousal) visa to stay in the UK after the wedding. The fiancé visa does NOT allow you to work, study or use the NHS for ‘free’, but the FLR(M) does.
-
Spousal visa… a 33-month visa for people who are already married to a UK citizen to move to the UK to live with their spouse. This visa DOES allow you to work, study and use the NHS for ‘free’ (by way of paying an NHS surcharge of £624 per year, paid in full when you apply for the visa).
Initial Visa costs:
Fiancé visa = £1523 followed by FLR(M) = £1033 plus £1560 NHS surcharge
OR
Spousal visa = £1523 plus £1872 NHS surcharge.
Normally, it ends up being cheaper and easier for you to get married in the US (or a third country) first and then apply for a spousal visa, so you can work/study/use the NHS right away, and therefore bypass the need for a fiancé visa (she does not need a visa to marry in the US as long as she will return to the U.K. afterwards, but you do need a visa to marry in the U.K).… but with Covid restricting travel over the last 1.5 years, that hasn’t really been an option for most people recently.
You really just need to work out which visa (marriage or spousal) works out best for your personal situation.
- How do we calculate this minimum financial requirement? I understand if we don't meet the £18,600 number for her income, savings that we both possess can come into play. I've read some advice about £16,000 plus £2.50 for every £1 your income is below the financial requirement? Would the formula here then be 16,000 + (18,600 - my partner's income) * 2.5 to retrieve that minimum financial requirement?
- My girlfriend receives an "income" of £19,885 per year as part of her studentship/Ph.D. program. I understand that £18,600 is the magic number regarding income but would this amount count as income in our situation? £4,600 are counted as fees that go to the University and she truly only sees £15,285.
All of this is pretty much correct.
There are various different financial categories that you can apply under in order to meet the requirement. As you do not have the right to work in the UK yet, your US income cannot count for the first visa, so your options are:
Category A/B - Employment income:
- your girlfriend earns at least £18,600 per year (before tax) in employment income
Category C - Non-Employment income
- your girlfriend receives a PhD stipend of at least £15,800 per year (the equivalent of £18,600 after tax, since PhD stipends are tax-free) which she will continue to receive for at least 12 months after you apply for the visa
Category D - Cash Savings:
- between you, you have at least £62,500 (£16,000 + (2.5 x £18,600)) held in cash savings in bank account(s) in your name(s) which you have held in full for at least 6 months
If you can meet the requirements using just one Category, then you only provide evidence for that Category.
So if you are using Category D Cash Savings, you just provide 6 months of bank statements showing you have those savings
If you are using Category C - her PhD stipend - you just provide evidence of her stipend income and no cash savings evidence.
You can combine categories in certain circumstances, if you cannot meet the requirements using just one.
- I've been told that the UK Government examines the last 6 months of your finances from the provided financial evidence and that they take the lowest balance from a particular account within that period. Is this true? For example, assuming I had the same amount of money in a checking account for the past 6 months, I lent out some money to a friend which they pay back the following month. Would the lowered amount be the determiner rather than the usual balance?
That’s correct - for Category D, the lowest single day balance in your bank account in the last 6 months is the only figure they will look at.
Basically, if you are using only your savings to meet the requirement, you must have held at least £62,500 in your account on every single day for the entire 6 months before applying. If the total drops below £62,500 for even 1 day, you will not meet the visa requirements.
If you both have savings in separate accounts, or one of you has money in different accounts, and you need to combine the accounts to make £62,500, only the lowest balance in each account on any day during the 6 months will count.
- The Family Visa says I cannot work before I am married while in the UK. Does this mean I can take a leave from my job or that I cannot have one at all during that time?
You cannot carry out any work at all on a fiancé visa, not even remote work for a US company, or even unpaid volunteer work. Any activity that could be considered ‘work’ is illegal if you are on a fiancé visa.
That only applies to a fiancé visa though, not a spousal visa.
- I understand that we have to prove that we are in a relationship but is there a place or resource to find out what are all the accepted forms of evidence? I have numerous flight ticket receipts, my passport has stamps various times to the UK and each time I gave my reason to enter the country is to see my girlfriend when asked at the border, we chat every day for hours on Discord including video calls, we have numerous pictures on social media together from our trips, etc.
You need to show evidence of regular communication throughout the entire relationship:
- no more than 2 photos of you together, to prove you have met in person at least one time
- boarding passes from visits to see each other
- any letters/cards you may have sent to each other
- screenshots of a selection of call/message/email logs showing you talk to each other regularly
(I.e. if you have been together 8 years, you might send screenshots of 1 email every 2-3 months, 1 message every 2-3 months, 1 call every 2-3 months, etc.)
No actual email or message content should be included, just a list of names/dates/times covering all 8 years, all pasted onto no more than 2-3 sheets of paper for each communication type.
- Is there anything else we should be worrying about? We are also in that situation where we don't really know the right questions to ask
.
You also need to provide:
A letter of support from your girlfriend
A copy of your girlfriend’s passport
All current passports you hold (including from other nationalities)
All your previous passports
Any divorce decrees if either of you have been married before
Evidence of suitable accommodation to live in together in the U.K., for example:
If she rents:
- her tenancy agreement
- letter from her landlord giving you permission to live there when you get your visa
If she owns:
- her Land Registry document
- her latest mortgage statement
If you will live with family or friends:
- their Land Registry document
- their latest mortgage statement
- letter from the homeowner giving you permission to live there when you get your visa and stating the house will not be overcrowded
If applying for a fiancé visa, evidence of plans to marry in the U.K. within 6 months:
- email communication from the church or registry office enquiring about possible ceremony dates
You can also include:
- provisional bookings
- photos of the rings/dress etc.
(Don’t book anything official until you have the visa though)
Hope this helps, and feel free to add any more questions you have in this thread. It’s easier for us to help (and remember your situation) if we keep all the posts about your application in the same thread, so all the info and advice is on one page:
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