Spousal Visa, Income Required.

Hello All,

My Wife (living in America) will be applying for her Spousal Visa in June to come over to UK, looking at the forms it says her sponser (me) needs to be earning over £18,000 a year salary which at the moment is no issue at all. 

However I may have the opportunity of taking a very good redundancy package soon, which of course would mean I could be unemployed for a period of time, as I will be switching to go contracting and sometimes you have to wait a few months for jobs to come up.

As mentioned the redundancy package is excellent and I also have decent savings but I would not have a yearly income for when my partner puts in for her visa. 

Is any one aware if savings can be used as evidence.

If this is likely to cause us a issue I will keep my head down and not take the redundancy (unless its forced on me!) :-)

Thanks in advance

If you have £62,500 in savings in either your name, your wife's name, or jointly, and it is readily accessible, you can use that to meet the requirement. It must have been in your account for at least six months. In this case, you would not need to show any salary.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/469692/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_August_2015.pdf

As mentioned the redundancy package is excellent and I also have decent savings but I would not have a yearly income for when my partner puts in for her visa. 

Is any one aware if savings can be used as evidence.

Savings can be used for evidence, but if you have no employment income, then your savings must be at least £62,500, held in full in your bank account for at least 6 months before the visa can be applied for.

If you don't have the savings, then you will need the annual income in order for her to be able to qualify for the visa.

The different ways to qualify for the financial requirement are:

Category A:  Salaried/Non-Salaried Employment, with current employer for more than 6 months
- you have been with your current company, and are still employed by them, earning at least £18,600, for at least 6 months

Category B: Salaried/Non-Salaried Employment, with current employer less than 6 months
- You currently have a job paying at least £18,600 per year, but you haven't held it for 6 months yet
AND
- you have earned at least £18,600 in the previous 12 months before applying

Category C: Non-Employment Income
- Between you, you have non-employment income of at least £18,600 per year... for example, rental income from property you own, interest from stocks and shares, child maintenance from a previous partner, academic stipend, etc.

Category D: Cash Savings
- Between you, you have at least £62,500 in cash savings, held in your bank account(s) for a minimum of 6 months before applying (the account balance cannot drop below £62,500 at any point during the 6 months)
- If the savings are proceeds from the sale of property, then you just have to have owned the property for at least 6 months before the sale (the money doesn't have to be in the account for 6 months)

Category E: Pension Income
- Between you, you have an annual pension income of at least £18,600, which has been paid out to you for a minimum of 28 days before applying

Category F and G: Self-Employment Income
Cat F:
- You are self-employed and has earned at least £18,600 after expenses but before tax in the last financial year (April 2015 to April 2016)

Cat G:
- you are self-employed and have earned an average of £18,600 after expenses but before tax over the last 2 financial years (April 2014 to April 2016)

If this is likely to cause us a issue I will keep my head down and not take the redundancy (unless its forced on me!) :-)

Honestly, unless you can meet the requirement through Category C or D, I would advise not taking the redundancy, at least not until she has the visa.

If you think the redundancy package is inevitable, there is any way she can apply for the visa earlier than June, before you have to take it?

Hi ksand,

Can you (or anyone) clarify this?:

The 18,600 in Category B refers to the minimum salary for the new job, correct?

So it's: get a job that pays at least 18,600 per year, and have made at least the equivalent of that same amount over the previous 12 months. Is that right?

Thanks.

 

The 18,600 in Category B refers to the minimum salary for the new job, correct?

Yes, current job paying £18,600 or more AND £18,600 or more (or equivalent in local currency) earned in the last 12 months.

So it's: get a job that pays at least 18,600 per year, and have made at least the equivalent of that same amount over the previous 12 months. Is that right?

Yep .

So I've got it right - phew. Many thanks.

Thanks for the replies guys, it helped alot and elevated any worries :-)