First flr questions

Long time no see!
As we’re about to apply for our FLR(M) application I do have a few questions.

How does it work if the application is refused? Will my wife have to go back to America and try again from there? Or is there a “leeway” period to reapply before it’s considered overstaying?

Also I’m freelance, so while I make the financial side 100%, I sometimes have months where I make nothing and don’t have pay slips for nothing haha, with Home office care if I gave them an application with missing months that still made the requirements (while explaining that I didn’t work those months in the cover letter?)

Thanks xx

The short answer is yes.  Home Office will care.  Since you are freelance, your wife's application will not be under Category A/B for salaried employment, but under category F/G for self-employed.  This category requires a lot of very particular paperwork and accounting to document your income.  Have a look at the specific evidence to see what you need to submit:PDF of appendix fm 1.7 financial requirement

Is your wife employed, and does she meet the income threshold?  Were you freelance when she first came over?

Yes I was freelance when she came over, legally I am not allowed to claim self employed when working in media- something every employer has told me.

Visa wise the variable income example c is exactly my situation, I work in media and do short term contract jobs, so just like in the example I have months of 0£, but it doesn’t go into how they show the 0£ without a slip.

We used cat B last time with our acceptance, so with this in mind what can I do about the non payslip? Regardless I’ll make the financial.

Touching base on if she gets denied,  could we apply again right away? Does she have to leave? How does that all work? I tried to find information on this but couldn’t.

Also this is our first flr(m) after fiancé so she is not allowed to work.

We used cat B last time with our acceptance, so with this in mind what can I do about the non payslip? Regardless I’ll make the financial.

If you are applying under Cat B, then there is no requirement to have a payslip for every month of the year, because the whole point of Cat B is that your income is variable and you may not have been working continuously for the entire 12 months.

So, you provide all the payslips you have from the 12 months (however many months that covers) and a full 12 months of bank statements as well.

For Category B, what you need to show is:
- current income equating to at least £18,600 annually
and
- a total of £18,600 or more earned before tax in the last 12 months from any and all jobs. This income does not have to be regular or earned every month.

A Category B case study example from Appendix FM 1.7 looks like it shows a similar situation to you:

Example (c)
The applicant’s partner lives in the UK and is a fashion photographer who does short-term contract work for several agencies. He has periods without work and the amount he is paid varies from job to job. Over the last 12 months he has earned a total of £20,000. In the most recent 6 months his gross earnings are as follows: £3500, £0, £0, £2300, £3400, £500. The application is made on the basis of meeting the financial requirement under Category B nonsalaried employment.

Under part (1) of Category B, the applicant’s partner’s current annual employment income
= (gross earnings over the last 6 months, divided by 6) multiplied by 12
= ((3500+0+0+2300+3400+500) ÷ 6) x 12
= (9,700 ÷ 6) x 12
= £19,400

Under part (2) of Category B, the applicant’s partner’s actual employment income over last 12 months
= £20,000
So both part (1) and part (2) of Category B are met.

Touching base on if she gets denied,  could we apply again right away? Does she have to leave? How does that all work? I tried to find information on this but couldn’t.

It depends on the reason for refusal, and whether you can correct that reason in order to reapply.

If the visa is refused, the first thing they will look at is whether you qualify under Article 8: Right to Family Life in the UK. This means being put on the 10-year path to ILR instead of the 5-year path. However, it is usually only granted if the applicant has a British citizen child living in the UK.

If you can't qualify under Article 8, then you will be sent a refusal letter,  which should give her 14 days to either:
- appeal the decision (if you have the right to appeal)
- reapply for the visa
- leave the UK

So, it will then depend on your personal circumstances and reason for refusal as to what you decide to do. Appeals can take up to a year and are often unsuccessful unless UKVI made a mistake in refusing the visa (i.e. overlooked something), so your best bet would either be to reapply or if you can't, she would need to return to the US until she can qualify to apply for a spousal visa.

I'm going to admit my confusion now, because I've never paid enough attention to the examples to see that one for Cat B.  But now I don't understand how freelance differs from self-employed, particularly in HO's fashion photographer example in which the sponsor works with several different agencies.  Who provides the employer letter?  How are taxes calculated/paid?  How does it not fall under Cat F/G?

I guess the easiest way is self employed is you work for yourself, but I have short contracts with employers So I work for them for a period of time. I just have my employers write that I’m in a short term employment contracts for the employer letter.

Most people in media are paid under the PAYE system for your question about taxes.

So regarding what ksand said, if it’s denied we can reapply right away but would that count as over staying if it is outside of her visa period? That’s my biggest concern right now is that if we reapply the day we get the rejection that she will be penalized as an over stayer while awaiting the second decision.

I guess the easiest way is self employed is you work for yourself, but I have short contracts with employers So I work for them for a period of time. I just have my employers write that I’m in a short term employment contracts for the employer letter.

Most people in media are paid under the PAYE system for your question about taxes.

To confirm: you pay all your taxes by PAYE and are not registered as self-employed?

If that's the case, then you should be fine under Cat B. If you were registered as self-employed and you filed your own taxes then I assume you would have to apply as self-employed under Cat F or G.

So regarding what ksand said, if it’s denied we can reapply right away but would that count as over staying if it is outside of her visa period? That’s my biggest concern right now is that if we reapply the day we get the rejection that she will be penalized as an over stayer while awaiting the second decision.

There are two possible scenarios:

- if her current visa has already expired when the visa is refused, then she must reapply within the allowed 14-day deadline so as not to become an overstayer. As long as she applies within those 14 days, she will continue to remain in the UK legally while the new application is processing.

- if her current visa is still valid when the refusal is received, then I believe she will have until the expiry date of the visa to reapply without becoming an overstayer.

However, she will become an overstayer if she has not either reapplied or left the UK before either the end of the 14-day deadline or the expiry date of her visa (whichever applies in her situation).

Yes I’m paid under PAYE and not registered as self employed.

And her visa will most likely be expired, but I’m super relieved to hear that we will be able to reapply without her going home to do so. Thank you so much!

Yes I’m paid under PAYE and not registered as self employed.

Okay, that's good .

And her visa will most likely be expired, but I’m super relieved to hear that we will be able to reapply without her going home to do so. Thank you so much!

To be honest, if you meet the requirements and send all the required documents, it's very unlikely the visa will be refused. Applications from US applicants generally have between about a 93% and 98% approval rate.

I've been on this forum for 12.5 years and in all that time, I think I have seen only a handful of FLR(M) refusals. I don't recall anyone in particular having to return to the US (unless they chose to do so instead of reapplying).