What are our options? (UK/US relationship)

My fiancee (US citizen) and I (British citizen) are having a tough time as of now, as I'm sure thousands of other LDR couples are.

We've been together for two years and are engaged to each other. Our plan was to marry in the USA and live in the UK. My job, however, as of now pays just below the 18,600 GBP threshold required for a spousal visa. I'm part-time and want to go full-time, but I can't go full-time until six months from now, and then we can't apply for her visa until six months after that once I've accumulated enough payslips. I have thought about obtaining a second job, but again, I believe I need to hold both jobs for at least one year? I'm unsure on this.

We considered moving to another European country and living there - she's a teacher and can teach online, and I can find work - however, with the UK's predicted departure from the EU, the Surinder Singh route seems a risky move now.

Our situation, like with many, seems bleak at best. We recently saw in the news a small island just west of Donegal in the Republic of Ireland specifically looking for American and Australian citizens to move there. Believe it or not, we would go there if it meant being together. However, the island is very small and I don't believe this is a feasible option considering the lack of infrastructure there and the limited housing options. Anyway, none of the posts we have seen seem to include HOW to actually attempt this route.
- For those interested in researching this: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2019/06/14/irish-island-arranmore-asks-americans-consider-moving-there/1458949001/ [nofollow]
https://www.irishpost.com/news/irish-island-arranmore-looking-new-residents-united-states-167991 [nofollow]

We considered me going to the States but she too just earns underneath the $21k required for a CR-1 visa, plus she needs to submit 3 tax returns and she's been out the country last year, meaning this couldn't happen neither for a long while.

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My fiancee and I lived in China (she taught, and I visited) for 8 months together but ever since then, it's been almost impossible to spend longer than 3 weeks at a time together. We have considered going to a country where both of us would be accepted and just live there, but this is a huge stretch. We considered going to Europe and just travelling together while I worked and switching countries every 90 days (since she can stay 90 days at a time in each EU country as a US citizen).

We considered her trying to get an Irish work visa so we could regularly visit each other but due to the nature of her work, it's unlikely they'll sponsor anybody for this since pretty most every role can be filled from citizens of that country.

What do we do? We're at a loss and need help.

In addition, she visited me twice in the UK for 2-3 weeks at a time in the past, and on her third visit she was refused entry since she had no return flight (this was early November 2018) and was sent back on a plane. Since that, however, she has applied and successfully obtained a visitor's visa, to which she hasn't used. She received this in late May 2019.

July 16 - August 2 I am visiting her in the States and she is going to fly back to the UK with me and attempt access for a 3-week visit, although I am expecting moderate-light hassle on this front given her previous entry refusal, coupled with the fact she now has a visit visa.

Please help us, any advice whatsoever would be appreciated. Even other things we may not have considered.

My fiancee could teach in Russia and I could certainly live there since I speak quite a bit of Russian. Does anybody have any experience with Russian emigration?

Hi Klopp6euro, welcome to the forum. 

For her to sponsor you to the US, she is permitted to use a co-sponsor to make up the shortfall in her income so presuming she has a friend or family member who would be prepared to do this, her shortfall in income won't be a problem.

As a US citizen, she is taxed on her worldwide income so just because she wasn't resident last year, doesn't mean that she shouldn't/couldn't have filed a tax return. If you have more questions related to this, you can ask here. https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?board=11.0

It does take longer for the US process and looks like she'll need some time to bring herself into compliance so it might be just as quick to keep on with your original plan of moving to the UK.

Welcome to the forum .

My job, however, as of now pays just below the 18,600 GBP threshold required for a spousal visa. I'm part-time and want to go full-time, but I can't go full-time until six months from now, and then we can't apply for her visa until six months after that once I've accumulated enough payslips. I have thought about obtaining a second job, but again, I believe I need to hold both jobs for at least one year? I'm unsure on this.

Not quite, regarding the second job.

There are two ways of meeting the financial requirement if you are employed.

1. Category A:
- you must have been with the same employer(s) for at least 6 months, and earning a minimum of £18,600 (from all jobs combined) for that entire time, before you can qualify for the visa.

Which means that if you started a second job, say, today, you could apply for the visa 6 months from today (though it would likely take a little bit longer in order to make sure you had all the paperwork).

Example:
- You currently earn £18,000 and have been with your employer for 1 year
- you start a new job on June 18th 2019, earning £5,000 per year, giving a total annual income of £23,000
- you will qualify to apply for the visa under Category A once you have been been earning the combined £23,000, and have been with the new job, for at least 6 months...so you could apply from December 18th 2019 onwards.

2. Category B:
This category has two requirements:
1. You have a current job or jobs that combined pay at least £18,600 per year. You do not have to have been at those jobs for any particular length of time
AND
2. You have earned a total of £18,600 or more before tax in the last 12 months, from any and all jobs combined.

Example:
- your current job pays £18,000 per year and you have been there 1 year
- you get a second job on June 18th paying £7,200 per year (£600 per month)
- this gives you a total annual income of £25,200 so you meet requirement 1 right away
- it also means that by July 18th, you will have earned £18,600 in total in the last 12 months (£18,000 from job 1 and £600 from the new job), so you will meet requirement 2 on July 18th and will qualify for the visa from July 18th 2019 onwards.



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Thanks all for the replies.

I apologise but I'm a little lost regarding categories A and B. I was under the impression if I got a second job let's say in August this year, I'd have to hold that for one year before I could apply for a spousal visa.

I suppose this here: " you must have been with the same employer(s) for at least 6 months, and earning a minimum of £18,600 (from all jobs combined) for that entire time, before you can qualify for the visa." is basically all I need to know, right?

If I earn 1166 from one job, and let's say my second job earned 500 a month, and provided 6 months of payslips from both jobs, would they multiply the lowest income amount (it may fluctuate by 2GBP or so) from each job and multiply it by 12 to get an annual salary?

Also.. is the only difference between category A and category B the length of time you had to have been at your job? So category A you can have as many jobs as you like providing they total about 18,600 GBP annually AND you've had them for at least 6 months?
And category B you can have any amount of jobs for any amount of time (one day, perhaps) just so long as they will pay 18,600 GBP per year AND you have ALREADY earned 18,600 GBP in the last 12 months from any other jobs you may not have anymore?

Thanks all for the replies.

I apologise but I'm a little lost regarding categories A and B. I was under the impression if I got a second job let's say in August this year, I'd have to hold that for one year before I could apply for a spousal visa.

I suppose this here: " you must have been with the same employer(s) for at least 6 months, and earning a minimum of £18,600 (from all jobs combined) for that entire time, before you can qualify for the visa." is basically all I need to know, right?

That’s only for Category A, not Category B.

If you have been at both jobs for at least 6 months, you can use Category A.

If you have not been at both jobs for 6 months yet, or your monthly income is variable, but you HAVE earned at least £18,600 in total in the last 12 months, you can use Category B.

If I earn 1166 from one job, and let's say my second job earned 500 a month, and provided 6 months of payslips from both jobs, would they multiply the lowest income amount (it may fluctuate by 2GBP or so) from each job and multiply it by 12 to get an annual salary?

It would depend on whether both jobs were salaried or not.

- If a job is salaried, then they use the lowest payslip from the 6 months and multiply by 12 to get the total annual income.

- If a job is non-salaried, they add up all 6 months of payslips, divide by 6 and multiply by 12 to get an average annual salary.

So they would calculate the annual income for each job as per above (salaried or non-salaried and then add them together to get the total.

Also.. is the only difference between category A and category B the length of time you had to have been at your job? So category A you can have as many jobs as you like providing they total about 18,600 GBP annually AND you've had them for at least 6 months?
And category B you can have any amount of jobs for any amount of time (one day, perhaps) just so long as they will pay 18,600 GBP per year AND you have ALREADY earned 18,600 GBP in the last 12 months from any other jobs you may not have anymore?

Yes.

So, for example, you might have just started a new job that pays £20,000 per year, so that fulfils the first requirement of Cat B, but you may have also held 3 other jobs in the last 12 months (and maybe have even been unemployed for some of the time) and earned £30,000 during the year, so that would meet the second requirement of Cat B.

So, you just need to sit down, work out your 6-monthly or 12-monthly earnings and work out the earliest date you can meet either Category A or Category B.



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Ok great! I'm attempting to get a new job once I return from the States in early August so if I get one then, I'll apply 6 months from then in Februrary 2020.

Would this be possible to do, or do I continue to misunderstand how category A works?

We considered going to Europe and just travelling together while I worked and switching countries every 90 days (since she can stay 90 days at a time in each EU country as a US citizen).

Just a note about this idea, American citizens are only permitted to visit the Schengen Zone for 90 days within a 180 day period without securing a visa prior to arrival.  This applies to all the countries in the zone collectively and the 90 days does not reset when you cross an international border within the zone.

This website had all the relevant details: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/us-citizens/

Ok great! I'm attempting to get a new job once I return from the States in early August so if I get one then, I'll apply 6 months from then in Februrary 2020.

Would this be possible to do, or do I continue to misunderstand how category A works?

If you want to get a second job to meet the income requirement, then it is much better to use Category B. I am in the exact same situation with my partner at present as they have recently just started a new second job.

For Category B, you need to be have been making over £18,600 for the past 12 months. And this can be with the combined income from 2, 3 or more jobs. 

How much have you made in your present job for the past 12 months ?

If you have made for example, £18,000, then as soon as you make £600 in your new second job, you will meet the financial requirement. You will NOT need to wait 6 months. As long as you have made more than £18,600 or more for both jobs in the 12 months preceding your application, you will meet the requirement.

Let's say you get a second job in early August, and from the period September 1st 2018 to September 1st 2019 (for example) you made £18,000 from your first job. If you earn £600 or more in your second job by September 1st 2019, your partner would be able to apply as soon as September as you will have made £18,600 or more from both jobs in the 12 months preceding your application.

(ALSO . . . I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but if you and your partner have significant savings, and you have been in your first job for over 6 months, then you can use those savings to compensate if you are below the financial requirement of £18,600.

If you have made £9,000 in the past 6 months, this would equal an annual salary of £18,000. You will therefore be £600 short of the financial requirement. You would then need £16,000 in savings plus 2 and a half times the shortfall. So if you are short £600, you will need to multiply that by 2 and a half times to get £1,500. £16,000 + £1,500 = £17,500. Therefore, if you and your partner have combined savings of £17,500 or more, then you can use that to compensate for the shortfall in your salary to meet the requirement. But let's say you only made £8,500 in the past 6 months, that would be an annual salary of £17,000 and a £1,600 shortfall. That shortfall times 2 and half (£4,000) plus £16,000 would mean you would need £20,000 in savings to meet the requirement.

Additionally, these savings will need to have been held in your accounts for 6 months or more. These funds can also have been given to you as 'gifts'. So family or friends could give you this money, but it would have to have been in your accounts for 6 months or more before you could use it to compensate for the shortfall in your annual salary. You would also need to prove with original bank statements that the savings have been in your bank accounts for 6 months or more.)

This Home Office guidance provides everything in great detail. It was published August 2017, and I'm almost entirely sure it is still valid and up to date. It is very complex, but it is worth reading it fully (or at least the parts that specifically apply to your situation). You will have a perfect understanding of the rules if you can manage to figure it out. It took me a bit, but I got there myself eventually.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/783641/Appendix-FM-1-7-Financial-Requirement-ext_1_.pdf

It's also worth mentioning, that even though the financial requirements are very much a tick box exercise from the perspective from the Home Office i.e. as long as you have everything in order, and even if you are just over £18,600, you should get the visa. However, it's always better, if you can, to have sufficient leeway and for everything to be as straightforward as possible. It would always be preferable to have been in one job for 6 months and making £20,000 or more as opposed to working in 2 different jobs for the past 12 months and just scraping past £18,600. But of course, if you're in the latter situation and don't want to wait another year, than just go for it.

Make sure all your documents are in order. Have all your payslips and a letter of confirmation of employment from each employer. You will also need the corresponding original bank statements to show that all of your wages have been paid into your accounts.