Question on PIP, investments and spousal visa

I'm a US citizen wanting to move to the UK to be with my now fiance. We think about getting married in the USA while he visits me here this year hopefully (I visited them last year for a few weeks, truly an ordeal with COVID but it was great). My dude has PIP benefits and accommodation is his parents home currently. We are planning to have our own accommodation, which with my own investments too, would theoretically allow us this. I haven't yet sold them off fully and there's that 6 month thing too. The plan is I pull out a percentage of my investments incrementally, so the money will theoretically come at various parts of (a) year (or multiple years). Do my potential investments interfere with his benefits and the spousal visa process or is that irrelevant as he will be the sponsor? 

a few questions
as a foreigner can I rent a property right now without visa? or is it better to have a short term rental (like airbnb). or does this accommodation have to be tied to his name too as he is sponsor, for the spousal visa?
Essentially our plan is when I get there, we'd stay in his parents house while looking for places to live, immediately.

The process is after he visits me in the US and we marry in the US, he can file for a spousal visa after he is back in the UK? alternatively, I thought we could get married online through Utah County, now be married officially in USA, and he could submit for spousal visa, then when it's approved, he can visit me in the USA and I can go back with him?

Well, thanks for all the help and appreciate reading my post and providing your time in helping me out. This is still early planning stages so I am learning more every day. ⭐

Welcome to the forum

We are planning to have our own accommodation, which with my own investments too, would theoretically allow us this. I haven't yet sold them off fully and there's that 6 month thing too. The plan is I pull out a percentage of my investments incrementally, so the money will theoretically come at various parts of (a) year (or multiple years). Do my potential investments interfere with his benefits and the spousal visa process or is that irrelevant as he will be the sponsor?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean here... what will you be using the investment money for?

Will you be using it to meet the financial evidence (adequate maintenance) for the visa, or are you planning to just use the money to live off after you get the visa?

a few questions
as a foreigner can I rent a property right now without visa? or is it better to have a short term rental (like airbnb). or does this accommodation have to be tied to his name too as he is sponsor, for the spousal visa?
Essentially our plan is when I get there, we'd stay in his parents house while looking for places to live, immediately.

It is illegal for a landlord to rent to you in the UK without a visa (the landlord could be fined and/or serve jail time), so your options are:

1) your fiance signs a lease on a property in his name only, and then you also get a letter from the landlord confirming that you have permission to live there too once you have your visa

2) you live with his parents at first, and provide their Land Registry document, mortgage statement and a letter confirming you both can live with them and that the home will not be overcrowded

The process is after he visits me in the US and we marry in the US, he can file for a spousal visa after he is back in the UK? alternatively, I thought we could get married online through Utah County, now be married officially in USA, and he could submit for spousal visa, then when it's approved, he can visit me in the USA and I can go back with him?

Actually, you are the one who applies for the spousal visa from the US. While your fiance will be your sponsor, YOU are the one who applies for the visa yourself.

So, it would be:
- he visits you in the US
- you get married
- he flies back to the UK
- you apply for the visa in the US
- when it has been granted, you fly to the UK
or
- you get married online (assuming that's possible... I don't think we've seen anyone on the forum do an online wedding as of yet)
- you apply for the visa from the US
- you fly to the UK when you have the visa
or
- he flies to you in the US and then you fly back together

The important thing is that on your first entry to the UK when you have the visa, your spouse MUST either:
- already be inside the UK
or
- be entering the UK at the same time as you

Hello, ksand24, thanks for the reply and the welcome!

Regarding investment, yes, some of that money would be used to live on after moving there. I think I understand since he is on PIP he would not need to meet the income requirements therefore, the potential investments on my side wouldn't factor in but I would like to know if this is wrong or not.

I certainly misunderstood the bit about who files application. Thanks for that correction!

Do my potential investments interfere with his benefits and the spousal visa process or is that irrelevant as he will be the sponsor? 

A number of UK benefits are means tested, but the good news is that PIP is not, so your savings will not affect his claim.

You can get PIP if you’re working or have savings.

https://www.gov.uk/pip/eligibility

Hello, ksand24, thanks for the reply and the welcome!

Regarding investment, yes, some of that money would be used to live on after moving there. I think I understand since he is on PIP he would not need to meet the income requirements therefore, the potential investments on my side wouldn't factor in but I would like to know if this is wrong or not.

I certainly misunderstood the bit about who files application. Thanks for that correction!

While his PIP means he is exempt from meeting the £18,600 income requirement, he still has to show that he has ‘Adequate Maintenance’ to support you for the visa.

Adequate Maintenance means that after paying rent and council tax, he must still have at least £117.40 left over each week. If there are any children living in the same household, he must also show an amount for each child on top of that.

£117.40 is the amount that a UK couple would receive each week in income support from the government… so you have to show you have at least this amount left each week.

To meet Adequate Maintenance, you can use:
- his PIP income
- any other income he receives (employment or non-employment)
- any savings you have between you

And he/you will need to provide:
- evidence of his PIP eligibility
- at least one bank statement showing PIP payments
- 6 months of his bank statements showing any other income he receives
- evidence of that other income, such as payslips, letter from employer, paperwork for non-employment income
- 6 months of bank statements showing savings amounts, if applicable

See here for how to meet the Adequate Maintenance requirement:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1039150/Appendix_FM_Section_1.7A_Adequate_maintenance_and_accommodation.pdf


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Thanks for the replies. I understand now.
I was looking at the visa application to prepare myself and I'm a little unsure on the parents, specifically my mother's nationality. Does dual citizenship impact this? Firstly, my late mother was born in Kiev, USSR. Later from dissolution of the USSR, became a Russian citizen and then moved to the United States some time after. She became a US citizen a few years later.  At the time of her passing, she carried dual citizenship of Russia and USA. Regardless of becoming a citizen of the US, her country nationality would still be Russian? Can I put down both US and Russia? There's also the "Have they always had the same nationality?" asking me what their nationality was when I was born (it was only Russia during my birth) so I don't think that question applies.
Thanks

A number of UK benefits are means tested, but the good news is that PIP is not, so your savings will not affect his claim.

https://www.gov.uk/pip/eligibility

Yes, PIP is an in-work welfare benefit, therefore your savings and earnings will not affect that claim.

 If he is also claiming ESA. or the replacement welfare benefit called Universal Credit, your savings will likely end those claims. For Universal Credit, he would have to add his partner and over 16k ends a Universal Credit claim.
https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-couples-an-introduction/universal-credit-further-information-for-couples