Welcome back
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I'm a NHS-employed nurse and my salary each month can vary dependent on whether I work weekdays, weekends or night shifts. In all cases I am over the minimum financial requirement, both from an annual and monthly payslip perspective. On the online application it asks "what do they earn?" with the 4 following options:
(1) The same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount
(2) The same amount continuously, below the financial requirement amount
(3) Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount
(4) Not the same amount continuously, below the financial requirement amount
Should I select (1) or (3)? The reason I ask is that I recall (from the initial spouse visa) that by stating a variable monthly income, you were subject to provide 12 months worth of payslips and bank statements as opposed to the typical 6 months. Best to double check these things
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This question is asked to determine whether you meet Category A (6 months with current employer, earning at least £18,600 the whole time) or Category B (less than 6 months with current employer and/or earning less than £18,600 for some of the 6 months).
Options 1 and 3 are Category A, options 2 and 4 are Category B:
1) your pay has been the same each month and you have been earning £18,600 or more for the whole 6 months (Category A - 6 months of payslips/bank statements)
2) your pay has been the same each month, but it was below £18,600 for all or part of the last 6 months (Category B - 12 months of payslips/bank statements)
3) your pay has varied each month, but it has been above £18,600 for the whole time (Category A - 6 months of payslips/bank statements) -
this one applies to you4) your pay has varied each month, but it was below £18,600 for all or part of the last 6 months (Category B - 12 months of payslips/bank statements)
On another note, if I'm planning to send my application away this month, my most recent payslip will be that from the end of February. My corresponding original bank statement via post should arrive in 2 weeks. If I had itchy feet and wanted to submit before that, is a partial statement downloaded from the bank's website acceptable? Or must this be certified/stamped?
A partial statement is fine and is what most people use - it just needs to cover the deposit of the latest payslip.
You have a couple of options, but either way you will need to go into your local bank branch to get it sorted:
1) go into the bank and ask them to print a partial statement for you - this will be considered official
or
2) download a partial statement from the bank website and then go into the bank and ask them to stamp it on EVERY page, or write a letter confirming its authenticity
Finally, I was hoping to avoid paying the IHS surcharge as a healthcare worker, but the GOV guidance appears to state that healthcare workers that are not specifically on a Tier 2 visa will have to pay the IHS surcharge and subsequently apply for refunds in 6-month intervals. I knew the 6-month interval refunds were applicable to those already on visas and had already paid the IHS surcharge when the policy change was implemented, but I was hopeful that new visa applications could avoid the up-front cost altogether. Can anyone confirm please? - https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/who-needs-pay
Yes, you will need to pay it upfront and then claim it back every 6 months (
https://www.gov.uk/apply-immigration-health-surcharge-refund/healthcare-setting).
I assume this is because your healthcare job is not tied to your visa, and so if you stop working in healthcare and still live in the UK, you will have to start paying the IHS again.
By making you pay it upfront, they will already have your money in case you leave your healthcare job, and so you will need to prove you are still working in healthcare every 6 months in order to continue to qualify for the exemption.
