1. We're aiming to apply around 20th March. For the financial requirement, we'll be using my payslips, which are usually dated at the end of the month - I'm assuming this means I'll need all payslips going back to September? And those would be accompanied by bank statements from October to March, which would cover the dates my pay was deposited in our bank account. Is that correct? Or am I missing something?
You usually need 7 months' worth of payslips and bank statements in order to make sure you cover every single day of the 6 months (calculated back from the date of the last payslip).
That means that if your latest payslip is dated 28th February, the 6-month period you must cover is
August 28th to February 28th.So, you must make sure that your first payslip explicitly covers back to 28th August... if your August payslip is dated 31st August, you will also need the July payslip in order to cover 28th, 29th and 30th August.
The bank statements must also cover the same period, so if you are including back to the July payslip, you also need the July bank statement as well.
2. For the proof of living together docs: should these cover 2.5 years back from the date of application, or just the period since her last leave to remain was granted (Nov 2020)?
It's easier to cover the full 2.5 years, even if this starts before her last FLR(M) was granted. You'll want 1 document in each name dated every 5 months.
3. Turning to the application itself, do you know how far back we have to provide details for when my wife has travelled out of the country? Is it 5 years or just the period since her last leave to remain was granted?
I can't remember if it's the full 5 years or just the last 2.5 years, but the application should tell you what period of time you need to cover.
4. Do we still need to provide recent photographs of ourselves and our children with the application?
No, passport photos have not been required for a few years now (they use the biometrics photo instead). And photos of you together showing the relationship are only required for the initial application made outside the UK.
5. If asked how long I have been living in the UK, what counts? I've lived on and off my whole life, but spent a number of years in the US before we moved here in 2018. Should we put I've been living here since 2018 in that case? And should the date of that be when my wife came over to pick up her BRP (April 2018) or when we actually started living here properly (June 2018)? Does it matter?!
I would total up the entire length of time you have lived in the UK in your whole life. If it asks for a date of when you started living here, if you were born and raised in the UK, you would put your date of birth.
To add to the below, if we were to go down the route of using my wife's self-employment for the proof of finances, what would be required to provide?
Over the past few years she has worked as a contractor for a US-based organisation, though she works from the UK. She gets paid/wired a fixed amount each month to our joint bank account. She doesn't get payslips, although each month the bank sends us a notification letter saying what money has been paid in by her 'employer'. She has the contract she signed when starting work for the organisation, but nothing else as proof of employment.
I assume we need the bank statements showing her payments coming into our bank account and her contract, but what else would we need to show in this case?
Self-employment income is a tricky category and requires many very specific documents, which must meet the formatting requirements exactly. If even one document is slightly incorrect, the visa can be refused... and it's very easy to make a mistake.
Because of this, we only recommend using self-employment income as a very last resort, if you have absolutely no other way to meet the financial requirement.
If you can use YOUR employment income, that would make things much, much easier.
Documents required if using your employment income (Category A):- 7 months payslips
- 7 months bank statements
- employer letter
- contract and P60 (optional)
Documents required if using her self-employment income (Category F or G):Only the last full financial year (or last 2 full financial years) can be used, so this would be April 2021 to April 2022 (assuming she uses the standard tax year)- evidence of the amount of tax payable, paid and unpaid for the last full financial year
- the following documents for the last full financial year, or for the last 2 such years (where those documents show the necessary level of gross profit as an average of those 2 years):
o annual self-assessment tax return to HMRC (a copy or print-out); (ii) Statement of Account (SA300 or SA302).
o proof of registration with HMRC as self-employed if available.
o each partner's Unique Tax Reference Number (UTR) and/or the UTR of the partnership or business.
o where the person holds or held a separate business bank account(s), bank statements for the same 12-month period as the tax return(s).
o personal bank statements for the same 12-month period as the tax return(s) showing that the income from self-employment has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.
- Evidence of ongoing self-employment through the provision of at least one of the following: a bank statement dated no more than 3 months earlier than the date of application showing transactions relating to ongoing trading, or evidence dated no more than 3 months earlier than the date of application of the renewal of a licence to trade or of ongoing payment of business rates, business-related insurance premiums, employer National Insurance contributions or franchise payments to the parent company.
- One of the following documents must also be submitted:
• if the business is required to produce annual audited accounts, such accounts for the last full financial year
• if the business is not required to produce annual audited accounts, unaudited accounts for the last full financial year and an accountant’s certificate of confirmation, from an accountant who is a member of a UK Recognised Supervisory Body (as defined in the Companies Act 2006) or who is a member of the Institute of Financial Accountants
• a certificate of VAT registration and the VAT return for the last full financial year (a copy or print-out) confirming the VAT registration number, if turnover is in excess of £79,000 or was in excess of the threshold which applied during the last full financial year
• evidence to show appropriate planning permission or local planning authority consent is held to operate the type/class of business at the trading address (where this is a local authority requirement)
• a franchise agreement signed by both parties
• the document referred to in paragraph 7(h)(iv) must be provided if the organisation is a franchise
