My wife has application coming up having switched from a student visa in 2021. The expiry date on her BRP is 29th March, which means we can essentially apply any time in March, correct?
Yes.
Financial Requirements
We have three options here:
1 - I started a new job on 1st September 2023 and will have worked there for just over six months when we do our application in March. I earn over the threshold. I can obtain the six payslips I will have received with the relevant letters and bank statements. Will this be sufficient for Category A? I see most people apply with seven payslips and bank statements to cover the relevant period?
2 - Alternatively, I can use the above information to apply under Category B as the amount I have made in the six months will be (just) over the threshold needed over the 12 months. I was not in any meaningful employment before September (training to be a teacher) so there would be no other evidence to submit besides the payslips, bank statements, and letters above.
3 - My wife switched jobs in November. She is currently earning over the threshold and was also doing so in her previous job. We can evidence that she earned over the threshold over the previous 12 months. If we go down this route, exactly which payslips, letters, and bank statements are needed? 12 months or 13?
In regards to the number of payslips you need, the payslips you provide must cover the entire 6-month period, starting from the issue date of the first payslip. Most people provide 7 months of payslips in order to make sure they cover every single day of the 6 months... usually only 6 months of payslips don't end up covering every day of the period, so a 7th month is needed to meet the requirement
For example, if you started your job on September 1st and first payslip is dated September 30th, the 6 months you need to cover for the financial requirement will be September 30th to March 31st... so you will need the following payslips:
Sept 30th
Oct 31st
Nov 30th
Dec 31st
Jan 31st
Feb 29th
Mar 31st
However, your wife's BRP card will expire before the 31st March payslip is issued... which means you likely won't be able to meet the requirements under Category A, as you will only be able to show 5 months' worth of payslips (Sep 30th to Feb 29th).
Therefore, your best bet would be to use Category B and provide 13 months of evidence showing you have earned at least £18,600 in that time.
As you have only been working since September 1st, you would need to provide:
- any and all payslips you have received in the last 13 months, showing £18,600 or more earned in total
- 13 full months of bank statements (they still need to cover the full 12 months even if you have only worked for part of that time
- letter from your employer confirming your employment details and earnings
- job contract (and P60 if you have one, but if you weren't working before September, you may not have one for last year)
Alternatively, as suggested, you could use your wife's income instead, under Category B, and she would provide the same evidence as I just listed above, but including all 13 months of her payslips.
So, you will need to apply under Category B regardless, but it's up to you whether you use your income or your wife's income (whichever one is easiest to get all the documents for).
Housing
We purchased a flat in July 2023 with a mortgage. I understand we need to submit a mortgage statement but we haven’t received one as I believe they are annual statements. Can/Should we go into a branch and request an ad hoc one?
You should have received a mortgage agreement/initial statement when you first took out the mortgage... that is what you provide (you just need to provide the most recent annual statement that has been issued).
For the land registry document, does this need to be dated within 28 days of application or will the copy we got after the deeds changed hands suffice?
The one you received last year when you bought the house will be fine.
Cohabitation Docs
I’m thinking of doing:
Feb24
Oct23
Jun23
Feb23
Oct22
Jun23
Feb22
We have joint energy bills and joint bank statements for each month, along with some ad hoc bills and individually addressed letters to bring us up to three sources.
Does this all look good?
Those dates will be fine... if you can list all the actual documents you are planning to include, along with the dates they were issued, we can check to make sure they meet the requirements.
