Finances for Spouse Visa

My husband and I are about to apply for a spousal visa but we have a few concerns about the application and we'd really appreciate any opinions you can offer.

The basics of the situation are that I'm a 21 year-old American and he's 24 and British. We've known each other over a year and a half and have been married just over one year.

Our only concern is the financial section. My husband's working as a freelance artist and we're currently living with his parents. The bank statements for February, March, and the first week of April are all about £100 in overdraft, though it is an agreed one with the bank. His parents are charging £150 rent while he's living there alone, and £300 for both of us. In February his freelance earned £350, March £400, April £1100, and he's just gotten a contract job that will pay £1500 per month (first payment end of April or early May) as well as smaller monthly jobs he'll continue to do (around £200 a month) as well.

He worked at a company up until February so we have pay slips proving he can get quite a good job at a company if he wishes. I also have a bachelor's degree but no specific job qualifications. We know that overdrafts and low incomes are seriously looked down upon, but we don't know what to think about our situation. We would explain that since he only left his job in February, we were expecting the freelance to take a few months to get started and had planned to use the overdraft as part of that. Our expenses are only about £400 a month plus the £96 a week, which would easily be covered from April onwards because of the contract job. But would the fact of the overdraft and low income for February and March count too much against us?

As far as we can tell the rest of our application is perfect. We've lived together over a year, have close friends and family writing support statements, and have plenty of chats and photos backing us up. I've also researched it quite a bit and know everything to include and will make sure it's organized.

We'd originally planned to apply in early May, and I already have a plane ticket back to the UK booked for the end of May. I've been in the US for a couple of months so we both really hope we can stick to our original plan and apply in May and have the visa granted so we can be together again. But if there's a significant chance it'll be denied because of this situation, we would wait an extra two months to apply so we'd just have the week-long overdraft in the beginning of April, but consistently have over £1500 for April, May, and June, then apply for the visa in July.

My main questions are: Do we have any chance of receiving the visa in May or should we definitely apply in July? If we apply in May and it's denied, can we just apply again in July (after we pay the £515 a second time). Would we have to appeal instead of just applying again, or would our second application be harder because of a failed first one?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any comments would be very much appreciated.

My main questions are: Do we have any chance of receiving the visa in May or should we definitely apply in July? If we apply in May and it's denied, can we just apply again in July (after we pay the £515 a second time). Would we have to appeal instead of just applying again, or would our second application be harder because of a failed first one?

First question, no matter when you apply, if money is tight, you should draw up a budget.  At the end of the day, if your budget shows, after fixed expenses like rent, utilities and debt repayment you have > £94.95 a week left, it you are good to go.  If it is less then that, you will likely get denied a visa.  The Entry Clearance Office (ECO) can consider what your potential employment posistion would be in the UK as well as any savings you might have.  But it is sounding like you are going to be really tight.  Third party support is no longer allowed, so the parents can't help out if they were so inclined, but they can make a gift of money as a present for getting married and those funds can be considered.

As far as failures, family applications are a different story then economic ones.  You have a right to appeal, though again, if you aren't making the minimum threshold, an appeal would likely fail.  You could of course reapply again.  While multiple applications or appeals don't harm the future applications, they do tend to lengthen the process substantially.  Also, if you fail and decide to come in as a visitor, it maybe very difficult to get entry without prior authorisation (a visa) because they are going to question if you are truly a visitor or just trying to "sneak in" after you had been told no.

Generally speaking, with family, where there is a will there is usually a way, thought it can take a long time.

I am sure there will be others along soon with more stories and thoughts.

When I applied for my spousal visa, my husband had only been working at his permanent job for a month, and had been consistently in his overdraft on all the bank statements we submitted.  I had been living abroad for 2 years, so had no American bank account, no savings (spent it all on our wedding) and no job.  I was terribly worried about our finances, but our application was approved without any apparent concern about our low income.  I can't promise that yours will be as well, but as long as you can show that the two of you can support yourselves, you should be OK.  Can your husband get a letter from his contract employer stating that he will receive £1500 a month from May until whenever?  Then you could create a budget based on that income, which ought to be sufficient if you have only £400 in expenses.  I would also suggest that you do some online job searching and see if you can find anything you would be interested in applying for.  That would give you some idea of the kind of job you might be able to find, and how much you could earn, and you could include that information in your application. 

Good luck!       

Thank you both so much for your advice.  It will be tight since we won't have £94.95 a week left over on our February and March statements, but we will for April onwards.  I'll make sure to include letters from both employers my husband will have contracts with, and I'll create a budget using the income for April as the benchmark, since we know it will be consistent each month.

At this point we want to apply in May since there is a chance it will be accepted.  Thanks for sharing your experience Historyenne, because that really boosted our confidences.  If it's rejected we'll apply again in July and it won't be too big a deal, and for now we'll just try our hardest to provide the best application possible so it's granted the first time.

Most of all thanks for suggesting I explore my own employment prospects in the UK.  I hadn't even thought of it beyond including my CV, but I agree that it would really strengthen the application.  Even just showing I've researched it would probably help, and I'm seeing if I can find anything more concrete.  Thanks for the suggestion.  I'll keep you updated as I get more information.