Financial Requirements for Fiancé Visa, Question on Month of Leave

Hello,

My partner, a UK citizen, has been employed at his current position for over a year, making 19,000 pounds a year salaried. In November, however, he took a month off of work without his usual pay (he had used up his vacation time) to spend time with me in the States, and only made 400 pounds during that month as a result.

While he will receive a raise to 21k in January, we are wondering if we can apply for the fiancé visa in May, or if that low check in November means that, as he did not make 9300 pounds from November 1 to end April, we would not meet the financial requirement until June 1.

Anyone have insight into this? It seems like the most recent 6 months are more important than whether you have the salary/job required -- and that, as we would have to submit payslips for that period, a signed/certified letter from his employer would not suffice.

In addition, though he owns his apartment and has a tenant who pays him monthly rent, it seems this can not be included in income as it is his primary residence.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

Hi there,

There are two ways he could meet the financial requirement:

Category A:
- he has been with his employer for at least 6 months, and has been earning a minimum of £18,600 per year for all of that time.
- This means that if he is salaried, no payslip in the last 6 months can fall below £1,550 before tax or if he is non-salaried, he has earned at least £9,300 in the last 6 months

Category B:
- he is currently earning at least £18,600 per year, but has not earned the minimum £1,550/month or £9,300/6 months in the last 6 months
HOWEVER
- he HAS earned at least £18,600 in total in the previous 12 months (before tax).

So, if he can't meet Category A, because of that 1 month of low pay, he may be able to meet Category B without having to wait.

For Category B, he would need to show:
- evidence that his current/future salary is at least £18,600 per year
AND
- all of his payslips from the last 12 months added together come to £18,600 or more (before tax)

So, he just needs to add up his last 12 months of payslips and see what they come to. If they don't quite meet the £18,600 (because of the November payslip), he may just need to wait a couple more months, when he's earning £21,000, to meet that amount... but he hopefully shouldn't have to wait a whole 6 months.