Confusion on spouse visa - financial evidence - advice needed

Dear All,

I have posted my rather unusual case on other topics and received amazing support and advice.Also recommended to open a new topic in order not to hijack the other topics with my  case:

I am in the process of sponsoring my wife and decided to hire a solicitor. A recommended one thru a friend. Paid 1000 upfront and getting really bad advice and unprofessional treatment of our case too. He made idiotic mistakes by asking my wife not to take application form along with her to biometric / putting incorrect information in the application form about her travels outside her country / asking me to send all supporting documents to her country so she can submit at visa center etc... I know, I had to take a friend's advice with a pinch of salt...My wife did the biometric and we have 15 days to send our supporting documents. However, the solicitor's latest claim about my financial standing made me furious and now I am about to terminate my agreement with him.

I tick all the boxes in the visa checklist:
- Income: more than 18.600
- Accommodation: rented 4-bed townhouse, rental agreement provided
- Genuine relationship: all wedding photos, trips abroad, correspondence etc.

The solicitor says my rent is as high as my salary and this would make my application refused on the grounds of "affordibility". I called 5 solicitors in London and discussed this with them. 3 of them disagreed with my solicitor and 2 of them said yes, it is a major red flag.

I am now totally confused and don't know what to do. I am thinking about terminating my agreement with the solicitor and applying on my own. Hence, I need your recommendations and advice on building up my supporting documents in 15 days time.

Thank you

What country is your wife applying from?

Have you been working for the same employer for more than six months making greater than £18,600/year in that time?

Welcome to the forum .

First off, which country is your wife from?

This is primarily a forum for people applying in the US, which has different application procedures to other countries, so the advice we can give will be different if she is applying from a different country.

I tick all the boxes in the visa checklist:
- Income: more than 18.600
- Accommodation: rented 4-bed townhouse, rental agreement provided
- Genuine relationship: all wedding photos, trips abroad, correspondence etc.

In regards to the financial requirement, which financial category are you applying under (on the VAF4a Appendix 2 form), and whay documents have you collected for the evidence?

The documents you need for the finances are very specific, and must meet the requirements exactly.

The solicitor says my rent is as high as my salary and this would make my application refused on the grounds of "affordibility". I called 5 solicitors in London and discussed this with them. 3 of them disagreed with my solicitor and 2 of them said yes, it is a major red flag.

It is not a red flag. They do not even consider your outgoings for the visa. You could be in your overdraft every month with a load of credit card debt and it wouldn't matter.

I am now totally confused and don't know what to do. I am thinking about terminating my agreement with the solicitor and applying on my own. Hence, I need your recommendations and advice on building up my supporting documents in 15 days time.

I didn't realise she had already submitted her online application and attended biometrics... that means she has already officially applied.

Ideally you should have all the documents completely ready to mail to Sheffield before she applies online so that you can get them to Sheffield as soon as she has attended biometrics.

Hi,
and thanks for your interest. My wife is from the country Georgia. If you think this is solely for the US applicant and I am not supposed to be here looking for help I would totally understand it. As for your questions:
 - Yes I have you been working for the same employer for more than six months making greater than £18,600/year in that time. I started working for them in FEB 2017.

- On Appendix 2, I am applying under "Income from salaried employment
in the UK, with no child dependent"

- Financial documents collected so far as evidence:
1. Payslips from  FEB 2017 to date (Pay rise in the last two months)
2. P60
3. Letter from my employer
4. 6-month bank statements with current balance of 9k
5. My wife is unemployed in her country so we did not include any financial docs about her


Many thanks!

Hi,
and thanks for your interest. My wife is from the country Georgia. If you think this is solely for the US applicant and I am not supposed to be here looking for help I would totally understand it.

No, that's fine - we're happy to help people applying in other countries... it's just that because the main focus is on US applicants, we know more about how to apply in the US, and aren't really familiar with how people apply in Georgia.

For example, in the US, the biometrics are taken by US immigration and then the applicant mails their passport, application forms and ALL the documents to Sheffield directly... the sponsor cannot send their documents separately. In the US, the documents must be mailed within 5 days of biometrics.

Looks like the TLS webpage for applying in Georgia is down for maintenance right now, so I can't see how the process works there at the moment.

- Yes I have you been working for the same employer for more than six months making greater than £18,600/year in that time. I started working for them in FEB 2017.

Okay, that's great .

- On Appendix 2, I am applying under "Income from salaried employment
in the UK, with no child dependent"

I'm assuming you applied under Category A, then? Meaning your salary has been at least £18,600 since Feb 2017?
And you are salaried (fixed annual salary), rather than non-salaried (paid by the hour)?

- Financial documents collected so far as evidence:
1. Payslips from  FEB 2017 to date (Pay rise in the last two months)
2. P60
3. Letter from my employer
4. 6-month bank statements with current balance of 9k

Okay, so if you are salaried, you need to provide:

Mandatory
- 6 months of original bank statements (May to October), showing at least £1,550 per month on EVERY SINGLE one. If any payslip is less than £1,550 you won't qualify for the visa
- 6 months of original bank statements (May to October) showing the deposit of every single payslip
- a letter from your employer stating ALL of the following
i) current employment and salary
ii) length of employment
iii) length of time earning current salary
iv) previous salary and length of time earning that salary (since the payrise was less than 6 months ago)
v) type of employment

Optional but recommended:
- original job contract
- latest P60

The most recent of the payslips and bank statements, plus the employer letter, must be dated within 28 days of her online application date.

You should not include the savings statements as they cannot be considered... only the statements showing your payslip deposits should be included.

You should not include any bank statements more than 6 months old as they cannot be considered, BUT the bank statements you do send must cover the full 6 months (not a day less).

If the payslips are printed from online, they must be accompanied by a letter from your employer confirming their authenticity (this can be part of the mandatory employer letter).

If the bank statements are printed from online banking they must either be stamped/signed by the bank on EVERY page, or accompanied by a letter from the bank confirming their authenticity.

5. My wife is unemployed in her country so we did not include any financial docs about her

That's fine - they cannot consider her income anyway.

Thanks very much for all your help and understanding. Greatly appreciated indeed!

- Yes CAT A. I am salaried (fixed annual salary)
- All my monthly salaries are paid into my bank account and visible in original bank statements thru post 
- Salaries details:  FEB to OCT gross 1750 Pound  / OCT-NOV gross 3225 pound

However, I am still so confused with conflicting answers all those solicitors I asked with regards to my question about my rent being as high as my salary:(

Thanks very much for all your help and understanding. Greatly appreciated indeed!

- Yes CAT A. I am salaried (fixed annual salary)
- All my monthly salaries are paid into my bank account and visible in original bank statements thru post 
- Salaries details:  FEB to OCT gross 1750 Pound  / OCT-NOV gross 3225 pound

However, I am still so confused with conflicting answers all those solicitors I asked with regards to my question about my rent being as high as my salary:(

Nothing to be confused about.  UKVI only care about incoming income to ensure you cannot qualify for benefits.  You will find absolutely nothing in the financial requirements that mentions outgoings or affordability.  They don't care.  They just want to see that you have the required income, that is it. (for the financial piece).

As you have a solicitor that has no idea what they are talking about, try to forget anything they've told you.

Thanks very much for all your help and understanding. Greatly appreciated indeed!

- Yes CAT A. I am salaried (fixed annual salary)
- All my monthly salaries are paid into my bank account and visible in original bank statements thru post 
- Salaries details:  FEB to OCT gross 1750 Pound  / OCT-NOV gross 3225 pound

That's all good .

If you are salaried, they work out how much of your income counts toward the requirement by taking the lowest payslip (before tax) in the last 6 months and multiplying it by 12.

So, your £3225 payslips won't be considered, because you haven't been earning the new salary for 6 months yet...and instead, they will take the lowest, which is £1,750 (I assume before tax?) and use that.

Which means your income will be calculated as follows:

£1,750 x 12 = £21,000... and this is the amount that will be used for the visa.

However, I am still so confused with conflicting answers all those solicitors I asked with regards to my question about my rent being as high as my salary:(

And as we've told you several times, it is COMPLETELY irrelevant for the visa . They may not even look at the amount. So please don't worry about it - just forget everything the solicitor told you.

I've been on this forum for almost 11 years and have been advising people on the spousal visa requirements for almost all of that time. I've helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people successfully apply for their visas.

In those 11 years, no one has ever had their rent amount queried.

If you're worried about it, you can always explain the reason for the amount in your mandatory sponsor letter and that you can afford to pay it.

Thanks a million guys! You all have been great since yesterday! I absolutely agree with every single point you make and will now try to find ways to get rid of this solicitor and get back as much of my 1000pound as possible!

UKVI only care about incoming income to ensure you cannot qualify for benefits.  You will find absolutely nothing in the financial requirements that mentions outgoings or affordability.  They don't care.  They just want to see that you have the required income, that is it. (for the financial piece).

But UKVI do liaise with HMRC. You might want to get your accountant to sort out paying all your taxes owed for the rent money and not just for the last year, if that's what you have been doing.

 HMRC do care if your lifesytle (high rent) doesn't match the salary you earn. They have a lot or powers to check.

But UKVI do liaise with HMRC. You might want to get your accountant to sort out paying all your taxes owed for the rent money and not just for the last year, if that's what you have been doing.

 HMRC do care if your lifesytle (high rent) doesn't match the salary you earn. They have a lot or powers to check.

I always assume everyone is following the rules and paying their taxes correctly.    If one is not, they definitely have bigger problems to deal with then worrying about meeting the requirements of the visa. 

Hi all again,
I used airbnb for the last 8 months and the house is not my property. When a landlord rents even a part of their houses they are required to pay taxes. thats the way it should be.My landlord has given me full permission to use airbnb and it is included in the rental agreement that I am allowed to sub-rent. I asked my accountant and he said I do not earn more than 7500 pounds a year and i am exempt from paying taxes. but he is declaring the amount I gained so far.

I own an overseas business as well and have some savings. I am a law-abiding citizen and have done no wrongdoings or whatsoever tax-wise. To the best of my knowledge, at least my name is not mentioned in paradise papers like the Queen!

Thank you all for your amazing support and answers regarding my case. greatly appreciated