Rejected Spouse Visa - Company Director

Hi,
Just had some very bad news which came as a complete shock. I am a UK Citizen, I was sponsoring my wife to come to the UK on a 2.5 year spouse visa.

I am a company director and very comfortably earn over the required threshold.

Reason for refusal
You have not submitted the following documents highlighted in bold as listed above. I note you have submitted yours sponsor's payslips from 30/04/2017 - 31/10/2017 showing a gross income of £955 per month paid to your sponsor from [Company Name]. In support of your application you have submitted personal [Bank Name] statements in your sponsors name. The bank statement submitted does not evidence salary payments of £955 being paid into the account. In further support of your application you have submitted dividend vouchers to be paid to your sponsor, although I note dividends being paid into your sponsors personal account from [Company Name] the payments do not corroborate with the funds or dates evidenced in the Dividends vouchers submitted. It is also noted you have not submitted a Current Appointment Report from Companies House.

In short, as far as I know as a Company Director it is normal practice to let wages / dividends accrue and then pay myself in lump sums throughout the year. It is not legally required to direct debit myself the exact amount every month. I have proven I have paid myself in lump sums on the bank statements (well over the threshold) but the exact amounts and dates don't reference perfectly.

I have spoke to a solicitor about this and they are very surprised discretion wasn't shown, especially as I haven't done anything wrong paying myself in this way. Everything else was included in a very organized application. I am shocked and extremely frustrated now I won't be spending Christmas all together with my family.

- It is now too risky for her to come on a visitor visa as they'll probably send her away.
- I have the option to appeal but how long does the appeal take?

What's your thoughts on this?

EDIT: Just to be clear I sent ALL the documents on the list including over 18months worth of business statements and 18 months worth of personal statements including 2 P60s. The period the payslips were for were the period the P60 didn't cover.

Regarding the Current Appointment Report from Companies House I sent the latest Confirmation Statement from Companies House clearly listing me on there.

Hi,
Just had some very bad news which came as a complete shock. I am a UK Citizen, I was sponsoring my wife to come to the UK on a 2.5 year spouse visa.

I am a company director and very comfortably earn over the required threshold.

Reason for refusal
You have not submitted the following documents highlighted in bold as listed above. I note you have submitted yours sponsor's payslips from 30/04/2017 - 31/10/2017 showing a gross income of £955 per month paid to your sponsor from [Company Name]. In support of your application you have submitted personal [Bank Name] statements in your sponsors name. The bank statement submitted does not evidence salary payments of £955 being paid into the account. In further support of your application you have submitted dividend vouchers to be paid to your sponsor, although I note dividends being paid into your sponsors personal account from [Company Name] the payments do not corroborate with the funds or dates evidenced in the Dividends vouchers submitted. It is also noted you have not submitted a Current Appointment Report from Companies House.

In short, as far as I know as a Company Director it is normal practice to let wages / dividends accrue and then pay myself in lump sums throughout the year. It is not legally required to direct debit myself the exact amount every month. I have proven I have paid myself in lump sums on the bank statements (well over the threshold) but the exact amounts and dates don't reference perfectly.

I have spoke to a solicitor about this and they are very surprised discretion wasn't shown, especially as I haven't done anything wrong paying myself in this way. Everything else was included in a very organized application. I am shocked and extremely frustrated now I won't be spending Christmas all together with my family.

- It is now too risky for her to come on a visitor visa as they'll probably send her away.
- I have the option to appeal but how long does the appeal take?

What's your thoughts on this?

I'm very sorry that the visa was refused. Unfortunately, while the way you are paying yourself may be common practice and completely above board in terms of HMRC, the requirements for the visa are different, they are extremely specific and if you don't follow the instructions exactly, and provide all the evidence they ask for, they will refuse.

You should re-group and re-apply. An appeal can take over a year to process and it sounds like UKVI did not make an error in declining the visa.

I'm very sorry to hear about your visa refusal .

Applying as a company director under Category F or G (self-employment income) is a very tricky category to get right and it requires a large number of supporting documents.

You can't just send 6 months of payslips plus dividends - you have to show an entire full financial year of income (Category F) or an average of the last 2 full financial years (Category G), plus evidence of your tax registration, tax returns, company audits, ongoing business etc.

- It is now too risky for her to come on a visitor visa as they'll probably send her away.
- I have the option to appeal but how long does the appeal take?

What's your thoughts on this?

I would not attempt an appeal, as it will take up to a year to be decided and will usually only be successful if you sent all the required documents and met all the requirements, but UKVI made a mistake.

Unfortunately, there is no discretion in the financial requirements - if you don't meet the requirements exactly and send every single required document, in exactly the correct format, they will refuse the visa.

In regards to your wife visiting, it could be risky for her to try to enter as a visitor so soon after the refusal, as visitors have to show they have no intention of living in the UK and have a life (home, job, family) to return to in their home country... which may be difficult to prove if she has just applied for a visa to move to the UK permanently.

I would advise that she applies for a visitor visa before trying to enter the UK.

You can't just send 6 months of payslips plus dividends - you have to show an entire full financial year of income (Category F) or an average of the last 2 full financial years (Category G), plus evidence of your tax registration, tax returns, company audits, ongoing business etc.

I sent everything, the business has been running since September 2015. I sent the full company accounts (Bank statements personal and business covering the whole period up until the current date).

In regards to the financial requirement documents, a company director must provide ALL of the following documents, as specified in the financial requirements guidance:

9.8. Director or employee of a specified limited company in the UK – specified evidence

9.8.1. The evidence required to demonstrate income as either a director or employee (or both) of a specified limited company in the UK is specified in Appendix FM-SE:

9. In respect of income from employment and/or shares in a limited company based in the UK of a type specified in paragraph 9(a), the requirements of paragraph 9(b)-(e) shall apply in place of the requirements of paragraphs 2 and 10(b):

(a) The specified type of limited company is one in which:
(i) the person is a either a director or employee of the company, or both, or of another company within the same group; and
(ii) shares are held (directly or indirectly) by the person, their partner or the following family members of the person or their partner: parent, grandparent, child, stepchild, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or first cousin; and
(iii) any remaining shares are held (directly or indirectly) by fewer than five other persons.

(b) All of the following must be provided:

(i) Company Tax Return CT600 (a copy or print-out) for the last full financial year and evidence this has been filed with HMRC, such as electronic or written acknowledgment from HMRC.

(ii) Evidence of registration with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House.

(iii) If the company is required to produce annual audited accounts, such accounts for the last full financial year.

(iv) If company 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;

(v) Corporate/business bank statements covering the same 12-month period as Company Tax Return CT600.

(vi) A current Appointment Report from Companies House.

(vii) One of the following documents must also be provided:
(1) A certificate of VAT registration and the VAT return for the last full financial year (a copy or a 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.
(2) Proof of ownership or lease of business premises.
(3) Original proof of registration with HMRC as an employer for the purposes of PAYE and National Insurance, proof of PAYE reference number and Accounts Office reference number. This evidence may be in the form of a certified copy of the documentation issued by HMRC.

(c) Where the person is listed as either a director or employee of the company (or both) and receives a salary from the company, all of the following documents must also be provided:

(i) Payslips and P60 (if issued) covering the same period as the Company Tax Return CT600.

(ii) Personal bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the Company Tax Return CT600 showing that the salary as either a director or employee of the company (or both) was paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

(d)Where the person receives dividends from the company, all of the following documents must also be provided:

(i) Dividend vouchers for all dividends declared in favour of the person during or in respect of the period covered by the Company Tax Return CT600 showing the company’s and the person’s details with the person’s net dividend amount and tax credit.

(ii) Personal bank statement(s) showing that those dividends were paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

(e) Evidence of ongoing employment as a director or other employee of the company or of ongoing dividend income from the company. This evidence may include payslips (or dividend vouchers) and personal bank statements showing that, in the period since the latest 12-month period covered by the Company Tax Return CT600, the person’s salary (or dividend income from the company) as a director or employee of the company (or both), was paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly. Alternative evidence may include evidence of ongoing payment of business rates, business-related insurance premiums or employer National Insurance contributions in relation to the company.

ksand24

I sent everything, they just didn't accept how I paid myself in lump sums. Ie. If the company owed me £1000 in wages and £9000 in Dividends I paid myself £10000. Not two separate payments on the exact dates.

Regarding:
(vi) I sent the confirmation statement from Companies House (this is correct right)?

How can I just reapply if I would be sending the same statements? I cannot retrospectively change how I paid myself in lump sums as many Company Director's do.

I sent everything, the business has been running since September 2015. I sent the full company accounts (Bank statements personal and business covering the whole period up until the current date).

But the refusal letter says you only sent payslips from April to October 2017?

You can only rely on the last full financial year or last 2 full financial years so if your business started up in September 2015 and your company's financial year is September to September, you can only use payslips and bank statements from either:
- September 2016 to September 2017 (Cat E)
or
- September 2015 to September 2017 (Cat F)

Or if your financial year is from April 6th to April 5th, you can only use payslips and bank statements from April 6th 2016 to April 5th 2017 to meet the requirements.

- If you are even 1 day short of the full financial year, it's an automatic refusal. This happened to someone last year... their business was founded on October 31st 2015 and they applied on October 30th 2016. Their visa was refused because they were 1 day short of being in business for a full financial year.

- If even one of the documents I listed in the post above is missing or incorrect, it's an automatic visa refusal.

I sent everything, they just didn't accept how I paid myself in lump sums. Ie. If the company owed me £1000 in wages and £9000 in Dividends I paid myself £10000. Not two separate payments on the exact dates.

Unfortunately, it looks like you cannot qualify for the visa that way.

It states in the requirements that if you are paid in dividends, your bank statements must show those dividends being paid into the account, and same goes with the payslips.

The reason you have to send your bank statements is so they can confirm that the amount stated on the dividend voucher matches the deposit into your bank account.

So, it looks like they have to be able to confirm that the salary and the dividends were deposited in two separate transactions.

Regarding:
(vi) I sent the confirmation statement from Companies House (this is correct right)?

I don't know, I'm afraid.

ksand24

I had an extended year end until February 2017 for accounting purposes (perfectly ok with hmrc). The accounts show from September 2015 to February 2017 with bank statements both business and personal covering this period. All of the other documents were also shown in this period including P60s (proving the wages and dividends). For the time the P60s didn't cover I provided the individual payslips as instructed by my solicitor and accountant.

The statements prove I paid myself more than the required amount accumulated throughout the year. Being a company director I can wait say 3 months for the payments to build up and then pay myself a lump sum. They just weren't happy how the amounts / dates didn't exactly add up to the payslips and dividends vouchers. This is perfectly normal practice as a Company Director though, that's the very frustrating thing.

I also provided statements, dividend vouchers and payslips from Feburary 2017 to the current date to prove my employment was ongoing.

Genuine question here:

If the payslip has a date and amount (and the dividend voucher), why do they not respond to the exact date on the bank statements?

Genuine question here:

If the payslip has a date and amount (and the dividend voucher), why do they not respond to the exact date on the bank statements?

Say if (as an example) these are the payslips and dividend vouchers:

Payslips
July 2017 - £955
August 2017 - £955
September 2017 - £955

Dividend Voucher
September 2017 - £30,000

I would pay myself a lump sum of £32865 (in October 2017), not all in individual payments. Any payments which have been processed by my company but not paid yet is simply just owed to me until I pay it to myself.

This is ok from an accounting point of view being a Company Director.

I had an extended year end until February 2017 for accounting purposes (perfectly ok with hmrc).

The statements prove I paid myself more than the required amount accumulated throughout the year. Being a company director I can wait say 3 months for the payments to build up and then pay myself a lump sum. They just weren't happy how the amounts / dates didn't exactly add up to the payslips and dividends vouchers. This is perfectly normal practice as a Company Director though, that's the very frustrating thing.

The problem is that what's okay with HMRC or is normal practice is not necessarily okay for the visa. It's up to you to research what is required for the visa and adjust how your pay yourself and how/when you file your taxes in order to meet the visa requirements. And for the visa, it would seem that you have to pay yourself in two separate transactions.

The visa is a tick-box visa... they cannot grant the visa unless they can tick all the boxes to show you meet each requirement. So it's not that UKVI 'weren't happy' with how you paid yourself, it's that they could not tick the boxes to say they had seen the individual dividend voucher amount and the payslip deposit amount paid into your account each month... and therefore they had no choice but to refuse the visa.

The accounts show from September 2015 to February 2017 with bank statements both business and personal covering this period. All of the other documents were also shown in this period including P60s (proving the wages and dividends). For the time the P60s didn't cover I provided the individual payslips as instructed by my solicitor and accountant.

If the company's 12-month accounting year on your CT600 is September to September, then you can ONLY use the income you received (and that was paid into your account) during the 12-month period from September to September.

Also, you have to use the 12 months of your most RECENT financial/accounting year. So, if your most recent financial year ended in September 2017, and you applied for the visa in Oct, Nov or Dec 2017, then you HAD to use the 12 months of income from September 2016 to September 2017 if you applied under Category F, or the full 24 months of income from Sept 2015 to Sept 2017 for Category G. In which case, you would have had to make sure all your taxes were filed for 2016/2017 before applying for the visa.

If the company's 12-month accounting year on your CT600 is September to September, then you can ONLY use the income you received (and that was paid into your account) during the 12-month period from September to September.

Also, you have to use the 12 months of your most RECENT financial/accounting year. So, if your most recent financial year ended in September 2017, and you applied for the visa in Oct, Nov or Dec 2017, then you HAD to use the 12 months of income from September 2016 to September 2017 if you applied under Category F, or the full 24 months of income from Sept 2015 to Sept 2017 for Category G. In which case, you would have had to make sure all your taxes were filed for 2016/2017 before applying for the visa.

The 12 month year was from September 15 to September 16 and had the CT600 covering this period. The year-end was extended so had an extra period from September 16 to February 17 in the accounts (all documents were disclosed for this as well including the CT600 covering this period).

I am pretty shocked they could not use their common sense / discretion regarding how the payments were made. If it's usual practice and perfectly normal then you can see how I feel extremely hard done by. Absolutely gutted, waiting to hear from solicitor to know what to do next.

In both periods I comfortably earned over the threshold. In the most recent period to prove my business was ongoing I also earned over the threshold.

We completely understand the frustration and lack of common sense.  We really do!

Please use a GOOD attorney only.  We recommend Medivisas in London (Beth and Victoria) or Laura Devine (offices in both London and NYC).  They will sort this for you and hopefully prevent you having to wait until the next fiscal year.

I am pretty shocked they could not use their common sense / discretion regarding how the payments were made. If it's usual practice and perfectly normal then you can see how I feel extremely hard done by.

As kasand has explained, "usual practice" for HMRC is not the same as what is required by UKVI to sponsor for a visa.

If you want to sponsor for a visa, then you need to follow UKVI rules for what is just a tick box exercise. If you don't make sure that you tick all the boxes to sponsor, then the visa is refused.

It's pointless saying that this is what HMRC allows, because HMRC deal with taxes, not visas. It's UKVI who deal with visas and it's their rules you need to follow for a visa, not those of HMRC.

It's what everyone who has their own company has to do if they want to sponsor someone.