Hello All,
New member to the website here. Apologies in advance if this particular scenario has been posted before, I tried using the search tool but couldn't find anything relevant to all of my queries, so here we go...
I was born and currently live in Northern Ireland (27 years old), and I have dual British/Irish citizenship. I currently possess an Irish passport. My American wife & I got married one month ago in USA after 7 beautiful years of long distance dating! Since then we have obtained an apostille for the American marriage certificate, and we're now ready to begin the UK spouse visa application, with the intent for her to move to Northern Ireland in August 2019.
We have sought guidance from the UK Gov website, and also the Spouse UK Visa guide from migrate.org.uk which has proven very useful.
Financial Requirements
I will be sponsoring my wife's application. As per the financial requirements, I have an annual income above the £18,600 amount, from a permanent full time salaried employment under an engineering company. I've been employed for 3 years.
My concern is this: The Home Office calculates the sponsor's gross annual income via two possible methods -
Method 1
If the UK partner receives their salary monthly, they multiply the lowest payment received in the 6 months prior to the application by 12.
This is the income from salaried employment that can be counted towards the financial requirement.
Method 2
With this method, the financial requirement must be met and evidenced in two parts.
Part 1: The gross annual salary will be as it is on the date of application
If the UK partner receives their salary every month, they multiply the last salary received by 12.
Part 2: The UK partner must have received in the past 12 months prior to the date of application more than the financial requirement that applies to them.
This is the income from salaried employment that can be counted towards the financial requirement.
While my monthly gross salary is above the required amount for an annual £18,600, I took 3 weeks of unpaid leave in November (within the last 6 months) for a holiday trip. Consequently, the monthly payslip for that time was well below the monthly amount to have an annual £18,600 gross salary in accordance with Method 1. Can someone please confirm that if I provide 12 months of payslips, that the Home Office will use Method 2 and therefore satisfy the financial requirement?
Accommodation Requirements
My wife & I will be living at my parents' home for the first 6 months of her arrival to the UK.
From some online reading, it appears that we will need to produce:
• a signed letter from the property owner that we are permitted to stay,
• evidence that the home-owner actually owns the home (e.g. title deeds),
• a Housing Report for the property to satisfy that the home isn't overcrowded.
Can someone please confirm that a Housing Report (and subsequently a chartered surveyor inspection) is required for the visa application?
Alternatively, I currently give a monthly standing order payment to my parents as a contribution toward household costs/rent; while I haven't signed a contract of rental agreement, would it be simpler, and could it be easier to pursue the accommodation requirements under rental terms, and therefore only require a letter from the landlord, i.e. my parents? My thought process is that this would remove the need for a Housing Report.
Application Form
The application form asks for the applicant to record the last 5 trips to the UK. For these trips, my then-girlfriend will have travelled to Belfast via entry from Dublin airport, and therefore have an Irish stamp on her US passport. I have assumed that due to the common travel agreement between the UK and Republic of Ireland, that these trips are considered as applicable for UK trips within this part of the application form and should be recorded. Is this a sensible assumption?
Supporting Documents for Submittal
My wife will be completing the visa application from outside the UK, and therefore attending an appointment in the US in due course to complete the identification processes for the Biometric Residence Permit, followed by submitting the application and scanned supporting documents.
Can someone clarify that with the exception of the applicant's passport, all other supporting documentation can be scanned and isn't required to be an original document? Examples are letters from home-owner/landlord, proof of accommodation ownership, payslips, letters of support.
Any other watch-it's or tips relevant to a Northern Irish resident with British/Irish dual nationality will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much everyone, this forum looks like an incredible resource and full of wonderful help.
Best wishes,
Keith