First Question:
She works for a not-for-profit company and started with them back in November. She is paid once a month and got her first paycheck on the 13th of November. Her bank statements are from the 18th to the 18th, so it would have included that first paycheck.
We want to apply for the fiance visa at the end of May, this would cover more than enough of the time requirement right? 18th of November, to the 18th of May, bank statement wise, and 13th of November, to the 13th of May, paystub wise.
Is she salaried (fixed annual salary) or non-salaried (hourly wage, contracted for X hours per week)?
If she is salariedThey will calculate her income by taking the lowest gross payslip (before tax) from the last 6 months and multiplying it by 12 to get her total annual salary. In order to meet the requirement, her lowest payslip must be at least £1,550 before tax (£1,550 x 12 = £18,600). So, if her November payslip only covers a few days (up to 13th November), it will likely not be over £1,550 and therefore will not meet the requirements. This means you will have to wait until she has the June 13th payslip and June 18th bank statement before you can apply.
If she is non-salariedThey will calculate her income by adding up all the gross payslip amounts from the last 6 months, dividing by 6 and multiplying by 12 to get her average annual income. If this figure is at least £18,600, the requirement will be met. If it's not quite £18,600 with just the November to May payslips, you will need to wait until she has the June 13th payslip before applying.
Bank statementsThe bank statements must cover every single day that the payslips cover, so if her first payslip is dated 13th November, you need to make sure that the first bank statement covers from 18th October to 18th November, so that it shows the first payslip deposit on the 13th. So the bank statements should cover all the dates from 18th October to 18th May.
Second question:
Once we apply for the fiance visa (we want to expedite it), I'm assuming this would take a few months while I'm in the US.
The priority service is supposed to give a decision within 30 working days (6 weeks) from biometrics, though processing times have been a bit longer recently due to Covid delays.
Having said that, recent fiance visa timelines have been:
Using priority processing:
Biometrics = Dec 28th
Visa approved = Jan 28th
Without priority processing:
Biometrics = Nov 11th
Visa approved = Jan 12th
If everything goes as planned, and I get the visa and come back to the UK to be married asap, will the spouse visa be about the same requirement in terms of paperwork as was the fiance visa?
Do most just save the majority of the paperwork they had, shuffling in a few new / updated documents?
To be honest, while most of the documents are the same for both visas, the majority of them will need to be updated as the previous ones are unlikely to still be valid by the time you apply.
- You will need new payslips, new bank statements, and a new employer letter.
- You may need new accommodation documents/letters, depending on your living situation (i.e. if you are added to the tenancy agreement after moving to the UK, or you need a new landlord/homeowner letter)
- You will need completely new relationship documents, as the required relationship evidence is different.
For the fiance visa relationship evidence, you provide:
- evidence of plans to marry in the UK
- 1 or 2 photos of you together
- boarding passes from trips to see each other
- letters/cards sent to each other
- evidence of regular communication while apart, such as screenshots of call logs, email inboxes, message logs etc
For the FLR(M) relationship evidence, you provide:
- marriage certificate
- 6 items of official mail in each of your names (either joint or individual mail) send to your UK address.
These must be from at least 3 official sources (council tax, utility bills, bank statements, NHS letters etc.) and must be evenly-spaced over the time you have lived together since moving to the UK on the fiance visa. They MUST have been received in the mail in the months they are dated - electronic bills and statements are not acceptable.
Now as you won't have been in the UK for long when you apply for FLR(M), you are unlikely to have that many official items of mail in your name, so if you don't have enough, you just need to write a letter of explanation, saying that you have only recently moved here and haven't had a chance to receive much mail yet.
Having said that, as soon as you come back on the fiance visa, you'll want to get your name on as many bills and statements as possible, and turn OFF paperless for EVERYTHING so that it is all received in the mail. Don't try to get your name added to anything yet though, as you are only here as a visitor at the moment and do not legally live here, so should not be listed on any bills or statements.
Just to note:After you marry, you will actually be applying for an FLR(M) visa, not a spousal visa... it's a small distinction, but they are different visas, with different costs and different application processes, and we don't want to confuse things by accidentally advising you on the wrong one.
Spousal visa = only issued OUTSIDE the UK, valid 33 months, costs £1523 + £1872 IHS surcharge = £3,395
FLR(M) visa = only issued INSIDE the UK, valid 30 months, costs £1,033 + £1,560 IHS surcharge = £2,593
