Looking to emigrate and I have SO many questions.

As soon as possible, but, meeting the financial requirements is making me despair to be honest. Just even having the $22,000 is going to take a while.

Unfortunately, this is an expensive process from start to finish.

In regards to paying the assorted visa fees on the 5-year path to UK citizenship, we recommend that you be able to budget £10k - £12k over those 5 years, keeping in mind that visa fees tend to increase twice per year.

The overall cost is one of the reasons we recommend to have a proper think, and seriously decide where will be better for you (US or UK) before starting that investment.

As soon as possible, but, meeting the financial requirements is making me despair to be honest. Just even having the $22,000 is going to take a while.

Am confused.....why do you need 22 O00 ? before you apply

Am confused.....why do you need 22 O00 ? before you apply

Good catch; I was just going to edit my post. 

It sounds like you would be exempt from needing to meet the financial requirement, so you just need to meet the adequate maintenance requirement which is substantially less.

$22,000 is approximately £16,000 for the minimum income requirement for the family visa. It’s my understanding that I can’t get around that, unless I somehow get hired in the UK or if my freelancing takes off and I can continue to do it in the UK.

$22,000 is approximately £16,000 for the minimum income requirement for the family visa. It’s my understanding that I can’t get around that, unless I somehow get hired in the UK or if my freelancing takes off and I can continue to do it in the UK.

Am still confused....someone who knows better correct me if I’m wrong but how I understand it for people who get married.....

A.... the uk resident must prove they make minimum 18 600 a year in wages to show they can support you if you go that visa route

B.... or you can show you have had 62 500? In savings for more then 6 months and chose that visa option

To me it sounds like you are confusing and combining the different visa requirements

People are also telling you that because your fiancée is disabled....he may be able to use exemptions depending on what benefits he receives , that the 18 600 may not apply to him and he can sponsor you on less of an income

$22,000 is approximately £16,000 for the minimum income requirement for the family visa. It’s my understanding that I can’t get around that, unless I somehow get hired in the UK or if my freelancing takes off and I can continue to do it in the UK.

It sounds like you might be mixing a few different requirements together for the financial side. 

The salary requirement for the UK sponsor is £18,600/year.

If the UK sponsor cannot meet this requirement, savings can be used to make up the shortfall.  The formula for how much savings is needed is as follows:  £16,000 + 2.5 times the shortfall amount.

So, for a few examples:

(1) If the UK sponsor is not employed at all, the shortfall is the entire requirement of £18,600.  The savings needed would be £16,000 + £18,600 x 2.5 = £62,500.

(2) If the UK sponsor is earning £18,000, the shortfall is £600.  In this scenario, the savings needed would be £16,000 + £600 x 2.5 = £17,500.

BUT, if the UK sponsor is in receipt of the following below, the financial requirement as outlined does not apply at all.  The UK sponsor must demonstrate adequate maintenance instead.

- carer's allowance
- disability living allowance
- severe disablement allowance
- industrial injuries disablement benefit
- attendance allowance
- personal independence payment
- armed forced independent payment or guaranteed income payment under the armed forces compensation scheme
- constant attendance allowance, mobility supplement or war disablement pension under the war pensions scheme
- police injury pension

To meet the adequate maintenance requirement, you must show that you have at least £117.40 left over each week after paying rent and council tax.  (if I recall correctly from ksand earlier)

It's worth having a read of the guidance.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/996403/part-8-adequate-maintenance-and-accommodation-v4.0ext.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/996814/appendix-fm-1-7-financial-requirement-v7.0-ext.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence

Yeah there is no £16,000 requirement.

A few questions (you are anonymous here so few free to share)

What is your fiancé’s total weekly income from benefits? 

Which benefits does he receive?

What is his weekly rent?

What is his weekly council tax?

Does he have any children?

With that information, we can tell you exactly what you need to do to qualify OR if you already qualify.   

In regards to paying the assorted visa fees on the 5-year path to UK citizenship, we recommend that you be able to budget £10k - £12k over those 5 years, keeping in mind that visa fees tend to increase twice per year.

The visa fees have been largely frozen for the last few years, with the last significant increase being in April 2018.

The UK has a policy of those that use a service should pay for it, to avoid that service being a burden to the taxpayers. Immigration is one of those services. Which unfortunately meant you have had to pay for all the EEA citizens and all their  non-EEA citizens family members coming to the UK under EU Free Movement or other EU court regulations, as the EU said these don't have to pay anything.

Now that the UK has ended the EU Free Movement, all migrants wanting to live in the UK are treated the same.

If the UK sponsor cannot meet this requirement, savings can be used to make up the shortfall.  The formula for how much savings is needed is as follows:  £16,000 + 2.5 times the shortfall amount.

That 16k is because that's the cap for low income welfare benefits.They showed enough money for the 2 1/2 year visa plus 16k to show they can't have low income benefits. However, the sponsors found they could still claim benefits for family they sponsored to the UK.

As part of the all migrants to the UK be treated the same with no special treatment for some, the immigiration changes and welfare changes, means the No Recourse to Public Funds visa condition, will be the same for every migrant.
Which is why those who are a partner to somebody who claims public funds, must now be very careful to ensure that don't take public funds through their partner. You won't be told it is public funds by the various agencies.

The councils also handle some public funds. Council Tax Reduction; being homeless and asking the council for help; council housing and being housed by the council; social care, are all public funds.

The visa fees have been largely frozen for the last few years, with the last significant increase being in April 2018.

I stand corrected.  Looking at the historical visa fees was actually a pleasant surprise for once.   

That being said, budgeting for the multiple visas is still a significant investment if you are planning on going all the way to UK citizenship.

For the fiance(e) route to citizenship, one is looking at:

£1523 - initial fiance(e) visa
£1033 - first FLR(M) application
£1033 - second FLR(M) application
£2389 - ILR application
£1330 - UK citizenship application

That's £7,308 just for the applications, with the assumption the fees will remain frozen.

If you modify the above and add in the optional processing upgrades:

£1523 - initial fiance(e) visa + £573 - settlement priority service outside the UK (£2,096 total)
£1033 - first FLR(M) application + £500 priority expedited processing in the UK (£1,533 total)
£1033 - second FLR(M) application + £500 priority expedited processing in the UK (£1,533 total)
£2389 - ILR application + £500 priority expedited processing in the UK (£2,889 total)
£1330 - UK citizenship application

That's £9,381 if priority processing is used at each eligible step, and assuming the fees will remain frozen.  (priority, not super priority which is £800 as opposed to £500 extra) 

I believe the priority and super priority services have returned to select locations following previous suspension due to the pandemic?

Also, with the US to become accessible for UK visitors (from 08 Nov?), the cost can be modified by marrying in the US first.  But it's still (overall) approximately £6k in fees, which is nothing to sneeze at for most. 

Plus IHS.

That's £9,381 if priority processing is used at each eligible step, and assuming the fees will remain frozen.  (priority, not super priority which is £800 as opposed to £500 extra) 

I believe the priority and super priority services have returned to select locations following previous suspension due to the pandemic?

The regular priority service is not available to FLR(M) or ILR (SET(M)) applicants (see here: https://www.gov.uk/faster-decision-visa-settlement/eligible-visas-when-applying-inside-the-uk - the table shows that the 5-day £500 service is only available for student and work visa applications).

So, the only option for faster processing for FLR(M) and ILR is the £800 Super Priority service.

So, the actual fees are (at current prices), with all the expedited processing services, plus mandatory extra biometrics fees and IHS surcharges

Initial fiance(e) visa = £1,523 + £573 priority processing = £2,096
First FLR(M) = £1,033 + £800 Super Priority + £1,560 IHS surcharge + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee = £3,547.20
Second FLR(M) =  £1,033 + £800 Super Priority + £1,560 IHS surcharge + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee= £3,547.20
ILR = £2,389 + £800 Super Priority + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee = £3,343.20
UK citizenship application = £1330 + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee + £80 ceremony fee + £75.50 passport application = £1639.70

Total for everything = £14,173.30

Or if you were to marry in the US and apply directly for the spousal visa, the fees (including expedited services) would be:

Initial spousal visa = £1,523 + £573 priority processing + £1,872 IHS surcharge = £3,968
FLR(M) = £1,033 + £800 Super Priority + £1,560 IHS surcharge + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee = £3,547.20
ILR = £2,389 + £800 Super Priority + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee = £3,343.20
UK citizenship application = £1330 + £19.20 biometrics + approx £135 biometrics appointment fee + £80 ceremony fee + £75.50 passport application = £1639.70

Total for everything = £12,498.10

Note: there are supposed to be free biometrics appointments available but they are difficult to get so most people applying in the last year have had to pay for them and they are anywhere from about £75 to £140 per appointment.

Cheers for that.  Apparently, the brain fog is strong this week.   

The UK has a policy of those that use a service should pay for it, to avoid that service being a burden to the taxpayers. Immigration is one of those services. Which unfortunately meant you have had to pay for all the EEA citizens and all their  non-EEA citizens family members coming to the UK under EU Free Movement or other EU court regulations, as the EU said these don't have to pay anything.

Also, with the US to become accessible for UK visitors (from 08 Nov?), the cost can be modified by marrying in the US first.  But it's still (overall) approximately £6k in fees, which is nothing to sneeze at for most. 

There have been millions to pay for. I'm not even sure the visa fees covered all the immigration costs.

At least you have the choice about paying the fees and moving to the UK. Back in the 80s and 90s,  there was a Primary Purpose rule that meant something along the lines of, you had to prove you were not getting married to a British citizen to live in the UK and get Brtisih citizenship. Virtually impossible to prove as most want British citizenship. But it was meant to stop sham marriages to get to the UK.

The Primary Purpose rule was removed when a Labour goverment got in. It was unfair to British citizens as these non-EEA citizens can enter the UK as a spouse of an EU citizen and claim the EU Retained Rights if the marriage had lasted 3 years before the divorce.That same government also removed the ILR status of EEA citizens in work in the UK.  Changed the law to now allow those born a British citizen to have their citizenship removed if required, if they have another citizenship through their parents.

The EU gives more rights to EEA citizens in other EU countries than citizens of that country have.

Now every migrant to the UK will need a visa and what they pay for that and if they pay the IHS, depends on their which visa they have.