Meeting the Spouse Visa Financial Requirement If You Are In Work

With all the gloom and doom about the UK cost of living crisis and fears about economic downturns, spouse visa applicants are worried that they and their sponsoring partner won't meet the financial requirement for a UK spouse visa.

Spouse Visa Solicitors stress that the financial requirement is based on income rather than outgoings. That means that whilst your bills may be rising, Home Office officials don’t conduct an assessment of spouse or relationship affordability. Instead, the Home Office base their spouse visa decision on whether the minimum income threshold is met, rather than an ability to pay increased household bills if a sponsor is joined in the UK by their husband, wife or unmarried partner.

UK Online and London Based Immigration Lawyers and Spouse Visa Solicitors 

For advice on spouse visas and family visas call the expert London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

What is the minimum UK spouse visa income requirement if you are working?

Immigration solicitors say the spouse visa income requirement for a UK spouse visa has stayed the same for a number of years. It is an income of £18,600 gross per year. However, having a family increases the income requirement you have to meet.

A sponsor will need to meet a financial requirement of £22,400 gross per year if they are sponsoring you and a child who is not a British citizen. For couples with more than one child the spouse visa financial requirement rises by £2,400 for each additional child.

Whose income counts when calculating the UK spouse visa income requirement?

Usually, only the income of the sponsoring partner counts towards the income requirement. There can be some exceptions to this. If your working circumstances are unusual ask Spouse Visa Solicitors for advice. For example, whilst you may be joining your sponsor in the UK, your overseas employer may have told you that they could continue to employ you to work remotely from the UK as your job overseas is capable of being carried out through remote working.

Proving you meet the financial requirement for a spouse visa

If your sponsor is in paid employment you will need to provide their pay slips for six months to prove that their income is at least £18,600 per year before payment of tax. To avoid your spouse visa application being refused you need to ensure the last wage slip is no more than 28 days old at the date of your spouse visa application.

If your sponsor is self-employed or on a zero hours contract then it is harder to prove you meet the financial requirement and its best to get individual immigration law advice on the documents you will need to produce.

Likewise, if you are trying to use a combination of paid salaried employment and cash savings to meet the financial requirement its best to speak to Spouse Visa Solicitors about the fairly complicated immigration rules.

Two jobs to meet the spouse visa income requirement

Many sponsors have to work overtime or take on an extra part time job to meet the spouse visa financial requirement, particularly if they have children and the minimum income threshold is at least £22,400.

Extra jobs and overtime count towards meeting the spouse visa financial requirement but you need to be careful if overtime or the second job income varies because you need to ensure the documents  you send with your spouse visa application prove you meet the financial requirement.

 The spouse visa income requirement – busting the myths

Spouse Visa Solicitors can bust some of the confusion surrounding the spouse visa financial requirement:

• The spouse visa income requirement has not gone up even though the cost of living has risen. That is positive news for spouse visa applicants.
• Some spouse visa applicants think sponsors need to earn more if the sponsor is self-employed rather than in paid employment. That’s wrong. The financial requirement is the same whether a sponsor is meeting the financial requirement through self-employed earnings or paid work. However, it is harder to prove self-employed income than it is to show that a sponsor gets a regular income from an employer.
• You can get a spouse visa if your sponsor is not in employment or self-employed. There are two routes – your sponsor either needs to be in receipt of a specified state benefit or you need to be able to prove that you or your sponsor has available savings of at least £62,500. If you meet that level of savings you don’t have to meet the income test at all. In some cases, if you don’t meet the income financial requirement but you do have some available cash savings you can meet the spouse visa financial requirement through a combination of income and savings. The specified state benefits that exempt you from meeting the spouse visa financial requirement include but aren’t limited to Disability Living Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Industrial Injury Disablement Benefit, Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and Personal Independence Payment. For a detailed information about all the relevant passporting state benefits, and the need to be able to show that the spouse visa applicant can be maintained by a sponsor on qualifying benefits, then call the Spouse Visa Solicitors on 0203 959 9123.
• The adequate accommodation requirement is separate to meeting the spouse visa income requirement. However, you don’t have to own a house in the UK. A rental property, or plans to rent or even stay with family, can be sufficient to meet the accommodation requirement, depending on circumstances. A Spouse Visa Solicitor can talk you through whether your proposed accommodation will meet the adequate accommodation guidance, as that will depend on the numbers of people in your family and their ages and the size of the accommodation.
• A sponsor can't beat the financial requirement by getting a job that pays at least £18,600 per year and then give the job up and earn less money because you and your sponsor will also need to meet the financial requirement when you come to apply to extend your spouse visa.
• Even if you and your sponsor don’t meet the financial requirement you may still qualify for a spouse visa using the ‘exceptional circumstances’ route. Take specialist spouse visa legal advice if you are thinking about claiming exceptional circumstances as you need to be able to show the Home Office that your human rights. or those of a relevant child or sponsor, would be harmed if your spouse visa application was refused. Proving this isn’t as easy or as straight forward as it sounds as there are complicated immigration rules and guidance on the use of exceptional circumstances.

If you have questions about the spouse visa income requirement then talk to our friendly and approachable Spouse Visa Solicitors.

UK Online and London Based Immigration Lawyers and Spouse Visa Solicitors 

For advice on your spouse visa application call the expert London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.