Financial requirement
There’s currently a requirement established for inviting partners in Great Britain to demonstrate that they have an income of at least £29,000 before taxes. But what do you do if your income doesn’t meet the cutoff line? Well, don't just shrug your shoulders and give up on the idea of reuniting with your partner in Great Britain. It’s not quite the full story.
In a situation when the inviter’s income is below the minimum, this can be compensated by having a sufficient amount of money on one's bank account. But just demonstrating that you have the missing amount is not quite how it works. For instance, if a spouse's income is £28,000, you can't just present proof that you have only £1,000 on your account and thus clear the financial requirements. The required amount is calculated based on a special formula. Suppose the spouse's income is £28,000. In that case, here is how we're going to count the bank balance they’ll need:
(29,000 – 28,000) х 2.5 + 16,000 = £18,500
Accommodation requirements:
Will my spouse’s parents home work for me to get a visa processed? What if there are other relatives living with his parents? How many people can be living in the same home?
Get all the answers in our Accommodation Requirements Guide!
It turns out that to clear the financial requirements, a person who is only £1,000 short of the cutoff will need to show proof that they have at least £18,500 on their account.
But that's not all. Just demonstrating their balance is not enough. The required balance must remain on the bank account for 6 months when the application for the wife’s visa is submitted, not dropping a pound lower than the required amount over that time.
The following conditions must also be taken into consideration.
- If the account owner transfers the money from one bank account to another, even if it’s to an account within the same bank, the 6-month period will start counting off all over again as soon as the money is transferred back. No previous “history” of the amount is counted, even though that money may have always been in the possession of that same person.
- Not only can the inviter’s (the sponsor’s) account be used, but so can the applicant’s account! The amounts of the accounts can just be added together and used as a total amount to be able to clear the financial requirements. Meanwhile, it's important to show the bank statements over the same time period.
- There can be several different bank accounts. It's important that all the bank accounts belong either to the inviter (sponsor) or the applicant. And the time period on both accounts must, of course, match.
- The applicant himself or herself can demonstrate the accounts if that’s what's most convenient for the couple.
- Only employed persons are able to supplement their annual incomes with bank balances for the purposes of this visa. Self-employed individuals and CEOs of their own companies are not allowed to do so!
Accommodation requirements:
Will my spouse’s parents home work for me to get a visa processed? What if there are other relatives living with his parents? How many people can be living in the same home?
Get all the answers in our Accommodation Requirements Guide!
So what if the inviting partner is not currently working and can't demonstrate his income level? Would it be okay for him to just show his account savings?
Yes, it would! We calculate the amount of the savings using the same formula in which the income amount is indicated as £0:
(29,000 - 0) x 2.5 + 16,000 = £88,500
That’s the amount he’ll have to prove he has at his disposal.
Important note: all the calculations written out in this article were performed based on the required income of £29,000 per year. The required income amount will change in the future. Get in touch with our professionals to learn the most up-to-date information.
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