# Spouse who has started a Ltd company



## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

Please can you help me with some advice. 

I am hoping to be the sponsor for my wife to move here on a settlement visa. 

In December 2013 I started my own Limited company. before that I was a permanent employee and my earnings from April 2013 until December 2013 was £49000. 

How should I fill in appendix 2? my salaried employement for this year 2013-2014 is way over the £18600 required but I am now self employed as a director and employee of my new company. 

As of yet I have not taken any salary or dividends out of my company as I do not need to. 

which section should I complete on appendix 2? 

any advice at all would be much appreciated.

Kind regards

Ryan


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## JrmHarding (Jan 6, 2014)

As you now rely on a different form of income, self employed rather than employed by a company, and your last pay cheque is now more than 28 days old, I don't think that you can rely on your previous employment as proof of financial requirement. You would have to wait and build up proof from your new income.

I may be wrong though, so hopefully someone can correct me if I am?


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

JrmHarding said:


> As you now rely on a different form of income, self employed rather than employed by a company, and your last pay cheque is now more than 28 days old, I don't think that you can rely on your previous employment as proof of financial requirement. You would have to wait and build up proof from your new income.
> 
> I may be wrong though, so hopefully someone can correct me if I am?


Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated. 

I actually have a salary slip dated January 2014 from my previous employer for Overtime and the time I worked in December 2013. I will be including it as part of the application.


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## JrmHarding (Jan 6, 2014)

When do you plan to submit your application?


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

JrmHarding said:


> When do you plan to submit your application?


we are submitting the application on Saturday 8th February 2014


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## JrmHarding (Jan 6, 2014)

Are you using your January overtime payslip as part of your 6 months worth of financial proof?


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

JrmHarding said:


> Are you using your January overtime payslip as part of your 6 months worth of financial proof?


I was going to submit 12months of payslips including January 2014. I was also going to supply my P45 showing how much I earned up until December as they issued me a P45 in December forgetting that they would still be paying me in January. 

I don't really know which section of employment I would be better off applying under

Give all my permanent details plus my ltd company details??


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

JrmHarding said:


> Are you using your January overtime payslip as part of your 6 months worth of financial proof?


I was going to submit 12months of payslips including January 2014. I was also going to supply my P45 showing how much I earned up until December as they issued me a P45 in December forgetting that they would still be paying me in January. 

I don't really know which section of employment I would be better off applying under

Give all my permanent details plus my ltd company details??

thanks again for taking the time to respond. it is very much appreciated


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Your plan won't work. You can't combine your limited company income with your salaried income unless they cover the same period.


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

nyclon said:


> Your plan won't work. You can't combine your limited company income with your salaried income unless they cover the same period.


Thanks for taking the time to respond. 

I don't really have much choice to be honest, so I will still have to apply


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Your application will be refused. You are wasting your time.


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

nyclon said:


> Your application will be refused. You are wasting your time.


Thanks again for taking the time to respond. much appreciated


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Plus you need a year's self-employment accounts, but since you only started it in December, you can't submit any self-employment income. I'm afraid if you go ahead, you will be rejected or, rather, put on hold.

Pity you stopped your employment in December. If you had continued till now, you would be able to apply under Cat A. You would still meet the second part of Cat B (income at or above £18,600 from all employed sources in the last 12 months), but you don't satisfy the first part which is currently being in work earning the same. If you can start a job now earning at least the minimum, that would do but you only have a few days. Or do you have savings totalling £62,500?


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## 9753 (Jan 31, 2014)

My husband (UKC) is also a director and employee of his company. I defer to the others re: advice on when you'll likely best meet the income criteria, but I'll try to post some tips on some of the documentation we provided for our successful fiancé & FLR(m) visas in 2013. It was pretty ticky documentation for ltd company stuff. I'll shout back later today~


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## 9753 (Jan 31, 2014)

Here's our story (as we understood things). We were approved w/o any issues. However, others with more knowledge on this subject may chime in if I've not explained this correctly. This is my best attempt to explain our application. I'm from the US.

As a *Director (and sole employee) of his own small limited company*, my UKC sponsor (now husband) paid himself a small salary each year and took dividends – a typical tax-efficient way of running a small business.

However, from the UKBA point of view, this means filling in different forms to meet the financial requirement. It took a long time to figure it all out, as the information is spread around the UKBA website.

The big trick is this ..... from the UKBA point of view, my sponsor was self-employed. He was not self-employed by the definition of the tax people (HMRC) or anybody else in the UK, but the UKBA considers you self-employed if you run your own small business (or are a sole trader, a partner or in a franchise). Read Section 9 of the “Immigration Directorate Instructions – section FM 1.7” for details.
This fact is very easy to miss because it doesn’t mention this anywhere else except Section 9 “Self Employment” which my sponsor didn’t read initially because he is not truly self-employed !

The reason is because the company was “a limited company based in the UK of a type specified in paragraph 9a (of Appendix FM-SE)”. This definition basically means any limited company that you or your close family has a controlling interest in. The UKBA is essentially checking that your company really exists and is profitable enough to support you financially.

All well and good, but the list of required documents is pretty long and if we had known earlier how much effort would be required, we would definitely have moved savings into a liquid cash saving account, six months in advance of the application. Then we could have sent in a bank statement or two and passed the financial requirement. Oh well, you live and learn.

Anyway, the final list of financial documents, to prove the sponsor’s income from small salary plus dividends was sufficient. “Appendix FM-SE Family Members – Specified Evidence” paragraph 9 has more details.

· Company accounts (for your more recent complete business year).

· Company Tax Return CT600

· Companies House Registration (certificate of incorporation)

· Report from Companies House on current directors (their website can generate this)

· Company bank account statements - showing salary and dividend payments leaving the company’s account

· Personal bank statements - showing the same salary and dividend payments arriving in your personal bank account

· Salary slips and P60

· VAT registration certificate

· VAT return

· Dividend vouchers or warrants

· Company Board meeting minutes declaring the dividends referred to (the accountant has some standard minutes of meeting you can use)

· Letter on company notepaper (signed by fellow director) stating that the sponsor’s wage slips and P-60 for the year are genuine and stating the sponsors annual salary

· Letter on company notepaper (signed by fellow director) stating that the sponsor is indeed a director of the company and is the sole shareholder / major shareholder. Also that he is currently employed by the company and will continue to be employed in future.


Note – you cannot combine cash savings with income from self-employment.

Note - the salary slips, P60 and dividends vouchers only have to relate to the business year you are using to prove your income.

Also, you are allowed to submit accounts, etc relating to either one or two years (category F or G) – I have no idea why you would choose to submit two years, unless you had a poor recent year and a better previous year. It just means even more paper.

This all meant a lot of effort and help from the accountant. This is a difficult route - wish we had known the rules earlier. I hope this helps~


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

nyclon said:


> Your application will be refused. You are wasting your time.


you were right, we have our application on hold due to not meeting the financial requirements


Please can you offer some advice on the best way to proceed:

1. Get a permanent job with a salary above £18600? how many payslips would I require before we could reapply or would a contract letter be ok?

2. Wait until January 2015 and reapply when my business has completed 1 years trading (December 2013 - December 2014)?
how would this affect me having to submit my self assessment details? as they are never going to match up with the business trading year. would self assessment from april 2013 - april 2014 be compatible with business tax details from december 2013 - december 2014 or would I have to wait until after april 2015 to have the self assessment period april 2014 - april 2015?

any advice you can offer would be very much appreciated


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

Joppa said:


> Plus you need a year's self-employment accounts, but since you only started it in December, you can't submit any self-employment income. I'm afraid if you go ahead, you will be rejected or, rather, put on hold.
> 
> Pity you stopped your employment in December. If you had continued till now, you would be able to apply under Cat A. You would still meet the second part of Cat B (income at or above £18,600 from all employed sources in the last 12 months), but you don't satisfy the first part which is currently being in work earning the same. If you can start a job now earning at least the minimum, that would do but you only have a few days. Or do you have savings totalling £62,500?


Could I really just get a permanent job right now, apply again and meet the requirements straight away just by having a payslip or contract letter with gross salary above £18600?


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

9753 said:


> Here's our story (as we understood things). We were approved w/o any issues. However, others with more knowledge on this subject may chime in if I've not explained this correctly. This is my best attempt to explain our application. I'm from the US.
> 
> As a *Director (and sole employee) of his own small limited company*, my UKC sponsor (now husband) paid himself a small salary each year and took dividends – a typical tax-efficient way of running a small business.
> 
> ...


Thanks for taking the time to reply and for sharing your information and the list of documents required.

I have copied and saved the post for future reference. Thank you

Unfortunately for me, I fall between 2 categories, having recently started my business it is impossible for me to provide the company tax details for the 1st year. Because you need all of that information, I can't prove I am earning £18600 at the time of the application. 

even though I exceeded the required £18600 by a considerable margin in the 12months prior to my application.

again, thank you for taking the time to reply, I know it has helped me understand, and I'm sure it has helped others too.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

If you got a permanent job earning £18,600/year to apply under Category A you would need to hold that job for at least 6 months and be able to submit 6 months of pay slips of £1550/month or more along with 6 months of bank statements showing the money being deposited.

Or you could get a job and apply under Category B by adding up your income from salaried employment over the 12 months preceding application once that reached £18,600.


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## Simsim22 (Jul 26, 2013)

Sorry to interrupt ur thread. I hv used my brothers ltd company as my second job to meet the requirements for spouse visa under Category B. I am not the director or hv any shares in his company but he employed me as a normal employee and he paid me n he's paid all the tax etc.. Am I fine in this or wud they class me under self employment n put on hold? I am just worried after reading this thread


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Simsim22 said:


> Sorry to interrupt ur thread. I hv used my brothers ltd company as my second job to meet the requirements for spouse visa under Category B. I am not the director or hv any shares in his company but he employed me as a normal employee and he paid me n he's paid all the tax etc.. Am I fine in this or wud they class me under self employment n put on hold? I am just worried after reading this thread


He's self-employed, not you. You're an employee.


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## Simsim22 (Jul 26, 2013)

nyclon said:


> He's self-employed, not you. You're an employee.


Thanks Nyclon!!


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## rmgvwb (Feb 4, 2014)

nyclon said:


> If you got a permanent job earning £18,600/year to apply under Category A you would need to hold that job for at least 6 months and be able to submit 6 months of pay slips of £1550/month or more along with 6 months of bank statements showing the money being deposited.
> 
> Or you could get a job and apply under Category B by adding up your income from salaried employment over the 12 months preceding application once that reached £18,600.


thanks for your reply. got these examples from section FM-1.7

5.3.10. Case studies – Category B: Less than 6 months with current employer or variable income – person residing in the UK

Example (a)

The applicant’s partner works in the UK. She started a new job 3 months prior to the date of application and her gross annual salary is £22,000. She meets part (1) of the calculation for Category B because she is in salaried employment at the date of application and her gross annual salary at the date of application meets the financial requirement.

In addition, she must have received in the 12 months prior to the application the level of income required to meet part (2) of the calculation for Category B. Before starting her new job, she worked for another company for 7 months during the last 12 months. Including her current and previous job, the total amount she has earned from employment in the last 12 months is £20,000.

The financial requirement is met under Category B because the applicant’s partner is currently in a job paying at least £18,600 a year and has earned more than £18,600 from employment in the last 12 months.

Example (b)

The applicant’s partner works in the UK. She started a new job 3 weeks ago. Her gross annual salary is £20,000. She meets part (1) of the calculation for Category B because she is in salaried employment at the date of application and her gross annual salary at the date of application meets the financial requirement.

In addition, she must have received in the 12 months prior to the application the level of income required to part (2) of the calculation for Category B. But she has had no other job in the last 12 months as she has been travelling.

The financial requirement is met under part (1) of Category B because the applicant’s partner is currently in a job paying at least £18,600, but not under part (2) as she has not earned at least £18,600 from employment in the last 12 months. Therefore the applicant cannot meet the financial requirement using Category B.


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## harris35 (Mar 30, 2014)

i just really need to know as a self employed factory worker who's held a job for over a year with 11k a year am i able to use cash savings to combine to meet the requirement or i am not allowed to


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

harris35 said:


> i just really need to know as a self employed factory worker who's held a job for over a year with 11k a year am i able to use cash savings to combine to meet the requirement or i am not allowed to


No. Please stop asking the same question in multiple threads.


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