# Spouse Visa - Savings



## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi all,
Got a question regarding the amount of savings/funds required to apply for a spouse visa. Reading a few of these threads it seems to vary?
My wife (British citizen) and I are planning to move to the UK and have a question regarding savings. Neither of us have jobs lined up in the UK but have a combined savings of around 50k pounds (25k for me and 25k for her) and have statements to prove this for the last 6 months. We also have a statement from her father saying that we will stay with him whilst we get setup. 

Will this be enough savings or do we need to have jobs lined up before we apply? Or will she need to travel first and be working for 6 months? Both of us expect to earn +30k pounds in our jobs.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!!


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

In order to qualify for a spouse visa, you need to have a job that pays £18600 per anum.

In lieu of this minimum income, you can prove it via savings at a predetermined level...

Difference between current earnings and 18600 x 2.5 + 16000

So, in your case the minimum requirement is £62500

18600 minimum minus your income level of 0 p.a. = 18600 needed to make up the difference for the visa.

18600 x 2.5 = 46500 

I am not sure where they got the 2.5 bit from, but I would imagine that it represents needing £18600 per year for the 2.5 years between granting of the initial visa and the expiry of the first visa (you need to get two visas of 2.5 years each in order to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain). I would suspect as well that this same formula would apply for the second visa as well.

46500 + 16000 = 62500

Am also not sure where the £16000 requirement comes from or how it would come in to play, other than the fact that it's part of the formula that the Home Office came up with when they revamped the rules on July 9th.

Therefore, £62500 is the minimum required balance in cash savings (i.e. no loans) in order to qualify. These funds must have sat in the bank for at least 6 months untouched.


I am sorry that you and your wife didn't apply for the visa before July 8th... otherwise you would likely have been able to get in before the rules changed and would only have to wait for 2 years before applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain.


Good Luck with your application!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> Am also not sure where the £16000 requirement comes from or how it would come in to play, other than the fact that it's part of the formula that the Home Office came up with when they revamped the rules on July 9th.


_The Migration Advisory Committee recommended that the minimum gross annual income for sponsoring a partner, without dependants, should be set at between *£18,600 (the level at which in most cases a couple receive no income-related benefits)* and £25,700 (the level at which the sponsor is a net contributor to the public finances)

*£16,000 is the level of savings at which a person generally ceases to be eligible for income-related benefits* and is therefore consistent with the basis on which the Migration Advisory Committee calculated the income threshold of £18,600._

Statement of Intent p 16, 19

The government has therefore accepted the level for income and savings at which a couple will no longer be eligible for welfare benefits. This is of course theoretical since migrants aren't generally eligible for benefits and recourse to public funds. But it's a way of demonstrating that according to the benefit rules, they would be considered to be self-supporting. This is a very crude measure, and geographical locations and other individual factors will greatly affect the actual amount required, but they had to come up with a simple, across-the-board formula that's easy to understand and to implement.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

In addition to the £62,500 on initial application, you will again need to demonstrate that you have at least this much for the subsequent 2.5 years too (ie half way through the 5 year probation when you need to apply for the next 2,5 year extension). Finally, when applying for Indefinite Leave To Remain, you again need to show that you still hold savings (except this final application amount does not need to be multiplied by a further 2.5 years). If once in the UK either of you secure a job worth £18,600 or more per year and can keep it for six months prior to each subsequent visa application, this will mitigate the need to lock up your savings for 5 years.

In summary then, for your first and second visa applications, you must show that you've held £62,500 in savings for six months prior to the application, and for the final ILR application, £18,600 + £16,000 (£34,600) unless you can meet the finance requirement of future applications through employment income.


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

Many thanks guys. Looks like the £62k requirement is almost impossible to reach. Even if we pooled our money into the same account AND managed to save another £12k we would still need to wait 6 months. 

I guess it will be easier if my wife returns to the UK, gets a job and we apply after 6 months. I understand the requirement for financial stability but as recently wedded I can't think of spending more than 6 months apart  

Oh well, rules are rules and I do wish we'd applied before July!


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

I think I may have found another condition which will allow us to apply and arrive at the same time in the UK. I hope this information is relevant which I found in the *Statement of Intent: Family Migration* (page 17) document issued by the UK Border Agency. 

_ Where the sponsor has been working overseas and is returning to work in the UK, there will be scope for them to count a firm, verifiable job offer or signed contract of employment to start work within three months of their return at a salary at the level required to meet the financial requirement. They must also demonstrate that either they are in employment overseas at the required salary level at the point of application and have been so continuously for at least the previous six months or they have earned the required amount through salaried employment in the 12 months prior to the application. _

So all we would need is for my wife to find a job in the UK before we apply to meet point the entry requirement? 

Cheers.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Yes!


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Yes!


That's great! Finding a job won't be a problem for her


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

juitz said:


> That's great! Finding a job won't be a problem for her


Really ? that's amazingly optimistic, bearing in mind that the UK has a relatively high level of unemployment.

What line of work is she in?


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

Well after 4 weeks of searching my wife has secured a job and we will be handing in our application tomorrow. Fingers crossed!


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## benthomas010 (Jun 5, 2012)

Crawford said:


> Really ? that's amazingly optimistic, bearing in mind that the UK has a relatively high level of unemployment.
> 
> What line of work is she in?


Where does this myth come from? Its at its lowest point in 18 months at the moment. I suppose there are huge regional and vocational variations though.


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

I got this email today, I'm hoping it means I got the visa approved?

"Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub"


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## Seppz123 (Aug 22, 2012)

I couldn't say for sure as I'm still waiting to hear something myself, but it sounds very promising to me!


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

juitz said:


> I got this email today, I'm hoping it means I got the visa approved?
> 
> "Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub"


It usually does. In a very small number of cases, it's not always so clear cut. I remember one applicant receiving this, followed by, the next day, 'your visa has been refused'. Her own visa had been issued but her daughter's had been denied. Mostly though, it's usually a good sign to receive this message.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

I think that it means that the visa HAS been approved... I received a similar email back in July and lo and behold, less than 48 hours later my passport was back in my hands, complete with a fiancee visa!

Congratulations to you!


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## BailyBanksBiddle (Feb 8, 2012)

juitz said:


> I got this email today, I'm hoping it means I got the visa approved?
> 
> "Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub"


I think you can bank on it having been approved. If they approve your visa application, they despatch a visa through the post. If they refuse your visa application they will tell you just that, or something like, "the materials you sent in support of your application are being returned to you," full stop w/no mention of a visa being posted.


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## es_awesome (Oct 20, 2012)

So, you applied late October and got your visa approved ALREADY?? 
Congratulations!! That's awesome

I'm going back to biting my nails and waiting with my application......


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

Well, from the feedback it sounds promising  cant believe it took only about 4 weeks though. 
Looking forward to getting a definitive answer and hopefully getting to the UK before xmas.

If all is well ill def post info on what we submitted in our application for reference.


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

es_awesome said:


> So, you applied late October and got your visa approved ALREADY??
> Congratulations!! That's awesome
> 
> I'm going back to biting my nails and waiting with my application......


Thanks! And good luck to you  

We did put a lot of work into it making sure we considered and submitted anything that might be relevant. Guess it paid off with such a quick turnaround


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

Yay!! I got my passport back with a shiny new visa yesterday. Many thanks to the people here with the advice. I can't believe it was done in four weeks.


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## es_awesome (Oct 20, 2012)

Congratulations!!!!!!! That's fantastic news for you, safe travels!

I thought I'd been diligent, but obviously not diligent enough in the visa preparation stage!!!


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## es_awesome (Oct 20, 2012)

I just got the same email you got!!!!! 
YIPPEEEEEEEEEE


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## juitz (Sep 2, 2012)

es_awesome said:


> I just got the same email you got!!!!!
> YIPPEEEEEEEEEE


That's great! Congratulations


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