# Several Questions - Appendix 2



## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Hello All - 

(As some of you already know) My husband and I are applying for our spouse visa next week and I began filling out our Appendix 2 form - Category B. 

There are a few questions I have and I am sure I will think of more. So far, I need some help on the following:

*1.4 - Where did you first meet your sponsor?
*How specific do they want me to be? We first met at the airport when I picked him up. Should I put exactly that or just a general town and state? (sorry in advance if this is a dumb question)

*1.19 Have you lived with your sponsor in a relationship akin to marriage or a civil partnership at any time (including since your wedding or civil partnership ceremony)? 
Yes or No? 
*We have not, however it asks to explain reasons why we have not lived together. I have filled in that we currently live in different countries and in order for us to live together we must obtain a visa. Is this okay? 

*2.8 Do you intend to work in the UK? Yes or No? If yes, provide details.
*I answered yes, once I am settled in the UK, I plan on looking for work. Is this okay? 

*3.12 Has your sponsor been in employment with the same employer and earning the amount, as detailed in 3.11 above, continuously for 6 months prior to the date of the application (category A)? Yes or No?
*I have answered No as we are applying under category B.

*3.13 Has your sponsor had other salaried employment, in the UK, in the 12 months prior to the date of application? (category B) Yes or No?
*I have answered No as my husband has NOT had any other jobs in the last year. So it then says to skip to question 3.20

3.20 We have filled in his total income for the last 12 months which exceeds the requirement.

The questions I am confused on are 3.21 and 3.22. 

*For 3.21 Does your sponsor's annual income from their current salaried employment meet or exceed the financial requirement you must meet?*
We answered Yes. 

*3.22 If your sponsor has not been employed by the same employer for 6 months prior to the application does their total income from salaried employment received in the 12 months prior to the application meet or exceed the financial requirement you must meet? 
*My husband has been with the same employer for the last 6 months, do we just leave this blank? Or answer no?

I just want to make sure we have filled out the financial section properly for category B. I wasn't sure if leaving things blank is the right thing to do here or just answer no. 

Any help is much appreciated. Sorry for the huge post!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

#1 Yes.
#2 OK.
#3 Fine.
#4 Fine.
#5 Fine.
#6 Fine.
#7 Then why are you applying under Cat B?


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Joppa said:


> #1 Yes.
> #2 OK.
> #3 Fine.
> #4 Fine.
> ...


We are applying under Cat B because my husband has not earned 1550/check over the last 6 months. His pay has fluctuated between adding in overtime and also getting a promotion recently. So I am not sure how to answer that question. He has been with the same employer for the last 12 months, it's just his pay has fluctuated.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If his pay has been fluctuating, then you take an average over the last 6 months and then work out the annual income. If it comes to £18,600, you meet the requirement under Cat A. So you don't need to apply under Cat B.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Joppa said:


> If his pay has been fluctuating, then you take an average over the last 6 months and then work out the annual income. If it comes to £18,600, you meet the requirement under Cat A. So you don't need to apply under Cat B.


Let me explain a bit more in detail. He is in salaried employment. Back in September 2014 his annual salary was 18,000/year. In January 2015, he got a pay raise to 18,360/year. He then worked some overtime in July to try and make up some extra money towards the requirement instead of having to get a second job. Then as of August 3rd, 2015, he got a promotion and is now on 19,750 per year. 

So that is why we are applying under category B. They will add up all 12 payslips and he will be over the requirement for the last year and is currently earning above the requirement also. 

Is this wrong? And if we are correct in applying under category B, how should I answer question 3.22?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

He can still apply under Cat A even if you take his pre-increase salary of £18,360 a year, if he earned in July at least 18600 - 18360 divided by 2 = £120 in overtime. You can then answer questions in Appendix 2 accordingly.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

So you're saying if he earned £120 in overtime in July we could apply under category A?


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

I didn't fully understand your response Joppa. To be clear, he has not met £18,600 in July. He has made that including this final pay check he gets for August. Without August, we would be under the requirement. He has overtime money and his increased salary this month which then puts us over the requirement. Does that make sense? 

So I do believe we are correct in applying under category B. At least I thought haha.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

So for the last year, this is what his pay has looked like and why we decided to go with Category B:

Sept: 1500
Oct: 1500
Nov: 1500
Dec: 1500
Jan: 1530
Feb: 1530
March: 1530
April: 1530
May: 1530
June: 1530
July: 1826.58 (base pay plus some overtime)
Aug: 1700 (base pay plus some overtime)

Totalling: 18,706 (and change)

And then as I mentioned before, he got promoted at the beginning of the month and will be earning 19,750/year. Meeting both parts of category B. 

So for question 3.22, I would assume I would answer that as Yes even though he has been with the same employer for the last 6 months, he has still met the requirement for the last 12 months. It definitely seems like it should say "or earned variable income" on that question.


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## Invisibleme (Apr 24, 2015)

Joppa is saying take the last 6 months, March - August and get the average. So, 1700+1826.58+1530+1530+1530+1530=9646.58

9646.58/6 = 1607.76

1607.76*12 = 19293.16

You're over te requirement with cat A. Joppa can correct me if I'm wrong on my math/what he said.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Invisibleme said:


> Joppa is saying take the last 6 months, March - August and get the average. So, 1700+1826.58+1530+1530+1530+1530=9646.58
> 
> 9646.58/6 = 1607.76
> 
> ...


I thought that was for non-salaried employment under category A. My husband is a salaried employee. 



> Where the person is in salaried employment – they must have been paid throughout
> the period of 6 months prior to the date of application at a level of gross annual salary
> which equals or exceeds the level relied upon in the application. Therefore the figure
> used towards the requirement will be the lowest level of annual salary received during
> ...


This is why we were planning on using category B.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

But if you are salaried but get bonuses, commissions or overtime, your extras are averaged and added to your salaried income.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

I see. I guess my next question would be, is it still possible to just apply under category B? I mean we have already gathered all those documents and I feel if they just add up the last 12 months, it would be a bit simpler. 

His overtime is not a "steady" thing so to speak. It just happened to come at the right time for us with our visa application plans. But again, this doesn't happen often.


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## Invisibleme (Apr 24, 2015)

"Overtime, commission-based pay and bonuses (which can include tips and gratuities paid via a tronc scheme registered with HMRC) will be counted as income from employment where they have been received in the 6 or 12 months prior to the date of application as applicable. Sometimes the person will receive the same amount of income from overtime each month; sometimes overtime payments will vary, with different amounts (if any) each month. All overtime in salaried employment will be calculated based on the approach to income from non-salaried employment. This will be an annualised 6-month average for the overtime which will be added to the level of the gross annual salary."

From section 5.5.7. 

With category B, you still have to average the last 6 months. This is just my opinion, but if you're confused about how you're answering the questions, will the ECO be confused by your answers? If it was me, I would just redo the application and leave no room for questions/confusion from the ECO. It might take you a little bit of time to redo, but that's less time than an appeal or having to reapply.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Okay, now I am very confused on how to approach this. I thought under category B, each payslip is added up over the last 12 months regardless of that including overtime or not. Which only 2 out of the 12 months have any overtime included, by the way. 

Regardless of which way its calculated, whether that is averaged or just simply added together, he is still above the requirement. So I am unsure of how to go about this now. 

We haven't submitted our application yet. 

As far as the application is concerned, we have answered like this:

*3.3 From the list below, please indicate the main method of meeting the financial requirement:*
Income from salaried employment in the UK - category B

*3.11 What is your sponsor's annual income from this employment before tax?*
19,750 (he just was promoted at the beginning of this month and is now earning this figure yearly)

*3.12 Has your sponsor been in employment with the same employer and earning the amount, as detailed in 3.11 above, continuously for 6 months prior to the date of the application? (Category A)*
We selected NO - says go to 3.13

*3.13 Has your sponsor had other salaried employment, in the UK, in the 12 months prior to the date of application? (Category B)*
We selected NO as he has NOT had any other jobs in the last 12 months. Says go to 3.20

*3.20 What was your sponsor's total income (before tax) from salaried employment in the 12 months prior to the application? *
We put 18,706.58 (just added up all 12 months of payslips together including the overtime)

*3.21 Does your sponsor's annual income (before tax) from their current salaried employment meet or exceed the financial requirement you must meet?*
We answered YES - simply because it does. 

*3.22 If your sponsor has not been employed by the same employer for 6 months prior to the application does their total income (before tax) from salaried employment received in the 12 months prior to your application meet or exceed the financial requirement you must meet?*
We answered YES. Mainly because this question does not mention "or has had variable income".


So aside from this, I don't know how else we could possibly answer these questions. I am freaking out now. I thought we had it all figured out properly.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

The thing I am having a hard time understanding is that I have previously asked on this forum about how the 12 months would be calculated even with some overtime, and I was told by a mod that they simply take all 12 payslips and add them together and come up with a total figure. I asked this months ago because we knew that he would be able to work some overtime to help us meet the financial requirement. Is this apparently incorrect now?


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## Invisibleme (Apr 24, 2015)

Don't worry. You're still over the requirement. I could be completely wrong about how to calculate it. I'm just interpreting what I've read in FM 1.7. But I don't know that it's as straightforward as just adding your paychecks together if you haven't been making the same amount every paycheck. I will stop and wait for Joppa to respond.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Invisibleme said:


> Don't worry. You're still over the requirement. I could be completely wrong about how to calculate it. I'm just interpreting what I've read in FM 1.7. But I don't know that it's as straightforward as just adding your paychecks together if you haven't been making the same amount every paycheck. I will stop and wait for Joppa to respond.


I appreciate your responses and trying to assist InvisibleMe. From what I understood about Category B it is for people with variable income such as my husband. He has had a couple raises over the last year and from what I have read in FM 1.7, it states:



> 5.3.10. So, under Category B, the assessment of the financial requirement is based on:
> (1) The gross annual salary or income from salaried or non-salaried employment at the
> date of application. This source can be combined with Category C: non-employment
> income, Category D: cash savings and Category E: pension; and
> ...


In that second part, it says ANY salaried or non-salaried employment in the 12 months prior. So after asking this previously and figuring out how it would be calculated, I was told it was simply "add up all 12 payslips and if it equals or exceeds 18,600, that part of the requirement is met".


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## Invisibleme (Apr 24, 2015)

Right, that is the second part, but category B has 2 parts. The second part is the actual amount, which is what you are referring to. I'm just not sure if part 1 is also calculated by adding or since it is variable, you need to average.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Invisibleme said:


> Right, that is the second part, but category B has 2 parts. The second part is the actual amount, which is what you are referring to. I'm just not sure if part 1 is also calculated by adding or since it is variable, you need to average.


To be clear:

*Part 1: (1) The gross annual salary or income from salaried or non-salaried employment at the date of application. This source can be combined with Category C: non-employment
income, Category D: cash savings and Category E: pension; and*

My husband got a promotion, he is now earning a salary of £19,750/year - we meet part 1 with no issues (his employment contract states this).

*Part 2: (2) The actual amount of gross income received from any salaried or non-salaried employment in the 12 months prior to the application. This can be combined with the actual gross income received from Category C: non-employment income and
Category E: pension over the same 12-month period. Category D: cash savings
cannot be used under (2).*

As I said, we were adding up all 12 payslips from the last year and that came out to £18,706.58. 


Does this make more sense? It is kind of hard to explain everything in text sometimes.


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## Invisibleme (Apr 24, 2015)

It makes a lot more sense now.


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Yes, FINALLY! Haha  It is super hard to explain, so I apologize if I wasn't making it clear beforehand. 

So yes, part 1 is absolutely no problem at all since he is now earning above the requirement. 

It was just part 2 that I was confused on. I assumed they will literally take all 12 payslips and add them together, voila...we meet the requirement. 

So if anyone could just confirm this, I can stop going crazy and feel much more at ease!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You can apply either under Cat A or Cat B. I never said you can't apply under B - it's just that Cat A for most people is simpler to evidence so most go for it if they are eligible. In similar situation to yours, the only people who must apply under B and not A are those whose averaged income over the last 6 months doesn't meet the requirement but the total for the last 12 months does, for example, by doing more overtime in the first 6 months. 
Clear?


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## ktorres926 (Mar 15, 2015)

Thanks, Joppa. Yup, that makes complete sense. We will stick with applying under category B then. We already have everything we need for it anyway. I appreciate all the help.


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