# Uk spouse Visa and Bursary



## charlie12345 (Mar 3, 2013)

Any advise will be greatly appreciated as I am getting so confused and disheartened by all the information and comments i've seen similar to this post on the forum.

I am currently working and earning in excess of the £18,600 although not been in the same job for 6 months.

However, in september i am hoping to start teacher training under the new scheme similar to the old GTP whereby you train in schools rather than the PGCE which is university based. The teaching scheme and Local Authority are giving me a bursary of £20,000. tax free.

My fiance is Canadian and ideally we would like to get a spouse visa so he can work here. We are not getting married until the summer at the earliest and so wont be applying until around september / october and so i will have a letter and contract for this and possibly received some monthly payments from the bursary.

i can see from the other posts that people dont believe that bursaries and grants are acceptable in meeting the financial requirements. however, in reading the guidance on the UKBA website:

immigration directorate instructions
family members under appendix fm of the immigration rules
annex fm section fm 1.7
financial requirement

(sorry cant post URL's yet)

I can see under section 6 non employment income does include maintenance grants and stipends (not loans) for undergraduate or postgraduate studies. pages 24 and 26.

my understanding of these rules are as long as it does not have to be paid back study grants are permissable? please can someone let me know what they think and whether i have just missunderstood this? i dont want to waste the application fee on a missunderstanding that could be avoided.

thanks


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

It appears as though ITT bursary counts towards financial requirement:

_(g) To evidence a maintenance grant or stipend (not a loan) associated with undergraduate study or postgraduate study or research:
(i) Documentation from the body or company awarding the grant or stipend confirming that the person is currently in receipt of the grant or stipend or will be within 3 months of the date of application, confirming that the grant or stipend will be paid for a period of at least 12 months from the date of application or from the date on which payment of the grant or stipend will commence, and confirming the annual amount of the grant or stipend. (ii) Personal bank statements for any part of the 12-month period prior to the date of the application during which the person has been in receipt of the grant or stipend showing the income was paid into the person's account._
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...DIs/chp8-annex/section-FM-1.7.pdf?view=Binary

So it's important to delay your application until you start receiving your bursary (paid at monthy arreas starting around the first week of October, though exact payment date varies with training provider). 

This rule is fairly new (I think it came in at December revision) and we don't yet have experience of someone successfully applying for visa using educational grant, but I can't see why some ITT bursaries can't be taken into account. Strictly speaking, your bursary isn't for 'undergraduate or postgraduate study or research', as you won't be getting an academic qualification like PGCE but just QTS, which is professional/vocational. So I don't know how UKBA will view your situation.


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## charlie12345 (Mar 3, 2013)

thank you for your prompt reply. 

some local authorities will give a pgce at the end of it as well. so i think it is considered post graduate but i can check and if in any doubt will ask the school to write a letter confirming this.

my only concern now is at the top of that section it says you need 12 months prior to the application. but then per the wording you highlighted above it doesnt appear to say that. 

so the bursary alone should be enough to meet this requirement if i can get a letter confirming it to be a post graduate bursary and for a year? i pay tuition fees so i would think this should evidence it to? and provide a bank statement with the first receipt possibly more depending when we are able to make the application?

thanks


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

EBITT (such as GTP) isn't a postgraduate course of study, and even PGCE is now divided into L3 (graduate-level, now called FHEQ Level 6) Professional Graduate Certificate and M-level (Level 7) Postgraduate Certificate of Education. I would imagine that your bursary is eligible for meeting financial requirement, but I can't be 100% certain. 
No, you only need to start receiving your bursary when your fiancé applies for visa, which is paid over 12 months.


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## charlie12345 (Mar 3, 2013)

Sorry to keep asking. do i need to do anything with regards the 12 months prior to the application with what i've earnt as i was planning on quitting work now and spending now until september with him in canada if i dont need anything previous.

thanks


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If you meet the financial requirement solely under Cat C, non-employment income, then you don't have to do anything about the period of 12 months to the date of application. But as I've said, you must have started to receive your bursary when your fiancé comes to apply for his visa. Or alternatively, before you quit your job, provided you have been in work with same employer longer than 6 months, you can apply at that stage, provided you bring forward your wedding by a few months. You can apply up to 3 months in advance of your travel date, so you can, say, marry and apply in June and the visa will be valid from September.


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