# Exemption from new financial requirements? or not?



## NZgirlUKboy (Jul 12, 2012)

Hello. Firstly, I am a Kiwi living in New Zealand trying to understand how to join my British partner who lives in the UK. I have been reading through all the new information regarding the financial requirements involved in the fiance/spouse visas. Im quite confused and am looking for some clarification.

Currently my UK partner is in receipt of the Disability Living Allowance. I read that this makes him exempt from the new financial requirements. I also read that in this case, the non-UK partner is required to show evidence of maintenance for themselves and any dependents accompanying them, but there was no indication as to what this might be, it just said that it was currently under review.

So I am trying to find out if this exemption is correct and applies to us, and if so how much I am required to have to prove I can support myself and my 4 year old. and also for how long? eg. what period is the maintenance required for? I understand I cant work on a fiance visa so the funds would need to cover the period before I was married, and to apply to change to the spouse visa I would have to prove further maintenance was available but for how long if I was then entitled to find work on the spouse visa while my partner is still exempt?

I am very confused since the Disability Allowance situation changes our circumstances and I cant find more information about it all. any advice would be so appreciated at this point as I am feeling overwhelmed by the whole process and have barely even begun the journey.

thanks in advance for any help


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

> 168. An applicant whose sponsor is in receipt of any of the following disability-related benefits or Carer’s Allowance will be exempt from the financial requirement in respect of that application stage:
> 
> • Disability Living Allowance.
> • Severe Disablement Allowance.
> ...


Well, here's the text for the sake of quoting it. I've seen it written several times that the new financial requirements do not apply where DLA is received. The point that follows it reads to me along the lines of the OLD rules. After housing and council tax is deducted, how much will be available to keep you? You need to prove that it's enough not to struggle. The new rules don't help much in what this figure might be, but under the old rules it was £111.45 per week after housing costs. If you can find more in your partner's available funds to add to that amount, even better in case the figure is now perceived to be higher. Please bear in mind I'm guessing in the absence of any proper guide, but it's how I'm reading the changes.

The second stage FLR application circumstances would change if DLA is stopped (it's a benefit continually under review by the government), but by then you would be legally able to work here and so your income would also be considered for your next application and could hopefully offset this should DLA be stopped for your partner.


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## NZgirlUKboy (Jul 12, 2012)

thank you so much for the quick response, yes that is the same piece of info I read re: maintenance where DLA is a factor, and I assumed it must be similar to the original requirements under the old rules too but Im not entirely sure how those rules work either. I have a few questions which Im sure are annoying and have been answered a thousand times on here so Im apologizing in advance for asking them 

My partner currently is receiving DLA, Housing benefit and Incapacity benefit, Im pretty sure I read that none of those sources count as income so essentially it would need to be my savings that counted toward my maintenance, Im not sure if this is going to be acceptable though as part of the new rules say to gain entry it must be the UK partners income/savings that are counted, and if the above is correct that means there is no way I can even begin the process of joining him as its likely he will remain on DLA for some time. Im not sure which new rules still apply in this situation? Im also unclear about whether my partner would still be eligible to receive these benefits if my son and I joined him? eg. I am not entitled to public funds, but if he is paying for the rent through his Housing benefit am I benefiting from that too? or would it be stopped? Or would my savings contributing to our joint finances make him not eligible for his benefits any more? Im not sure how it works. 

Also, the figure you mentioned as part of the old rules for maintenance, although I understand it will likely be a higher amount than that now, was it set at a higher rate if you had dependent children with you? (like the new financial requirements, higher with dependents) or was that amount per person, eg. for both my son and I we would need twice the amount you referred to?

and the last bit (Im so sorry, Im trying to wrap my head around all of this!!) my partner currently rents on his own, and my son and I would be moving in with him. so would my maintenance (if broken down weekly) be based as though I was paying the entire rent and council tax as well as having the £111.45 (or more for both my son and I at whatever the new amount is) left over after that? or would my housing costs be half of the total between us? or is it calculated on the entire households income? because as I said Im pretty sure his benefits aren't included as income even though he would be covering the cost of the rent already? 

the receipt of benefits and the DLA exemption are really confusing me, its less straight forward trying to calculate how much I should be looking at having in savings for my son and I. I have also emailed the official UKBA people with all these questions too and am waiting for a reply, I know it can take around a week to hear back, but there seems to be a lot of valuable information sharing on this website so I hope my questions make sense and someone knows what Im talking about haha! 

thanks again for any further light you may be able to shed on the situation


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

The guidance on how to work out maintenance requirement for those exempt from new rules are set out in http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...w/IDIs/chp8-annex/maintenance.pdf?view=Binary

Briefly, it's like the old rules, except that no third party support is allowed (e.g. relatives chipping in to help with living costs, except for provision of accommodation). 
The amount is £111.45 plus £64.99 for your child per week. This will be required at the first stage of applying for your leave to enter (visa), and may apply for further leave to remain, but it's under review pending government proposals for benefit reform and if your partner will still be under DLA.


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## NZgirlUKboy (Jul 12, 2012)

thankyou Joppa, thats what I was looking for. 

So just to clarify I should be calculating something like this:

The total of his DLA + my savings needs to equal or surpass the total of rent/council tax/household utilities/the £111.45 plus £64.99 per week for the 3 of us for the period of initial entry up to application for FLR is accepted and until I can begin work and earn the maintanence myself.

(assuming his other benefits are not being included as income andare likely to stop once I join him, and not sure if the household costs are just rent and council tax or household utilities like power/water too?) 

Once again, so sorry, you guys must get sick of answering the same questions all the time. I would probably just call the UKBA information line to ask things like this but from NZ it costs $12 each call and I will never keep my savings if I do that all the time 

thanks again


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

For your visa, you must have £176.44 in cash per week left over after paying for rent/mortgage and council tax (but nothing else). DLA can be included in your calculations but not most other forms of benefits like income support and tax credits. But if your housing cost is reduced because of housing and council tax benefit, that will be fine. Any savings over £16,000 can be added, and the amount is your total savings minus £16000 devided by 2.5. So if you have £20,000, you can count £1600 towards your maintenance requirement. For FLR in 30 months' time, if you are working, your income counts and if your partner is still on DLA, the old rules still apply, uprated with inflation each year, though watch out for welfare reform which may change the basis on which benefits like DLA are paid. Any change that will affect migrants will be announced on UKBA site.


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## NZgirlUKboy (Jul 12, 2012)

thank you again Joppa. I had forgotten about only savings above £16,000 being counted, it makes it so much harder to make up the amount necessary. something else I forgot to include is the weekly child support I recieve for my son from his father, can that be counted towards our maintenace in the initial application?


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

I believe Child Support is indeed counted towards the requirement.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

NZgirlUKboy said:


> thank you again Joppa. I had forgotten about only savings above £16,000 being counted, it makes it so much harder to make up the amount necessary. something else I forgot to include is the weekly child support I recieve for my son from his father, can that be counted towards our maintenace in the initial application?


You may hit a problem when trying to bring your son to UK. UKBA takes the welfare of the child seriously and usually requires a court order giving you sole responsibility. In fact the more involvement his natural father has in his life - and paying child support certainly strengthens it, the more difficult it will be to convince UKBA that taking your son to UK is in his best interest. You may want to consult a lawyer over this, and find out what kind of documents you need to supply to argue your case. A letter from his father agreeing his son being taken to UK isn't usually enough.


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## NZgirlUKboy (Jul 12, 2012)

really?! I hadnt counted on that being a problem at all! my son has only ever lived with me, never spent a night with his father in his 4 years and the child support I receive is collected from his salary and paid to me via the Inland Revenue Department as is required by law in this country whether the parent has ever met their child or not so Im not sure how the payments would demonstrate any attachment at all. but its definitely worth me looking into, thanks for the heads up. Im feeling more and more dismayed by this whole process with each bit of information I find out 

thanks for all your help. will have a think about how to proceed from here


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If the two never have had contacts, that would strengthen your case, but if they do meet regularly even if not very frequently, that will be a factor to be taken into account. You need good legal advice over this, someone who is aware of UKBA requirements as well as NZ law.
See http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s.../bci-act1/change-for-children.pdf?view=Binary, though it's a bit old.


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## maxidell38 (Aug 7, 2013)

Hi NZgirlUKboy 

I'm curious as to how you got on with your visa as I also have a child I wish to bring with me!


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