# Financial Requirement - Category A or B - Questions!



## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

Hello!

Okay, I'll start with the facts - I am on a fiancee visa and we are in the process of filling out for FLR(M) for our PEO appointment next week. I have the rest of the form filled out except this category A/B stuff which I cannot seem to figure out. 

Here are the facts:

My husband is my sponsor. He works full time for an annual salary of £20,322. He got a raise to this amount as of July 1, 2012. Before that his anual salary was £18,900. He gets paid once a month, however the amount he gets paid fluctuates slightly (within +/- £10).

However, his monthly paycheques are usually around £1455 gross. What happens is that his company considers his annual salary from April - April. He'll get approx £1455 per month May-April, and then get a second paycheque at the end of the tax year of approx £800 to bring his salary up to the amount in his contract.

As far as I understand, we *cannot* apply under category A, as within the last 6 months, he has payslips that fall under the £1550 requirement, which would exclude us from qualifying, despite earning the required amount annual. Is this correct?

So, if we apply under category B, we have to supply 12 months of payslips? 

In addition to 12 months of payslips, we have the following:

P60 from 2012, showing annual salary of £18,900
Original contract of employment dating from 2009, showing salary of £18,900
Letter from Manager dated July 2012, stating pay increase to £20,322

My husband seems to think that his gross salary on his payslips might exclude his monthly company shares deduction, but I would assume that would show on his payslips. 

Either way, it's strange to see that his payslips gross income don't quite match up with his P60. I'm waiting for him to get home tonight to print out most payslips so that I can add up his salary over the last 12 months.

Given all this, I understand we will be applying under category B, yes?

And if so, should we also supply 12 months of bank statements, or is the 7 months we have sufficient? I'm not sure we could order the additional statements in time. 

Thanks everyone!


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

Okay, talked some more with my husband. Apparently his company has 13 pay periods, which explains why his monthly payslips aren't at £1455. But, as far as I understand, we'll still have to use category B and provide 12 months of payslips. Yes?


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

For a 'safe' application, use the 12-month Category B option. Under Category A, UKBA states they will use your husband's pay "at its lowest point", and as his lowest pay is below the minimum £1,550. Category B simply requires the sponsor to prove they earned £18,600 or more in the 12 months leading up to the date of application (even if monthly pay varies and some months were low), and will continue to earn at least £18,600 in the future.

You will need a full 12 months of pay slips and bank account statements for Category B (7 months won't be enough). Ensure the 12 pay-slips meet or exceed £18,600. If the P60 also confirms £18,600 or greater, a small variance shouldn't matter between pay-slips and P60 and you should meet the fnancial requirement without problem. If your husband spots the cause of the variance, there's no harm in adding this to an explanatory letter.

Good luck for next week!

EDITED TO REPLY TO YOUR LAST POST:
Yes, definitely use Category B. It will mean providing 13 pay-slips that fall within the 12-month period but that will be fine provided they reach or exceed £18,600. Mention this in a note to explain how he's paid (ie 13 4-week periods rather than monthly).


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

2farapart said:


> For a 'safe' application, use the 12-month Category B option. Under Category A, UKBA states they will use your husband's pay "at its lowest point", and as his lowest pay is below the minimum £1,550. Category B simply requires the sponsor to prove they earned £18,600 or more in the 12 months leading up to the date of application (even if monthly pay varies and some months were low), and will continue to earn at least £18,600 in the future.
> 
> You will need a full 12 months of pay slips and bank account statements for Category B (7 months won't be enough). Ensure the 12 pay-slips meet or exceed £18,600. If the P60 also confirms £18,600 or greater, a small variance shouldn't matter between pay-slips and P60 and you should meet the fnancial requirement without problem. If your husband spots the cause of the variance, there's no harm in adding this to an explanatory letter.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I'm just hoping that HSBC can get us another 6 months of statements here in this short amount of time. I have 7 months worth that they ordered, so hopefully the additional 6 will come before then. If they don't, I don't know what we'll do.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

What you CAN do with HSBC is visit your local branch and order them from there (explain why you need them urgently) and they can order them direct from head office. You'll have to collect them when they arrive, but when we did this, the bank phoned us two days later to say they were in and we could collect, whereas when I'd previously ordered my own, it took HSBC an unfathomable near 3 weeks to issue the statements direct to my address.


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## RedCello (Jan 3, 2013)

Leanna said:


> Thanks. I'm just hoping that HSBC can get us another 6 months of statements here in this short amount of time. I have 7 months worth that they ordered, so hopefully the additional 6 will come before then. If they don't, I don't know what we'll do.


Good Luck! I've heard of people in the states printing them out and getting them stamped at the bank. Can you not do that there? I'm not sure if its accepted but that might be worth looking into.


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

2farapart said:


> What you CAN do with HSBC is visit your local branch and order them from there (explain why you need them urgently) and they can order them direct from head office. You'll have to collect them when they arrive, but when we did this, the bank phoned us two days later to say they were in and we could collect, whereas when I'd previously ordered my own, it took HSBC an unfathomable near 3 weeks to issue the staements direct to my address.


The 7 months that we ordered we ordered from the bank in person, though they mailed them to us within about 3 days. I'll grab my husband's account information and walk down to the HSBC here. Unfortunately they don't keep good hours so he can't go in person as he works during their hours. FML. I hope they will let me order for him if I show we are married.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

RedCello said:


> Good Luck! I've heard of people in the states printing them out and getting them stamped at the bank. Can you not do that there? I'm not sure if its accepted but that might be worth looking into.


When I requested this of HSBC, they refused, stating they don't do this. Many other banks do though.


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

2farapart said:


> When I requested this of HSBC, they refused, stating they don't do this. Many other banks do though.


Yeah HSBC didn't. If they can't get us statements that fast, I might have to just head there and ask and ask and ask until I get someone who can do something. I don't want to reschedule the appointment and I'm kicking myself for not just ordering 12 when they asked instead of 6. Bah.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Good idea! Don't budge until someone offers to assist usefully. Wasn't a problem in my branch (it was they who suggested they could order the statements and they would take a maximum 2-3 days if they did it). Good luck!


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

We looked over my husband's payslips this evening and we'll have to go Option B as he actually gets 13 payslips a year - each one being £1445. He got two payslips in August, but that means if we went through Category A we'd almost certainly be denied as from 6 months it wouldn't appear he earns enough. We have 12 months of payslips and all sorts of employment stuff, so that's a weight off my shoulders.

Now just waiting for the HSBC stuff. Please send happy thoughts our way that they will get here in time! 

HSBC said that they can print out statements in branch as well, I know they aren't the same but if we don't get the statements in time via mail, I'll get them to print out a batch in branch and hope for the best. 

Fingers crossed!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Leanna said:


> We looked over my husband's payslips this evening and we'll have to go Option B as he actually gets 13 payslips a year - each one being £1445. He got two payslips in August, but that means if we went through Category A we'd almost certainly be denied as from 6 months it wouldn't appear he earns enough. We have 12 months of payslips and all sorts of employment stuff, so that's a weight off my shoulders.
> 
> Now just waiting for the HSBC stuff. Please send happy thoughts our way that they will get here in time!
> 
> ...


You need to look at each pay slip carefully and note down the dates it covers. Only income received in employment during the past 12 months (and no longer) will count. If you have two pay slips issued in August, it's clear one of them covers a period before or after the other, which may put the length of period in question longer than 12 months.


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

Joppa said:


> You need to look at each pay slip carefully and note down the dates it covers. Only income received in employment during the past 12 months (and no longer) will count. If you have two pay slips issued in August, it's clear one of them covers a period before or after the other, which may put the length of period in question longer than 12 months.


He gets paid every 4 weeks. So there were 5 Fridays in August, he happens to get paid the first Friday and the last. According to him & his colleagues this is standard for the company. 

The first payslip he got is dated January 20th, so it includes a week of pay that technically doesn't count as it was the last week of December in 2011. 

The past payslip we have it dated December 21st, 2012, so it doesn't include a week at the end of December of this year. 

We won't have his January payslip as he gets paid next Friday, after our PEO meeting. 

So from my calculations we are in the clear. His gross salary for this period is £19,246.29 by my calculations - adding up the gross pay on each payslip. 

Adding on top of that we have his previous P60 showing an income of £18,900 for the 2011 Tax year, as well as his original job offer stating the same wage. As well we have the original letter from his supervisor showing his July 2012 raise to £20,322 annually. 

I think we're okay as far as financial requirement goes, you?

Thanks for pointing that out though.


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

Just to add - each payslip covers the previous 4 weeks. Should've said that.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Ok.


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## Leanna (Oct 22, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Ok.


Thanks Joppa, I really appreciate everything you've done and all my questions you've answered. Really, awesome sauce  Was a very stressful day today trying to figure out the whole category A vs B and I really couldn't have done it without everyone here in the forum and you. Thanks again.


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