# Spouse visa with partner unemployed but with enough funds



## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

Hi all,

As you can see from my info, I am a Brazilian trying to move to the UK. My wife has a British passport and we are going to apply for a family visa.

We were caught off guard with the requirement that you can't apply to this type of visa if you are in the UK with a visitor's visa, so panic has settled a bit. This is actually how I found this site which helped me to settle down a bit.

I understand that all applications are unique and one can never use someone's else experience to get a perfect estimate of how their process will go. But some pointers and suggestions are always welcome!

So here is a bit of our background: my wife was actually born in Brazil but her dad moved to the UK back in the 90's. She lived there long enough to get citizenship and decided to move back to Brazil sometime after that. Her family decided to stay and is there legally, by the way. 

I recently became employed, but my last job payed well which allowed us to put together a somewhat nice "safety". Due to the political/economical/security crisis currently affecting Brazil, we decided it was time to move to the UK. 

Here is where some of my questions start: 
1. I saw a bunch of threads of people saying they are sending pictures of their life together. We have been married for more than 3 years now with the papers to prove it. Do we need to send pictures too?
2. My wife will be unemployed once we get there, but we have enough on a savings that her father have on her name to cover the £ 18,600 requirement. Is the fact that she is unemployed something that should worry us? Should she try to get there and get a job before we apply?
3. At first, we will be staying with my in-laws. Their apartment has a spare room that we will sleep in until we get jobs. Can they see that as an issue?
4. Do they only consider values hold in British accounts or can we consider the amount we have in our Brazilians account as well?

I guess those are the questions for now. There will definitely be more to come.

Many thanks in advance for any reply that shows up here!

Best of luck to us all.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

You wife is the British spouse. She has to sponsor you for your settlement visa, either by income or savings.

You both live in Brazil.

Read the following document to see how you qualify:


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...pendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf

Basically, if she has a current job earning 18,600 GBP per annum AND has a job to go to in the UK earning same then you can apply now and travel together,

If she does not have a job to go to in the UK, then she either a) returns to the UK, gets a job earning 18,600 GBP per annum and then, after 6 months, she applies for the visa for you or b) you have 62,500 GBP in savings to go the savings route.

Yes you can stay with relatives

Any savings/investments you have and which you are going to use for the application can be in UK or overseas accounts (as long as they are recognised by the UK financial authorities)


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

bbezerra said:


> Hi all,
> 
> As you can see from my info, I am a Brazilian trying to move to the UK. My wife has a British passport and we are going to apply for a family visa.
> 
> ...


Yes, you should send a few photos including a couple from your wedding.



> 2. My wife will be unemployed once we get there, but we have enough on a savings that her father have on her name to cover the £ 18,600 requirement. Is the fact that she is unemployed something that should worry us? Should she try to get there and get a job before we apply?


You have to apply for a visa before you arrive. Your wife is your sponsor. If she is not working, you need £62,500 in savings. If you don't have that amount in savings, since she is currently unemployed then she will need to move to the UK ahead of you, get a job earning at least £18,600/year and once she has had that job for 6 months, then you can apply from Brazil to join her. See FM 1.7 for details of all the options of how you can set the financial requirement.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...pendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf


> 3. At first, we will be staying with my in-laws. Their apartment has a spare room that we will sleep in until we get jobs. Can they see that as an issue?


Staying with friends and family is acceptable. It sounds like they have adequate space but it's suggested that you get a property inspection. 



> 4. Do they only consider values hold in British accounts or can we consider the amount we have in our Brazilians account as well?


Your Brazilian accounts are fine as long as they meet the requirements. See FM 1.7.


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## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

Thanks for the replies, Crawford and nyclon. I got to say that the £ 62,500 sum got me by surprise, as I did not see it anywhere in the gov.uk site. Should've read the attachments prior to this post then. Will get right into it.

Expect to hear more from me.

Regards


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

bbezerra said:


> Thanks for the replies, Crawford and nyclon. I got to say that the £ 62,500 sum got me by surprise, as I did not see it anywhere in the gov.uk site. Should've read the attachments prior to this post then. Will get right into it.
> 
> Expect to hear more from me.
> 
> Regards


If one does not have income to fulfill the financial requirements, one needs savings to cover the initial visa for 2.5 years; 18,600 x 2.5 = 46,500 GBP - _plus_ a base line of 16,000 GBP ; making a total of 62,500 GBP. 

This is for a spouse only. Additional amounts are required for dependent children.


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## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

Crawford said:


> If one does not have income to fulfill the financial requirements, one needs savings to cover the initial visa for 2.5 years; 18,600 x 2.5 = 46,500 GBP - _plus_ a base line of 16,000 GBP ; making a total of 62,500 GBP.
> 
> This is for a spouse only. Additional amounts are required for dependent children.


Thanks Crawford. Got to that part already in the document. From my understanding after my first read, the £ 62,500.00 can be reached by a combination of savings both in the UK and in Brazil. Correct? Also, it wasn't clear to me, am I allowed to use the income reports from my previous employment in Brazil?

I am currently working on the timeline to see if it is possible to get a positive reply on my first attempt before this year ends. Mind you I still need to take the IELTS.

According to my calculations and if everything goes smoothly, which it usually doesn't, I should get my visa by middle November, beginning of December.


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## carla32 (Mar 5, 2013)

I am not sure if this is still correct but I think you must have held the £62k in your account untouched for 6 months, you can't let it go below this amount at any time. You should move this amount into your account as soon as possible to apply in 2018, and make sure you have paper bank statements sent to you.
You can take money from any source available to you, except a loan, and it doesn't have to all be in one account, but it must not have gone below that amount in the next 6 months.
If some of the money is going to be given to you as a gift, then the people who gave it to you have to write a letter stating that it is a gift that does not need to be returned, and show the source of their gift ( such as their bank statement).


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

bbezerra said:


> Thanks Crawford. Got to that part already in the document. From my understanding after my first read, the £ 62,500.00 can be reached by a combination of savings both in the UK and in Brazil. Correct? Also, it wasn't clear to me, am I allowed to use the income reports from my previous employment in Brazil?


Your income can't be used to meet the financial requirement. When applying from abroad, only the UK spouse's income can be used to meet the requirement.



> I am currently working on the timeline to see if it is possible to get a positive reply on my first attempt before this year ends. Mind you I still need to take the IELTS.
> 
> According to my calculations and if everything goes smoothly, which it usually doesn't, I should get my visa by middle November, beginning of December.


Seems pretty unlikely. From the information that you've given you don't meet the financial requirement at the moment. 

Additionally, due to taking on the visa processing for a lot more countries, processing times have increased dramatically.


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## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

nyclon said:


> Your income can't be used to meet the financial requirement. When applying from abroad, only the UK spouse's income can be used to meet the requirement.


Thanks for the clarification, nyclon 




nyclon said:


> Seems pretty unlikely. From the information that you've given you don't meet the financial requirement at the moment.
> 
> Additionally, due to taking on the visa processing for a lot more countries, processing times have increased dramatically.


From what I understood from the Appendix FM Section 1.7, item 7.4.11, I could use the proceedings of the selling of my apartment, which I own for 2.5 years now, to meet the financial requirement. As long as all the paperwork stating the value of the transaction and the mortgage was fully paid is produced. Is that correct?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You need to have the full proceeds of the apartment sale paid into your bank account, plus documents relating to the sale and ownership.


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## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

Thanks Joppa.


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## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

Hi everybody,

I have been surfing the forum for experiences similar enough to mines and saw that a lot of submissions are sent with proof of relationship (WhatsApp and Skype logs, photos, etc). My wife and I have been married for 3 years now and the most we've been apart this whole time were 2 weeks, back last year.

Should I also produce communications logs? I understand the photos requirement and am prepared to provide those (15 photos at max, from what I've read), but would bills in our names and address suffice as proof?

Regards!


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Utility bills, rental/mortgage agreements etc in both names and same address will suffice.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

bbezerra said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> I have been surfing the forum for experiences similar enough to mines and saw that a lot of submissions are sent with proof of relationship (WhatsApp and Skype logs, photos, etc). My wife and I have been married for 3 years now and the most we've been apart this whole time were 2 weeks, back last year.
> 
> ...


That type of relationship evidence is necessary for couples who are separated. Since you live together that's how you prove your relationship. You provide proof of cohabitation which things like joint bank accounts, joint bills and joint tenancy or official post addressed to each of you singly at the same address.


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## bbezerra (Aug 15, 2017)

Hi everybody.

Thank you all for the messages. They were very helpful guiding myself through the whole process.

I have just taken the IELTS last week and we are now about to finalize the selling of the apartment, which will provide the needed financial support to apply for the visa.

I have a couple of new questions tough, if you don't mind:
- Regarding the accommodation situation (we will be staying at my sister-in-law and her husband's house) is it a inspection report needed? They own the house and can prove it via the deeds and further documentation. There is a spare bedroom that me and my wife will be using.
- Regarding the bank documentation: can the bank letter stating that my wife and I have had the joint account for 5 years be written in English? Or does it have to be in Portuguese and then officially translated to English? Also, for the bank statements, do they have to be translated as well? I mean, they are just a list of credits and debits. The proceedings of the apartment's sale will be listed there and I will make sure to point it out on the accompanying documentation.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Bernardo


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