Do I have to use the same method of meeting the Financial Requirement (£18,600) as I used in the previous Spouse/Partner application?
For example, if you used
employment income when your spouse/partner was coming to the UK, does it mean you have to keep the same job?
Do you have to keep working at all for the duration of the Spouse/Partner visa?
Or, if you used a Savings Category (D) and held £62,500 for 6 months, does it
mean you have to keep the money until the next application?
If you are an Immigration Adviser
or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website: www.1st4immigration.com/training
The above are very common
questions in our practice. The answer is: every application is considered based
on the financials at the time of that application, so you can certainly vary
the method of achieving the Financial Requirement threshold (£18,600 income or
£62,500 savings). So, if you used savings of £62,500 when your spouse secured
his/her initial Spouse visa, then after 2.5 years you can use a different method,
such as earnings from your job – as long as it meets the Financial Requirement
and you can provide the Specified Evidence (specified documents in the format
the UK Visas and Immigration wants them).
Moreover, it can be
either spouse’s income, as long as it meets the requirements. For example, if
the initial visa was based on the British partner’s job in the UK, extension
after 2.5 years can be based just on the foreign partner’s job in the UK. As
long as the foreign partner is earning enough. Since the foreign partner has
had a right to work in the UK while on the initial Spouse/Partner visa (but not
a Fiancée visa), he/she can use those earnings to meet the Financial Requirement
for an extension or even for Indefinite Leave after 5 years.
It can also be a
combination of both partners’ earnings, if required to reach the minimum £18,600
(as long as the foreign partner has had a right to work in the UK). This will
include switching from, say, a Tier 2 or even a Tier 4 visa if the foreign
partner was working in the UK legally.
If both partners work and
each can reach £18,600 individually, then the application can be based on only
one partner’s earnings, does not matter whose. You may be tempted to add the
other partner’s financials anyway – and there if no harm in doing it! Well,
apart from having to deal with 2 piles of paperwork instead of one. In terms of
meeting the Rules, it won’t make any difference, however. Whether you are
meeting the threshold ‘just’, ie just over it; or whether you are meeting it
very comfortably, the only thing that matters is whether you meet it or not!
For an individual advice or to make an application
please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com
