Student issue! Who has to meet the Financial Requirement for a UK Spouse visa? The British Sponsor, the Applicant or both? And how can a couple, both students, meet the £18,600 threshold?

By 1st 4Immigration - #1 UK Immigration Experts -
This post was a result of an online article we came across, saying how British-foreign couples, who both happened to be students, are struggling to meet the Financial Requirement for a UK Spouse/Partner visa, which requires income of £18,600. Understandably, many ask how the students were expected to qualify for this visa whilst university years are often when people meet their future spouse.

We already published a post on this earlier, which addressed a common myth that the Home Office could only take into account the income of the British spouse and not of the applicant (the foreign spouse). That post was focusing on various scenarios of employment:  http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/who-has-to-meet-financial-requirement.html  

Here we are focusing on students.

Example 1: both are PhD students, or one partner is a PhD student and the other is studying for a lower level degree. Although a PhD may sound like something only a few people do, in our practice it is very common. It was also common in the articles on the internet on the subject . In this case a PhD student often receives a bursary/stipend from the university, which is free of tax. Very often this bursary alone is sufficient to meet the Financial Requirement. It doesn’t even have to be £18,600, the minimum for a tax-free bursary is £15,800. If you’d like to know why you can find the answer in this post: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/uk-spouse-visa-18600-income-before-or.html

Furthermore, a bursary of both spouses can be combined to make a total of £18,600. It does not have to be just the British partner’s. In fact, it can be just the foreign partner’s on its own if the amount is sufficient.

Tip: Visa for PhD graduates. There is a 1-year visa for PhD graduates and it allows to seek employment in the UK, so after 1 year a foreign partner, or both partners, could meet the Financial Requirement on the basis of employment in the UK and then switch to a Spouse visa, inside the UK and even on same-day service, if the speed matters. Again, working on a salary of £18,600 can be for the last 6 months, no need to wait for the whole year if you meet the requirements earlier, you can switch anytime.

Example 2: employment while studying. A British partner can obviously work in the UK while studying, usually part –time. A foreign partner can also work part-time, most student visas allow working for 20 hours per week during the term and full-time during vacations. So, if both partners are working part-time, their combined income may well reach £18,600 and in many cases (but not all) working is only required for the last 6 months. Employment income can also be combined with a bursary.

Example 3: a most common solution for all couples. A British spouse can find a job after their course is finished, any job paying £18,600 pa (does not have to be a ‘career job’), work for 6 months and then for a foreign spouse to apply for a visa, even if it means being apart for 6 months (but if you are not a visa national you could come to the UK as a visitor during that time). There is no need to stay on that job, once a foreign spouse has secured a Spouse visa allows working in the UK, so at the next application – visa extension – the Financial Requirement can be met with a combination of both partners’ income or just from the foreign spouse’s employment income on its own, if the salary is sufficient. It is a myth that foreign spouse’s income can never be relied upon! It does apply to some couples but not to all.

The above may not be a solution for all couples but it can certainly increase the number of couples finally being able to make a visa application.

For an individual advice or to make an application please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit  http://www.1st4immigration.com/index.php

If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website: www.1st4immigration.com/training We have a weekend OISC Level 1 course every month, a Saturday Points-Based System course every month and we also have online training courses, including Online OISC Level 1 course and courses focusing on the British Citizenship and Spouse/Partner visas. All our training courses are CPD-accredited with CPD credit accepted by  OISC. 

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