UK Visas and British Citizenship

  1st 4Immigration is a specialist company in this area - we even train our lawyers!  In summary, it has to be income of £18,600 per year or savings of £62,500. You have to meet it at the initial visa stage, during extension and permanent residency. Then there is a rulebook of 70 pages of how exactly it is calculated. Changed your job recently? Different rules. Worked abroad? Very different rules from those for UK workers. Started as a self-employed freelancer? Follow the self-employment rules, at the minimum wait for the end of the tax year. Own a property? Sell and deposit the cash in the bank!  Here on our website we cover the common ways of meeting it : employment, self-employment, working as a contractor through a limited company or otherwise, pension, property (sale or rental income), student finance and also what to do if you cannot meet the Financial Requirement.  To discuss your options, please book an online or in-person consultation with a lawyer here. 1s...

#1 Most common - submitting “everything I have’.  Some payslips, a tax return, some savings plus a property deed for good measure. Surely, should work? It may sound logical to provide as much as possible, this is often a nightmare scenario for immigration lawyers and often a direct path to a visa refusal. Financial Requirement is strictly based on the ‘rules’: what income can be used, how various sources can be combined and what documents are needed. We often say there is 75-page office guidance just on the finances: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636618/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf  #2 Savings - it’s not £18,600 and not £16,000.  The real amount (for this purpose) is calculated using this formula: threshold you need to meet (such as £18,600) x 2.5 plus £16,000. If you are using savings alone, it would be £18,600 x 2.5 + £16,000 = £62,500!  #3 Employment -  the minimum...

It is a common scenario in our practice: a British/foreign couple returning together to the UK (often with children) after living /working abroad. Most commonly from the USA, Australia/NZ or Asia. Although most our clients have been working there for years, they often find it challenging to find a job offer in the UK before coming back, meaning their non-British spouse/partner would find it difficult to secure a UK visa.  Here are top 5 solutions from our experience:  Option 1: Savings. This is most common. The couple needs savings of £62,500 held for 6 months. Can be in any currency or country. If your family want to help, they have to deposit money on your and/or your partner’s account. You have to wait for 6 months.  Option 2: British partner coming to the UK alone and working for 6 months.   This may not sound like a god option at first glance, being apart for 6 months, but it is a realistic option and it often ends up being the only option....

#1 Most common - submitting “everything I have’.  Some payslips, a tax return, some savings plus a property deed for good measure. Surely, should work? It may sound logical to provide as much as possible, this is often a nightmare scenario for immigration lawyers and often a direct path to a visa refusal. Financial Requirement is strictly based on the ‘rules’ : what income can be used, how various sources can be combined and what documents are needed. We often say there is a 75-page office guidance just on the finances: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636618/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf  #2 Savings - it’s not £18,600 and not £16,000.  The real amount (for this purpose) is calculated using this formula: threshold you need to meet (such as £18,600) x 2.5 plus £16,000. If you are using savings alone, it would be £18,600 x 2.5 + £16,000 = £62,500!  #3 Employment -  the min...

It is a common scenario in our practice: a British/foreign couple returning together to the UK (often with children) after living /working abroad. Most commonly from the USA, Australia/NZ or Asia. Although most our clients have been working there for years, they often find it challenging to find a job offer in the UK before coming back, meaning their non-British spouse/partner would find it difficult to secure a UK visa.  Here are top 5 solutions from our experience:  Option 1: Savings. This is most common. The couple needs savings of £62,500 held for 6 months. Can be in any currency or country. If your family want to help, they have to deposit money on your and/or your partner’s account. You have to wait for 6 months.  Option 2: British partner coming to the UK alone and working for 6 months.   This may not sound like a god option at first glance, being apart for 6 months, but it is a realistic option and it often ends up being the only option. 6...

It’s NOT £18600 . It’s close to the cost of Meghan Markle’s couture engagement dress of £56000! We have been planning to clarify the issue of savings for a Spouse visa for some time now - there’s so Michu confusion! We have been also “advising” Meghan and Prince Harry on a UK Spouse visa in this blog. Then we saw her wearing a £56000 designer dress on the official photos:  http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/style/celebrity-fashion/meghan-markle-official-engagement-dress-11732777 . We couldn’t help thinking “That’s almost the amount of savings to meet the Financial Requirement of the Immigration Rules !” Time to clarify the Savings rule. (Perhaps when Meghan bought THAT  dress she didn’t realise it would have “bought” her a Spouse visa - Meghan, you need a good immigration law firm like 1st 4Immigration !) So, there’s a lot of confusion. Do I need £18609 in savings? Or maybe £16000? The correct answer is the whopping amount of £62500! (We did say the cost of that dress was close....

Ah, if only it were as easy as that! The visa officers have also thought of that. They don’t want people to secure employment, apply for a Spouse visa and resign the day the visa has been issued. There are 2 ways to “use” employment income from (not counting combinations with other sources), both can be found in Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules . Category A: based on your current employment in the UK. Here you need to have for this employer for the last 6 months before the date of visa application. You can still secure a job just for the Financial Requirement and can still resign the day after the visa has been approved. But you have to work for this company for 6 months! Also, you need to have a salary of £18600 (ie based on £18600 per year) for the whole 6 months. If you had a lower salary during the probationary period (usually 3 months) and then had a rise to £18600, you can’t apply for a visa until you have had 6 months of salary based on £18600 (ie have to wait until 9...