Unable to Meet the Spouse Visa Income Requirements for Extension Applications
A part of UK spouse visa application, applicant and their partner must prove their income to a certain threshold to make a successful application. UK financial requirements applies to all applications for visa applications made outside UK (entry clearance) and visa extension as a spouse inside UK (commonly known as Further Leave to Remain in UK (FLR)). Many people referred this visa as a marriage visa which is not correct to say as in immigration rules, there is no such visa. Though there is a category called Fiance Visa which is used to enter in the UK and get married to a British Citizen or person settled in UK. Besides financial requirements, other requirements also apply such as documents to prove available accommodation i.e Mortgage statement, Tenancy Agreement, latest utility bills and immigration home survey report.
Minimum income for partner visa
For a partner to join their husband or wife in UK, they must have a combine annual income of at least £18600. For employment income, gross amount is considered. The gross income is before deduction of income tax and national insurance.
Income requirement for children of spouse -applying at same time or later
In addition to £18600, for first child £3800 is required. For the second child a requirement for £2400 apply.
For example, if wife is applying for spouse visa with 2 children. They need to provide an annual income of:
Income Requirement for Wife: £18600
Income Requirement for first child: £3800
Income Requirement for second child: £2400
Total Income Requirement = £24800
Our Success Rate for Visa Applications
| Types of Immigration Applications | Success Rate | Years |
| Spouse Visa Extension/ Switch Applications | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Fiance Visa Applications | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Fee Waiver Applications | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Parent Route/ Family & Private Life FLR | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Naturalisation (British Citizenship) | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Skilled Worker Visa | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Tier 2 General | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| Employer Sponsor Licence | 100% | 2006-2022 |
| EU Residence Card/ Settlement Scheme | 100% | 2006-2022 |
Income Requirement for children who are British Citizen or have Permanent Residence in UK
For the purposes of income requirement, children who are British citizen or have ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain in UK) or who EEA citizens are ignored. No income is required for them.
Allowed sources of income for financial requirement of spouse visa
Income can be proved from employment (permanent or temporary such as agency work), self employment, director of company in UK, savings over £16000, rental income from commercial or residential property, income from Dividends.
Documents required for spouse visa income requirements, Income from employment
The required list of documents to prove income to meet financial requirements will vary, depending on the source of income and whether you are combining two or more sources to meet the requirement. For employment income, job must be held for at least six months with same employer. The general list of documents for income from employment is given below:
>> Salary Slips for the last 6 months
>> Bank statements for the same six months showing salary received in bank account
>> A letter from employer issued within 30 days of making of visa or FLR application.
>> P60 of recent financial year
>> Employment contract
Spouse visa financial requirement- Income from self-employment
The required list of documents to prove income to meet financial requirements for UK partner visa will vary, depending on whether income is from one financial year or combination of last two years. The list of documents for income from self-employment is given below:
>> Proof of Registration with HMRC
>> SA302 Tax Calculations from HMRC
>> Invoices for the recent full financial year
>> Recent Tax Return for the last full financial year (6 April to 5 April)
>> 12 Bank statements for the same financial year
>> Letter from an accountant who is member of a professional bodies in UK
>> Evidence of tax paid and payable
>> Proof of continuity of the business i.e. A recent business bank statement or an invoice
Unable to Meet Financial Requirements due to Covid-19
Many people have been furlough by their employers, a lot of self-employed lot their income in the pandemic. This has caused many people unable to meet the financial requirements to apply for visa or extend stay. UK government paid 80 percent of the salary is paid to the employees. For the purpose of meeting spouse visa financial requirement, Home Office will counted as if employee received 100% of their salary or pay. Income received via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or the Coronavirus Self Employment Income Support Scheme can count as employment or self-employment income for the period 1 March 2020 to 31 October 2021. In the tax return, this should not be mentioned as a business profits. HMRC has updated the tax return and introduced a section in the tax return where applicants can enter the income from the income support scheme. Once tax return is complete, tax calculations will show the added up figure for business profits and support amount.
We recommend to get professional immigration advice to find out the options you may have to extend the stay. Not only we provide personal visa advice after taking into consideration of your circumstances. Our team of expert immigration advisers is in hand to work out the alternative assessment options you may have and on how to extend your stay in UK.
Read our FAQs about Spouse Visa and Extension Applications
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