When applying for a spouse, unmarried partner, or fiancé visa, you and your partner will need to show (amongst other requirements) that you have sufficient financial resources to support your lives in the UK without relying on government benefits and without becoming a burden on the British taxpayer.
This is also known as the ‘Appendix FM financial requirement’ and the minimum income required, without dependant children, under this route is £18,600.
This will be the first of a series of blogs outlining the different ways by which you can satisfy the financial requirement when applying for a spouse, unmarried partner, or fiancé visa under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules (herein referred to as the ‘Family Visa’ route).
Who is eligible under the Family Visa route?
You may be eligible to apply for a spouse, unmarried partner, or fiancé visa under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules if your partner:
- Is a British citizen, or
- Has indefinite leave to remain in the UK, or
- Has leave to remain in the UK as a refugee, or
- Has leave under the EU Settlement Scheme (subject to certain conditions).
How can you satisfy the financial requirement?
The financial requirement can be satisfied in various ways when applying for leave to enter or remain, or for indefinite leave to enter or remain, under the Family Visa route. You can rely on salaried employment income, non-salaried employment income, cash savings, non-employment income, pension, or self-employment income.
This blog seeks to provide a brief outline of the requirements you must meet when relying on cash savings.
What is the minimum amount of cash savings that you must hold?
An amount of cash savings above £16,000 can count towards the financial requirement. The £16,000 threshold is based on the level of savings at which a person generally ceases to be eligible for income related benefits.
Cash savings can be combined with salaried or non-salaried employment income, non-employment income, or pension in order to meet the financial requirement. The total amount of cash savings that you will need to show will depend on whether you are relying on any other form of income or pension, the amount that you earn from these additional sources and how many applicants there are. The level of cash savings required to meet the financial requirement will increase for every dependant child that is included.
You cannot combine cash savings with self-employment income, or with income from employment as a director of a specified limited company in the UK.
When applying for entry clearance or leave to remain, the amount of cash savings held above £16,000 must be divided by 2.5 in order to reflect the 2.5 year period that the visa will be granted for. This will give you the amount which can be used to meet the financial requirement.
Therefore, the formula used to calculate the amount which can be used towards the financial requirement is:
(x minus 16,000) divided by 2.5 = y
Where ‘x’ is the total amount of cash savings held, and ‘y’ is the amount which can be used to meet the financial requirement. As an example, if you and/or your partner hold a total of £25,000 the formula would be applied as follows:
(25,000 minus 16,000) divided by 2.5 = £3,600
Based on the above example, you will only be able to rely on cash savings to the amount of £3,600 to meet the financial requirement and would therefore require an additional £15,000 from salaried or non-salaried employment income, non-employment income, or pension in order to meet the financial requirement (of £18,600).
If you wish to rely solely on cash savings you must evidence an amount of £62,500.
If you have any questions about the amount of cash savings which you will need for your application, please contact us.
How long must you hold the cash savings for?
Cash savings must be held for at least 6 months prior to the date of the application. The minimum amount held during those 6 months will be counted towards the financial requirement. It is therefore important to ensure that the level of funds in your account does not drop at any time during the 6-month period.
Who can hold the cash savings?
Savings must be held in cash in a personal bank or savings account. The savings can be held in your name, your partner’s name or both names jointly. The savings can be derived from any legal source, including gifts from family or friends, sale of an asset, inheritance, or employment. You cannot borrow the money for the purposes of the application, it must be under your (or your partner’s) control.
You do not have to hold the savings in a UK bank account. The funds can be held abroad, but please note that any money which is not held in GBP will be subject to the Home Office’s exchange rate at the date of the application.
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The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
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