UK Family Visa - Minimum Income Requirements

I'm_With_Stupid

I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of these.

Basically my situation is that I work in Malaysia and I'm going to be marrying my girlfriend this year. She's from Vietnam. And while we're not planning to move to the UK for at least a couple of years (if ever), I thought it's still worth asking a few questions.

So my main issue is this idea of minimum income requirements. Everything you see online seems to assume that the sponsor is already working in the UK. But like presumably many others in this situation, we've met while living and working abroad. So can I use my income in Malaysia to satisfy the minimum income requirements, or do they insist on it being UK income? And how long do you have to earn the £18k-odd that they insist on? If I have a job contract, is that enough, or do I have to show X months of pay slips? Because obviously I wouldn't have an issue with going to the UK a couple of months before my wife to get things set up, but I don't want to be spending a year apart when we've potentially got a new baby.

It's also a little confusing about whose income counts, because some websites suggest that it's the combined income of both people, whereas others suggests the non-EEA party's income is irrelevant. I remember my friend's American husband having to leave because he lost his job and she was doing a masters degree at the time so had no income.

Also the minimum income requirements increase if you have dependent children. Does this include any children you have together, or just children who are non-UK citizens who you are also applying for? Like if you marry someone who has a child from a previous marriage, for example?

Finally, a bit of a long shot, but are there any alternatives to the absolutely insane family visa costs? My fiance has a degree in English teaching, but there's unlikely to be any demand for a Vietnamese ESL teacher in England, so I think a skilled worker visa is out of the question.

marcia_

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa

The children are only counted if not British 

"you can only use your own income if you earn it in the UK"

"If you’re using income from self-employment or employment, you’ll need to prove you or your partner received that income for 6 months or more."

 Which reads to me if applying form overseas you can use joint income? 

tightauldgit

Yes to my mind the visa process is expensive and unfair but it is what it is. You'll be looking at the best part of £10-15k in fees and costs to get yourself established here permanently. 

1. Obviously your current earnings don't count because those won't be what you will be earning in the UK. You need UK employment since you will have to stop your employment overseas to live in the UK. 

2. I think provided you can prove you have the job (so a firm signed contract) then that will count but one thing with immigration applications is that they are very non-commital on what actually counts. I believe they ASK for 6 months payslips.  But in reality unless you are being transferred in from overseas or have a very particular set of skills then most UK jobs aren't going to hire someone from overseas anyway so you're probably going to have to come here, get work, then make the application, then wait for it to be approved. A couple of months is very optimistic. 

3. I think technically the income requirement is a joint income but that seems to be a catch-22 since your spouse cant work till get they get here and they can't get here till they get a visa. 

4. The dependent children requirement applies to any children you want to bring here who aren't British/Irish. 

5. You can potentially circumvent the whole thing if you have enough money saved or other assets but we are talking tens of thousands

6. Also bear in mind you have to keep earning the minimum throughout the process.

It's been a while since I went through it and things have definitely changed as it keeps getting tougher but I also remember having to prove I have somewhere for the family to the live which would also seem to negate the possibility to apply before you get here. 

I think in short the 'optimal' process would be:

1. Come here by yourself
2. Get a job that pays more than £18k a year
3. Get payslips for 6 months
4. Apply for the visa
5. wait for approval
6. Bring wife to UK

I know guys who have been in the UK with families overseas for a year or more still plodding away at meeting the requirements and getting their ducks in a row.

tightauldgit

marcia_ said:

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa

The children are only counted if not British 

"you can only use your own income if you earn it in the UK"

"If you’re using income from self-employment or employment, you’ll need to prove you or your partner received that income for 6 months or more."

 Which reads to me if applying form overseas you can use joint income? 

Not really, it's a bit of a mess but I think what that applies to is if your spouse is already in the UK and working (so for example if they had a work permit) and earning money then you can use their salary. But its pretty obvious that you can't claim salary you won't have in the UK as a source of income to support yourself in the UK - so overseas earnings can't be relevant. Now whether you would be able to use them if you could show for example that your overseas employer would still employ you is a different story but I think that would be a pretty unusual case. 

tightauldgit

Alternatives? I can put you in touch with a man in Dover with a dinghy?

RAS

Just to clarify, "I work in Malaysia." 

Are you a Malaysian citizen, or British or hold another passport?

marcia_

tightauldgit said:

marcia_ said:

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa

The children are only counted if not British 

"you can only use your own income if you earn it in the UK"

"If you’re using income from self-employment or employment, you’ll need to prove you or your partner received that income for 6 months or more."

 Which reads to me if applying form overseas you can use joint income? 

Not really, it's a bit of a mess but I think what that applies to is if your spouse is already in the UK and working (so for example if they had a work permit) and earning money then you can use their salary. But its pretty obvious that you can't claim salary you won't have in the UK as a source of income to support yourself in the UK - so overseas earnings can't be relevant. Now whether you would be able to use them if you could show for example that your overseas employer would still employ you is a different story but I think that would be a pretty unusual case. 

 Makes sense 

MattMattMattUK

The below clarifies the income must be from earnings in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income

You and your partner can use:

• income from employment before tax and National Insurance (check your P60 or payslips) - you can only use your own income if you earn it in the UK

The easiest way would be to save up to reach the savings threshold:

• cash savings above £16,000

sheramber

Remember these are current requirement which may change in future years.

tightauldgit

MattMattMattUK said:

The below clarifies the income must be from earnings in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income

You and your partner can use:

• income from employment before tax and National Insurance (check your P60 or payslips) - you can only use your own income if you earn it in the UK

The easiest way would be to save up to reach the savings threshold:

• cash savings above £16,000

Slightly more complicated than that:

1. The only way non-UK income will be taken into account is if you can show that an overseas employer is transferring you the UK 

2. Savings doesn't quite work like that. You need to have a minimum of £16k for your savings to be considered at all but all that does is that every amount over £16k reduces what you need to show you earn elsewhere. If you want to completely replace the income requirement then the correct number is £62500 (slightly different, huh?) and you need to have held it in your own name for 6 months. 

It's also interesting that the earnings requirement takes no account of individual circumstances - so if you are coming to eg live rent free in your parents house on Skye you still need to show the same income as someone coming to live in central london.

Also as the earnings requirement is I think now less than NMW for a full time 37.5 hour working week I would very much expect that it will rise soon. 

I'm_With_Stupid

RAS said:

Just to clarify, "I work in Malaysia." 

Are you a Malaysian citizen, or British or hold another passport?

I'm British, yeah. Insane the amount of money you have to pay just to keep your family together.