Submitting a Spouse Visa to the UK:

To meet the financial requirements under Appendix FM for a UK Spouse visa, you have several options depending on their circumstances:

Minimum Income Threshold:

 

1. New applications on or after April 11, 2024, need to meet a minimum income threshold of £29,000.

2. Existing candidates under the 5-year partner route applying to stay with the same partner benefit from transitional arrangements, requiring a minimum income of £18,600, capped at £29,000.

3. Applicants who applied before April 11, 2024, must meet the previous threshold of £18,600, without a cap.

4. First-time applicants as partners or children of HM Armed Forces on or after April 11, 2024, have a threshold of £23,496.

5. Existing partners or children of HM Armed Forces who applied before April 11, 2024, have a lower threshold of £18,600, capped at £23,496.

Dependent Children:

 

Additional gross annual income requirements apply for sponsored children: £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child. The total income requirement is capped at £29,000 if the total exceeds this amount due to the number of children.

Exemptions through Adequate Maintenance:

 

Those with a UK partner who receives certain benefits due to a long-term illness or disability can apply under "adequate maintenance" instead of meeting the minimum income threshold. If your UK married partner has a long-term illness or disability and receives any of the following benefits or allowances through the Department of Work & Pensions in the UK, then you may be able to apply under "adequate maintenance" through appendix FM. To meet Appendix FM, you will need to provide evidence of “adequate maintenance” rather than demonstrating you meet the minimum income threshold spouse visa UK requirements above. Your family application can be considered on “adequate maintenance” grounds by providing supporting evidence of any of these benefits.

• Carer’s Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Attendance Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment or
• Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
• Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement or War Disablement Pension under the War Pensions Scheme
• Police Injury Pension

“Adequate Maintenance” threshold requirements will continue to apply on your next family visas application as long as your partner continues to receive any of those benefits or allowances indicated above at the time of your next  submission.

Financial Categories:

 

Category A: Employment with the current employer for 6 months or more.

 

Those submitting for the first time after April 11, 2024, the minimum income threshold is £29,000. However, existing applicants under the 5-year partner route, who are applying to stay with the same partner, benefit from transitional arrangements. They need to meet a minimum income of £18,600, capped at £29,000 if they have dependent children.

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If you are applying from outside the UK, your partner (sponsor) must demonstrate that they meet the financial requirements specified in Appendix FM on their own. However, if you are already in the UK with Leave to Remain (LTR) or Further Leave to Remain (FLR) and permission to work, your application can be considered under joint household income. Joint household income includes both the sponsor's and applicant's combined employment income from all income sources recognized under Category A. Additionally, you can combine income from Category C (non-employment income), Category D (cash savings), and Category E (pension) if necessary to meet the minimum financial requirement.

 

Category B: Less than 6 months with the employer or variable income.

This category is used when your partner and/or you are in the UK with permission to work. Either your partner and/or you are in salaried or non-salaried employment at the date of submission, haven't been with the same employer and/or not earning the same income level relied upon in the application for at least 6 months prior to the submission date of your spouse visa application. Category B can be used by anyone who has been with their current employer for less than 6 months, or who has been with their current employer for more than 6 months but their earnings our variable and need to be considered under category B rather than under Category A.

Category B, financial requirements must be met and evidenced in 2 parts.

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Part 1: Initially, you or your partner, both having permission to work in the UK, should be engaged in salaried employment at the time of submitting the application. If either of you has been employed with a new employer for less than 6 months, you can consider the gross annual salary at the application date to meet the financial requirements if it surpasses the minimum income requirements under Appendix FM for this recent employment period. For new applications after April 11, 2024, the minimum income threshold is £29,000. However, existing applicants under the 5-year partner route, applying to remain with the same partner, are subject to transitional arrangements, necessitating a minimum income of £18,600, capped at £29,000 when dependents are applicable. If you lodged a successful application before April 11, 2024, are required to demonstrate the previous income threshold of £18,600, without any cap.

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Part 2: Furthermore, to meet part (2) of the requirement, you and/or your partner must have received income collectively over the 12 months preceding the application submission date, meeting or surpassing the income level required to fulfil part (2) of the Category B calculation. This will depend on whether it exceeds either the £18,600 or £29,000 per annum income threshold requirement based on your individual circumstances.

Category C: Non-employment income (e.g., property rental, dividends).

Non-employment income, is from property rental or dividends from shares. Property rental dividends or income from investments, stocks and shares, bonds or trust funds interest from savings maintenance payments from a former partner of the applicant. UK Maternity Allowance, Bereavement Allowance, Bereavement Payment
Widowed Parent’s Allowance, payments under the War Pensions Scheme, Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
The Armed Forces Attributable Benefits Scheme. Maintenance grant or stipend (not a loan) associated with undergraduate study or postgraduate study or research. Ongoing insurance payments or ongoing payments from a structured legal settlement or ongoing royalty payments

Category D: Cash savings (savings above £16,000)

If you and or your partner have savings above £16,000, these can be used solely or in combination with salaried or non-salaried employment. UK spouse visa applications relying on savings to satisfy financial requirements should bear in mind the level of savings required on a entry clearance & FLR spouse visa application are different from the level needed when applying for ILR under UK spouse visa.

 

(Savings value – £16,000) ÷ 2.5 = (£) qualifying value

Category E: Pension income.

If your partner or both of you are retired you can use your State (UK or foreign), occupational or private pension to demonstrate you meet Appendix FM requirements.  Pension income can be combined with categories A-D in order to meet Appendix FM requirements.

Category F & G: Self-employment.

 

Under Category F and G of Appendix FM, self-employed individuals have options for demonstrating their income to meet the financial requirement for a UK Spouse visa:

 

Income from the Last Full Financial Year:

Self-employed individuals, including company directors or employees of specified limited companies in the UK, can use income from their self-employment activities in the last full financial year. This income can be used to meet the financial requirement.

Average of the Last 2 Full Financial Years:

Alternatively, self-employed individuals can choose Category G, which allows them to use an average of the income received in the last 2 full financial years to meet the financial requirement. This average is calculated as the mean average of the income over the two years.

Both Category F and G incomes can be combined with income from salaried and non-salaried employment, non-employment income, and pension income to meet the financial requirement. However, cash savings cannot be combined with income under Category F or G.

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Self-employed individuals can also consider joint household income, combining various sources of income from different categories, to meet the minimum financial requirement. It's essential to carefully assess and choose the most appropriate category based on individual circumstances to ensure compliance with immigration regulations.

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How our Immigration adviser can help you

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Marc Gibson our immigration adviser specialises in assisting foreign national spouses relocate and settle in the UK with their partners.  Marc has supported hundreds of UK and other settled nationals sponsor their foreign married partners to prepare and submit successful UK spouse visa renewal applications. Whether you require a consultation to understand the Immigration Rules for UK married partner visas, or have your partner visa application professional checked by him before submission or use his representation service to prepare and submit your own Spouse Visa application for you, Marc can help.

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Appendix FM financial requirements are particularly complex and include mandatory requirements in terms of the documentary evidence needed to demonstrate you can meet the requirements of the spouse visa application. Our immigration adviser specialises in assisting married couples with complex financial circumstances complete and submit successful marriage applications.

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Marc prides himself on being friendly, approachable and professional in meeting his clients’ needs, he is dedicated to providing clear and reliable immigration advice to his clients when providing his UK Spouse Visa service.

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