UK spouse visa requirement.

[killblues]

Hi, my fiancée and I intend to marry soon and we want to live together in the UK. I have been in Thailand for the last 6 months and haven’t worked for almost a year therefore won’t be able to show payslips until I return to UK and gain employment. I have money in my bank and have been making money from an investment for the last 4 months  in Thailand (does this help towards the financial requirement or would I need to be in employment?)  Can anyone tell me how long I would need to be in employment in order to meet the financial requirements for a spouse visa to be issued ? 
 

Thanks 

[brewsterbudgen]

You can meet the financial requirement if you have £62,500 in savings.

[KannikaP]

7 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You can meet the financial requirement if you have £62,500 in savings.

Stay in Thailand, only Bht 400,000 needed if married..

[Tony M]

Ignore the totally unhelpful advice from  KannikaP above.  You haven't really given anywhere near enough information for anyone to be able to offer help. You can either post more detailed information of your financial position, or PM me for assistance.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Tony M

[Jumbo1968]

17 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You can meet the financial requirement if you have £62,500 in savings.

If a visitor visa funds only need to show she or he can support her whilst in the U.K. no idea where you get that figure, ?

Even applying for Spouse Visa only requires funds of just over £20k.

[Upnotover]

10 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

If a visitor visa funds only need to show she or he can support her whilst in the U.K. no idea where you get that figure, ?

Even applying for Spouse Visa only requires funds of just over £20k.

I thought it was income of GBP18600 or savings GBP62500 (or a combination).

[Jumbo1968]

19 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

I thought it was income of GBP18600 or savings GBP62500 (or a combination).

I have applied and been granted 3 Visitor Visas for my Thai partner, proof of earnings was never required. I sponsored her so I had show I had the funds to support her during her stay in the U.K.

[Upnotover]

3 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I have applied and been granted 3 Visitor Visas for my Thai partner, proof of earnings was never required. I sponsored her so I had show I had the funds to support her during her stay in the U.K.

Me too but that is Irrelevant.  This thread is about spouse visas (the clue is in the title).

[Jumbo1968]

10 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Me too but that is Irrelevant.  This thread is about spouse visas (the clue is in the title).

Oops !

A colleague has just renewed his wife’s Spouse Visa in the U.K., the fees were just under £3k I believe. X Ray, English Language Test, Biometric Fingerprint plus the application fee.

He is unemployed didn’t have the £62000 but they had an account with 3.5 million baht in a Thai Bank obviously which they had to show proof of.

[brewsterbudgen]

2 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

If a visitor visa funds only need to show she or he can support her whilst in the U.K. no idea where you get that figure, ?

Even applying for Spouse Visa only requires funds of just over £20k.

The financial requirements for a UK Settlement visa is either a salary of around £19,000 per annum OR £62,500 in savings.  

[killblues]

On 4/8/2023 at 6:03 AM, Tony M said:

Ignore the totally unhelpful advice from  KannikaP above.  You haven't really given anywhere near enough information for anyone to be able to offer help. You can either post more detailed information of your financial position, or PM me for assistance.

Thanks Tony , I will have around £20k of savings so it seems that would not be enough. I didn’t phrase the last part of my question well, what I meant was how long would I need to be in employment to meet the requirements ? ie would I need to show so many months payslips or would the fact that I can prove I have a full time job suffice ?  
 

My gf has a house in Thailand in her name worth around 2 million baht . Could that help at all ? 
 

Another thought  has just sprung to mind - I was self employed up until May 2022 therefore my most recent tax return posted posted in January of this year would show that I met the earnings requirement for the most recent full tax year. If I showed that would that work or would  they also need payslips from the current tax year ?
 

Thanks 

[Tony M]

1 hour ago, killblues said:

Thanks Tony , I will have around £20k of savings so it seems that would not be enough. I didn’t phrase the last part of my question well, what I meant was how long would I need to be in employment to meet the requirements ? ie would I need to show so many months payslips or would the fact that I can prove I have a full time job suffice ?  
 

My gf has a house in Thailand in her name worth around 2 million baht . Could that help at all ? 
 

Another thought  has just sprung to mind - I was self employed up until May 2022 therefore my most recent tax return posted posted in January of this year would show that I met the earnings requirement for the most recent full tax year. If I showed that would that work or would  they also need payslips from the current tax year ?
 

Thanks 

Still too many unknowns and variables.  At it's most basic, the requirement is to have an income, from salaried employment, of at least 18,600 GBP a year.  That annual income can be calculated on an "annualisation" of the 6 months income prior to the date of application. And you must be employed at the date of application.  After that basic qualification, it can get complicated. In theory, you could qualify on just one month's income, if you earned 18,600 GBP in the month prior to the date of application. None of this helps you, though. If you go back to UK, and get a salaried job, then you are probably looking at 6 months minimum employment at a minumum 1500 GBP a month basic salary level.

 

Re your gilrfriend's house. It cannot, as it stands, be used towards meeting the income requirement, but could possibly be used as cash savings if she is willing to sell it. You can PM me about that, if you wish.

 

Re your previous self-employment,  The tax year ending April 2022 is not, now, the most recent tax year. The last full tax year is now 2022/2023.  Had you applied a couple of weeks ago, you might have been able to meet the requirements. But, again, that would depend on whether you were a sole trader or a company director.

 

The above is very basic, as it can be complicated. I hope I haven't confused you too much.

 

[killblues]

9 minutes ago, Tony M said:

Still too many unknowns and variables.  At it's most basic, the requirement is to have an income, from salaried employment, of at least 18,600 GBP a year.  That annual income can be calculated on an "annualisation" of the 6 months income prior to the date of application. And you must be employed at the date of application.  After that basic qualification, it can get complicated. In theory, you could qualify on just one month's income, if you earned 18,600 GBP in the month prior to the date of application. None of this helps you, though. If you go back to UK, and get a salaried job, then you are probably looking at 6 months minimum employment at a minumum 1500 GBP a month basic salary level.

 

Re your gilrfriend's house. It cannot, as it stands, be used towards meeting the income requirement, but could possibly be used as cash savings if she is willing to sell it. You can PM me about that, if you wish.

 

Re your previous self-employment,  The tax year ending April 2022 is not, now, the most recent tax year. The last full tax year is now 2022/2023.  Had you applied a couple of weeks ago, you might have been able to meet the requirements. But, again, that would depend on whether you were a sole trader or a company director.

 

The above is very basic, as it can be complicated. I hope I haven't confused you too much.

 

Thanks for that , very clear and concise and very much appreciated.  
 

Just one more question - would it be possible for my parents to act as a sponsor ? They have a mortgage free home with plenty of space , are both retired but have savings in the bank. 
 

Thanks again. 

 

 

 

[Tony M]

6 minutes ago, killblues said:

Thanks for that , very clear and concise and very much appreciated.  
 

Just one more question - would it be possible for my parents to act as a sponsor ? They have a mortgage free home with plenty of space , are both retired but have savings in the bank. 
 

Thanks again. 

 

 

 

They cannot act as the financial sponsor. That is your responsibility.  They can act as sponsors for accommodation in the UK.

[Jumbo1968]

As I said you have the additional costs of English Langauge test, X Ray confirming no TB, Bio metric fingerprinting plus the application fee.

Has your girlfriend been to the U.K., if not how do you know she would want to live in the U.K. ?

I would suggest coming to the U.K. on a Visitor Visa and sort things out when you are both in the U.K.

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, killblues said:

Thanks Tony , I will have around £20k of savings so it seems that would not be enough.

Just out of interest, do you own your own home ? Finding a job is not always easy (especially as you have decided not to work for a year) and you would NOT be entitled to unemployment benefit due to your savings, meaning that £20,000 might well disappear very, very quickly (and long before g/f application) if you are renting and supporting yourself.

 

If I was you, I would kiss the G/f goodbye and go home and get a job and home before doing anything. If she loves you she will understand the situation and wait.

[Tony M]

39 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Just out of interest, do you own your own home ? Finding a job is not always easy (especially as you have decided not to work for a year) and you would NOT be entitled to unemployment benefit due to your savings, meaning that £20,000 might well disappear very, very quickly (and long before g/f application) if you are renting and supporting yourself.

 

If I was you, I would kiss the G/f goodbye and go home and get a job and home before doing anything. If she loves you she will understand the situation and wait.

It's possible that she might be able to get a visit visa, so that they could be together while he is working for 6 months. But she would have to face the reality that she will probably need to return to Thailand to submit a spouse visa application.  Without knowing any of the background, the odds of getting a visit visa are unknown.

[Jumbo1968]

1 hour ago, Tony M said:

It's possible that she might be able to get a visit visa, so that they could be together while he is working for 6 months. But she would have to face the reality that she will probably need to return to Thailand to submit a spouse visa application.  Without knowing any of the background, the odds of getting a visit visa are unknown.

I already suggested about her coming to the U.K.,he never said she had actually ever had visited the U.K., so she has no idea what it’s like.

My Thai partner has been to the U.K. 3 times, the last visit ended up being stuck in the U.K. for over a year.due covid travel restrictions. She certainly wouldn’t want to live in the U.K. permanently.though.

No reason a Spouse  Visa can’t be applied for in the U.K. Idont think.

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I already suggested about her coming to the U.K.,he never said she had actually ever had visited the U.K., so she has no idea what it’s like.

My Thai partner has been to the U.K. 3 times, the last visit ended up being stuck in the U.K. for over a year.due covid travel restrictions. She certainly wouldn’t want to live in the U.K. permanently.though.

No reason a Spouse  Visa can’t be applied for in the U.K. Idont think.

A Settlement / Spouse visa cannot be applied for while in the UK on a Visitor visa.  She would have to return to Thailand and apply from there.