Uk Settlement Visa

[Daveywavey]

Hello everyone.

I wanted to ask a general question about UK settlement visas, for a future application. I understand that the couple needs to prove they can support themselves "without recourse to public funds", and that for that they need to have an income above the benefit rate for a couple of £92.80.

How would it affect the application if my (I will be the UK sponser) disposable income, after tax, council tax and bills, is less than £92.80? We would have good accomodation of our own (either rented from a landlord or mortgaged), savings of more than £10,000 between us, and my future wife has a high standard of education and employment history, and would probably be able to find a job quite quickly, even if it's only part-time to get us above the £92.80 amount.

Would the savings and my wife's employability make up for my income being lower than the benefit rate? I wouldn't be receiving any other benefits.

Thanks!

[the scouser]

In all likelihood, yes. However, the ECO should take in to consideration the available savings and your wife's employability. Furthermore, as the initial settlement visa is valid for two years, I would argue that you only need demonstrate an adequacy of funds for those two years. As the income support rate is currently £92.80 per week for a couple, this means that your available funds for the two years would have to be at or above £9651.00 and this is more than covered by the £10,000.00 savings.

Scouse.

[Daveywavey]

Thank you for your quick reply! It's certainly put my mind at rest - I've had a nagging worry that our application would fail if I didn't have enough disposable income per week, but I always hoped our savings and my wife's employability would compensate for that. If that's the case then I'm delighted.

Does the clause of "no recourse to public funds" apply only for the two years of the settlement visa, then? Does that end when the applicant gets "indefinite leave to remain"? I suppose if I was bringing in, say, £80 a week disposable income, we'd just have to prove that we had savings enough to give us an extra £12.80 a week or above for those two years. Would this be right?

Thank you again for all your great help!

[the scouser]

Ultimately, yes, but that doesn't prevent the visa officer from independently deciding that he thinks you don't have enough money. Should this occur, it would then be a matter for the immigration judge to decide at an ensuing appeal.

Once your wife has permission to stay in the UK indefinitely, she can have recourse to public funds where entitled. However, it is a condition of getting indefinite leave that she has to demonstrate that although she will be able to claim benefits, at that point in time she does not need to. So, when applying for indefinite leave, she would again have to demonstrate that in the foreseeable future, she won't have recourse to public funds.

Scouse.

[Daveywavey]

Thanks again.

Overall, would you say that in our case (my disposable income slightly below £92.80 a week, over £10,000 savings, good employment prospects for my wife), we would have a good chance of getting the spouse visa without needing to go to an appeal?

Thanks again for all of your help!

[the scouser]

Theoretically, yes, but it will depend upon how the case is presented and the visa officer who assesses the application.

Of course, it will also depend upon meeting the requirements of the other qualifying criteria, too.

Scouse.

[lormdav]

id just like to add that incapacity benefit is one thing she can have without it affecting her visa even on a 2 yr settlement at first.

[Daveywavey]

Thanks for your help, both of you!

Just one final thing - I know my income level should ideally be above £92.80 a week disposable income - how do they define "disposable"? I know it includes accomodation costs like rent, mortgage, council tax and gas, water and electric bills, but does it also go as far as including stuff like food and regular public transport use?

[the scouser]

You provide for your food, utilities, clothing and entertainment out of the £92.80.

Scouse.

[Daveywavey]

You provide for your food, utilities, clothing and entertainment out of the £92.80.

Scouse.

OK, brilliant. Thanks for all your great help, Scouse!

[Daveywavey]

You provide for your food, utilities, clothing and entertainment out of the £92.80.

Scouse.

It's been a while since I wrote on this thread, but I have another question about this - when you say "utilities" come out of the £92.80 (I think it's about £94 now), are you referring to utility bills, or just general household items?

Thanks once again!

[the scouser]

If you were in receipt of Income Support, you'd get £90-odd per week, you'd have your rent paid, and you'd have your council tax paid. The rest, including utility bills and general household expenditure, would come out of the Income Support. Consequently, you need an income at or above the I.S. level once you have paid your rent and council tax.

Scouse.

[Daveywavey]

If you were in receipt of Income Support, you'd get £90-odd per week, you'd have your rent paid, and you'd have your council tax paid. The rest, including utility bills and general household expenditure, would come out of the Income Support. Consequently, you need an income at or above the I.S. level once you have paid your rent and council tax.

Scouse.

OK, that makes sense, thanks.

I was a bit confused, because on the application form, it asks for evidence of how much, per month, I spend on "living costs", and it includes "utility bills" as part of that. Do you know why that is?

What you're saying makes sense, though, because bills aren't necessarily going to be a fixed sum each month.

Edited April 10, 2008 by Daveywavey

[the scouser]

I don't see the relevance of that question on the form, to be honest.

Scouse.

[Daveywavey]

Yes, it seemed odd to me as well.

There's another thing that interests me - how do the different embassies look on it if the sponsor only has a temporary job? I imagine it would put great importance on savings and the applicant's employability.

But say I had a temporary contract for 18 months, I could show that I would likely quickly get another job after the end of the contract (I will have a postgraduate vocational qualification), that my wife would likely get a job quickly, and that we had a good level of savings by that point - even £30-40,000. Would a fixed-term job like that be seen as acceptable for "adequate maintainance" in those circumstances?

Edited April 13, 2008 by Daveywavey

[the scouser]

Providing that you can demonstrate that you have/will have enough income, savings, or a combination of the two, this should be sufficient to meet the requirements of the Rules.

Scouse.