Being Self-Employed And Aplying For A Visa For Wife

[stanly]

Hi there I hope you can help basically I am getting married in January and have started the ball rolling for the visa application by going to see a Immigration solicitor in the UK just to get a head start and make sure I get everything in place for a application next year to the UK for my partner.

To cut a long story short I am self-employed I meet all the financial requirements but my problem is my accountant is a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), and it would appear that the Home Office does not accept accounts prepared by members of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), of which my Accountant is a member.

I find it hard to believe that accounts prepared by members of the AAT are acceptable by the Inland Revenue in the UK but not by the UKBA for entry clearance purposes.

And I wondered if any one has encountered or has heard of this problem and can advise me on this.

Thank you for any replies in advance and I hope you can help because it is a major worry.

Cheers

Stan

Edited November 29, 2012 by endure
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[7by7]

Who told you that accounts prepared by a member of the AAT are not acceptable?

Parts 5.5.3 (partnership, sole trader, franchise) and 5.5.4 (limited companies based in UK) of Appendix FM section FM1.7 both say

Organisation’s latest annual audited accounts with the name of the accountant clearly shown. The accountant must be a member of an accredited accounting body (CIMA, CIPFA, ACCA, ACA, etc).

Notice the etc., the list of accredited bodies is not exhaustive, just examples. If the AAT is acceptable to HMRC I cannot see any reason why they would not be acceptable to the UKBA.

Note, though, that if you are a sole trader etc. you do not have to provide audited accounts if you can provide one of the alternatives.

Edit; font size increased to make readable.

Edited November 29, 2012 by 7by7

[stanly]

Hi 7 thanks for the reply basically I was given a list of things from the solicitor to give to my accountant regarding evidence of my finances and in the email he only put a list of 7 accountancy institutes that was recognised by the UKBA and my accountant not being a member of these brought this to my attention. I let the solicitor know this but he still seemed to think this was the case and said he will investigate the matter and being a typical solicitor has not got back to my calls yet to see what is going on so that’s why I thought I would ask on here because I am worried sick. But with what you have provided in your reply it seems he is not up to standard and I don’t think they will be getting my business if what you have provided is true so thank you.

Edited November 29, 2012 by endure
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[endure]

Please use the standard fonts when composing a post. They are chosen to be as legible as possible.

[AngryParent]

AAT is not at chartered accountant status.

AAT is much lower similar to a NVQ.

However, all the paperwork should have been done OK and thus you can take your paperwork to a MEMBER of those accounting bodies listed above and it should be a lot cheaper as most of the work is done already!

AAT is not really acceptable to HMRC for audit purposes. However, it is "acceptable" as an aid to preparing the paperwork for small business that does not need an audit (under a certain amount of turnover each year).