Uk Financial Requirement For Spouse And Child Settlement Visas

[paul771]

Hi

I am British, living with my Thai wife, her 16 year old daughter and our 3 year old daughter here in Thailand for the last 4 years. I have decided to move back to the UK and would appreciate insight any experts here may have regarding the UK's financial requirements for entry clearance stage settlement visas. I have researched already but just want to pick some brains here first to be absolutely sure.

Nobody is currently working in the family but I can supply details of the cash requirement in a brokerage account (trading) which is regulated by the FSA as is required.

According to the UKBA website it states the following for requirements:

£18,600 without dependents

£22,400 with 1 child

£24,800 with 2 children

Following their equation: (x minus 16,000) divided by 2.5=y I'm assuming mine work out as follows but please correct me if I'm mistaken:

Cash £74,000 minus £16,000 divided by 2.5= £23,200

Initially I was unsure if our 3 year old (born in Thailand but with British and Thai passport/ dual nationality) would count as a second child requirement wise, and indeed their website states "will not apply to a child who is a british citizen" but again, I would like to confirm that here if possible to be sure.

Any feeback would be greatly appreciated.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Your dual national child doesn't come into the financial equation.

Your cash savings requirement ( spouse plus one child) is 72,000 GBP.

I'm not sure what a brokerage account is, but the requirement is that the money ( cash savings) must be in your personal bank account for at least 6 months, and must be "immediately available".

Tony M

[paul771]

Your dual national child doesn't come into the financial equation.

Your cash savings requirement ( spouse plus one child) is 72,000 GBP.

I'm not sure what a brokerage account is, but the requirement is that the money ( cash savings) must be in your personal bank account for at least 6 months, and must be "immediately available".

Tony M

Thanks for the clarification. If I only need to provide savings requirement for 1 child then I would have enough currently. A brokerage account is for trading/investing in stocks, forex, funds, commodities etc and you can transfer in and out electronically easily in the same way that you would with any normal online bank account. It is FSA regulated as required and I can also print off statements in the same way as a bank account. I haven't read anything that specifically states I cannot use a broker to show the funds. It mentions that the account must be in my name and be able to show statements for the previous 6 months but some clarification would be helpful here. I called VFS before to ask and they were a little vague but suggested that it would be ok as long as I can easily withdraw the money and also show the statements but again, if anyone here knows any different I would appreciate your input.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

These are the requirements ( or will be the requirements from 6th April) :

11. In respect of cash savings the following must be provided:

(a) personal bank statements showing the cash savings have been held in an account in the name of the person or of the person and their partner jointly for at least 6 months prior to the date of application.

( b ) A declaration by the account holder(s) of the source(s) of the cash savings.

11A. In respect of cash savings:

(a) The savings may be held in any form of bank/savings account, provided that the account allows the savings to be accessed immediately (with or without a penalty for withdrawing
funds without notice). This can include, for those of retirement age, savings held in a pension savings account which can be immediately withdrawn.

( b ) Paid out competition winnings or a legacy which has been paid can contribute to cash savings.

© Funds held as cash savings by the applicant, their partner or both jointly at the date of application can have been transferred from investments, stocks, shares, bonds
or trust funds within the period of 6 months prior to the date of application, provided that:

(i) The funds have been in the ownership and under the control of the applicant, their partner or both jointly for at least the period of 6 months prior to the date of application.

(ii) The ownership of the funds in the form of investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds; the cash value of the funds in that form at or before the beginning of the period
of 6 months prior to the date of application; and the transfer of the funds into cash, are evidenced by a portfolio report or other relevant documentationfrom a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which that institution is operating.

(iii) The requirements of this Appendix in respect of the cash savings held at the date of application are met, except that the period of at least 6 months prior to the date of
application in paragraph 11(a) will be reduced by the amount of that period in which the relevant funds were held in the form of investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds.

You should not ask VFS for any guidance. They are not allowed to give guidance as they are a visa application processing service only. They should have told you that they cannot advise you in any way all. You would have no comeback if you took their advice and the visa was refused.

There is no definition of "immediately available". At some time in the future I'm sure the definition wil be argued in an appeal court, but at the moment I would say that if you can get your hands on the "cash savings" within a day or so, then it is immediately available. If it would take a week, then I think you might have problems with UKBA accepting that it is immediately available.

Edited March 28, 2013 by ThaiVisaExpress

[paul771]

Thanks for the detailed info. So, please correct me if I'm wrong, it appears that unless I'm holding a non cash investment (stocks, bonds etc) at or before the start of the 6 months in the account before the application requirement, I cannot make any new trades with that cash at all during those 6 months. The only trades I am allowed to make during the 6 months period would be to close long term positions (sell shares and convert back to cash) that may have been open on or prior to the start of the 6 months. Basically the cash has to be sat there doing nothing for the whole period. Is this your take on it?

Regarding asking VFS for guidance, although I did notice after the fact on the UKBA website under "General Visa Enquiries" at the bottom that is says they cannot give immigration advice, it never the less asks you to call them if you have any questions about UK visas. Since there seems to be no way to contact UKBA directly from their site to ask the question I didn't have many options hence me posting here. The main page just eventually directs you to the page that says to call VFS unfortunately.

The availability of my funds is pretty much next day transfer so that would seem to be ok.

Edited March 28, 2013 by paul771

[ThaiVisaExpress]

You can do what you want with the account, as long as the balance doesn't go below 72,000 GBP at any time over the 6 month period prior to the date of applicantion. That is not an average of 72,000 GBP. If the balance falls even 1 GBP below, then the 6 month period will start again.

[paul771]

Could you supply a UKBA link that shows the above info you posted, specifically sections (i), (ii) and (iii) please? I have found a UK number for UKBA and want to call them and refer to that info for clarification.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

This is a link to the current financial requirements of the rules ( which change on 6th April )

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/immigrationlaw/immigrationrules/appendix-fmse/

But I have quoted the rules from 6th April 2013. That info can be found in the new changes to the rules - HC 1039 ( paragraph 253 ). This is HC 1039

hc1039.pdf