UK Settlement Visa Adequate Maintenance on DLA

[THRG]

I am planning to apply for a settlement visa for my Thai girlfriend next year. We are still in the early days of our relationship but are trying to make sure we are able to eventually live together in the UK.

As I am receiving DLA benefit I have read that I would not need an income level of £18,600 but would be assessed under the Adequate Maintenance level?

My total monthly income is:

DLA (Disability Living Allowance) : £451.11

ESA (Employment Support Allowance) : £809.90

LHA (Local Housing Allowance) : £524.98

Other: £86.66

My monthly rent is £725

I understand that if I was assessed under the minimum income level that my ESA benefits could not be taken into account.

As I will be assessed under the adequate maintenance level please could someone advise if my income from benefits (ESA) could be included?

Please could someone advise if my income as above would likely be adequate to obtain our settlement visa?

Thank you

[7by7]

MAA4 Maintenance: general requirements says

There is no explicit minimum figure for what represents adequate maintenance. If dependants of the main applicant are going to accompany him / her to the United Kingdom, resources must be available for the whole family unit to be maintained.

The ECO should bear in mind the position taken by the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (UKAIT):

In 2006, the UKAIT in UKAIT 00065 KA and Others (Pakistan), strongly suggested that it would not be appropriate to have immigrant families existing on resources that were less than the Income Support level for a British family of that size.

The current income support level for a couple, where both are over 18, is £114.85 per week, so if your income, after deducting your rent, is this or more then you should be ok.

See 3.6. Meeting the financial requirement through “adequate maintenance” from the financial requirement appendix for more details and the documents you will need to provide.

You may not be aware, but from today, 6th April 2015, as well as the visa fee settlement applicants have to pay an NHS surcharge of £500 when submitting their visa application; see this topic for more details.

You may also find UK settlement visa basics helpful.

[THRG]

Thank you for your useful post 7by7. I did not know about the £500 NHS surcharge.

Can you confirm that benefits like ESA can be used towards the £114.85 per week?

I keep reading different things about this, some people say okay some not.

Thank you

[7by7]

From '4.2 Sources that are not permitted' in the appendix you will see that income related benefits, like ESA, and some contribution based benefits cannot be used towards the minimum income requirement.

However, as you are in receipt of DLA and so can meet the financial requirement through adequate maintenance, this does not apply to you.

All your income, from whatever source, will be taken into account; including any public funds you are receiving. Except any income you may be gifted from friends or family.

Note though, that although you may receive any and all public funds to which you are entitled, you cannot claim any extra due to your wife living with you until she has ILR in at least 5 years time. The exception to this is working tax credits, which must be claimed by a married couple jointly, so she can, indeed must, be included in any claim for that.

In other words, you need to show that she can be maintained from your current income alone, without her claiming any public funds herself or you claiming any additional funds due to her living with you.

[THRG]

Thank you again for your help