Do I need savings if I want to sponsor parent's visit?

[charlie_es]

Dear all,
I am a British citizen by naturalisation and would like to invite my parents from Colombia.
They are retired but do not have pensions. They live with my brother at his house and he is who take cares of them. My brother has a good salary and he is able to support them and his family.
Parents do no have pension
Parents do not have a property
Parents do not have savings.

I live with my wife and my daughter in our house with a mortgage and I am in full time employment with an almost £30k annual salary. My wife is also working.
The reason of the visit is to meet my daughter.
I do not have savings but I am working in the same company for over 5 years. I would like to know if I can sponsor them even though I have no savings? I was thinking about asking my brother to sponsor them but he does not have savings either.

I would appreciate your advice.
Regards,
Charlie_es

[Frontier Mole]

If you or your brother have no savings how do you intend to show the funds required to pay for flights, travel insurance etc?

The lack of personal funds, pension or property for your parents is going to be a challenge as there are little in the ways of ties to their home country in those circumstances.

There are more negatives than positives and it would point more to refusal than grant of visa.

[charlie_es]

Hi Frontier,
Thanks for your prompt advice.
Flight tickets are not an issue, in my opinion, because my brother and I will pay for them. I have a credit card with zero balance and a credit of £4,500. Furthermore, I am not going abroad for holidays this year because I want to have my parents with us. And I am sure that many British citizens use credit when travelling abroad, so why I cannot do the same for my parents?
My brother can provide pay slips for the last 12 months if necessary, he can also provide the document of his property, which he owns outright.
Finally, I send, from time to time, approximately £200 to my parents.
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Charlie_es

[seagul]

Flight tickets are not an issue, in my opinion, because my brother and I will pay for them. I have a credit card with zero balance and a credit of £4,500. Furthermore, I am not going abroad for holidays this year because I want to have my parents with us. And I am sure that many British citizens use credit when travelling abroad, so why I cannot do the same for my parents?

Usually any fund derived from loan is not considered for immigration purposes.

[charlie_es]

Hi Seagul,
Thanks for your comment.
I have been paying a debt for the last 4 months, around £400 per month, now it has been paid off. I want to invite my parents to come in 2 months time. Can I say that now that I do not have that debt I will have around £400 pounds to spend with my parents?
Regards,
Charlie_es

[Jhelumi]

Dear all,
I am a British citizen by naturalisation and would like to invite my parents from Colombia.
They are retired but do not have pensions. They live with my brother at his house and he is who take cares of them. My brother has a good salary and he is able to support them and his family.
Parents do no have pension
Parents do not have a property
Parents do not have savings.

I live with my wife and my daughter in our house with a mortgage and I am in full time employment with an almost £30k annual salary. My wife is also working.
The reason of the visit is to meet my daughter.
I do not have savings but I am working in the same company for over 5 years. I would like to know if I can sponsor them even though I have no savings? I was thinking about asking my brother to sponsor them but he does not have savings either.

I would appreciate your advice.
Regards,
Charlie_es

Hello,

The Home Office needs proof that your parents will return to their country.

If they don't own a property or have any savings then why would your parents want to return to their country? That's how the Home Office looks at it.

You'll need to show that you have around £2,000 savings in your account for the past six months and declare on the online application that you will be using this money to pay for their tickets and accomodation while they're in the UK.

They will ask in the online application what is your parents/family income and expenditure per month/annually, how much your parents intend to spend on their visit to the UK, who will pay for it, where they will stay, where they will travel, whether they have any family, relatives and friends in the UK and whether they will be visiting them.

Make sure your parents also have a bank account in their country and they need to show at least £2,000 savings (in their local currency ofcourse) for the last 6 months.

Before you start to look at anything else, you'll need to setup your and your parents financial history for at least 6 months to make it a strong case.

Thanks

[charlie_es]

Hi Jhelumi,
I am a bit confused. I read in other threads that the most important thing is to demonstrate strong ties to home country rather than savings. If this is the case and knowing that my parents do not have pension or properties; Could my brother state that he takes care of them and in return, my parents help him with his children who are in school age. My parents do the school run for them and look after his house.
Regards,
Charlie_es

[Frontier Mole]

Ties to their home country are more important than savings. I think the previous poster was overly cautious in their view.

Savings are a factor as it demonstrates the means to support their trip and it is preferable that there is viable sum of money to cover that. Promises are cheap for the Home Office so a cover letters saying no longer paying a loan so can afford it is not going to cut it.

A more conservative approach would be to amass some savings before they apply as that will demonstrate your financial position is secure. If the Home Office asks the awkward question about the cost of the flights and it is plainly more than the savings that could be a barrier.

The biggest barrier is the lack of income / property but that is not insurmountable. Focus more on the family ties, child care for their grand kids etc, friends and other family connections, involved with whatever local groups etc. The return reasons have to clearly outweigh the reasons to remain in the UK. Given lack of income / property this will have to be a very convincing argument and I am not going to remotely suggest it will be easy to achieve.

Good luck

[Jhelumi]

Hi Jhelumi,
I am a bit confused. I read in other threads that the most important thing is to demonstrate strong ties to home country rather than savings. If this is the case and knowing that my parents do not have pension or properties; Could my brother state that he takes care of them and in return, my parents help him with his children who are in school age. My parents do the school run for them and look after his house.
Regards,
Charlie_es

Hello,

They do ask on the appliication who depends on your parents financially and for other duties. So you will need to list everything.

I don't know how the laws work in Columbia but in Pakistan for example, the visitor(s) has to provide "Bay Form" (B Form or Family Form) which lists all the household members that live at the property and also "Faraznama" which shows who owns the property.

On top of that your parents will need to send family photos of all the household members.