Spouse visa financial requirement for Contractors

[olawest]

I use to work as a salaried employee from May 2017 to March 2012.

Since April 6th, 2012 to date, I have been working via my limited company as a contractor and I pay myself salaries/dividends. I have paid myself dividends/salaries of over £18,600 from April 2012 till date (6 months period).

My question is if my earnings for the past 6 months (dividends/salaries of over £18,600) meets the UKBA financial requirements to sponsor my spouse on a visa.

My company is in its first trading year hence i dont have audited accounts
and have not paid corporation tax yet.

[MPH80]

I don't think you do - the evidence required by UKBA shows that audited accounts and notices to file a company tax return are required. All this along with bank accounts covering 12 months.

M.

9. In respect of self-employment in a limited company based in the UK all of the following must be provided:

(b) Evidence of registration with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House.
(c) Latest Notice to file a Company Tax Return - CT603 and Company Tax Return - CT600 (both parts must be supplied).
(d) The organisation's latest audited annual accounts with:

(i) the name of the accountant clearly shown; and
(ii) the accountant must be a member of an accredited accounting body specified in paragraph 19 (g)(ii) of Appendix A of these rules.

(e) Monthly corporate/business bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the tax return(s).

(f) Monthly personal bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the tax return(s) showing that the income from self-employment has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

(g) Evidence of ongoing self-employment through:

(i) evidence of payment of Class 2 National Insurance contributions (for self-employed persons); or,
(ii) current Appointment Reports from Companies House (for Directors),

(h) One of the following documents must also be provided:

(i) A certificate of VAT registration and the latest VAT return confirming the VAT registration number, if turnover is in excess of £73,000.
(ii) Proof of ownership or lease of business premises.
(iii) Original proof of registration with HMRC as an employer for the purposes of PAYE and National Insurance, proof of PAYE reference number and Accounts Office reference number. This evidence may be in the form of a certified copy of the documentation issued by HMRC.
(iv) Proof of registration with the London Stock Exchange or with an international stock exchange approved by the Financial Services Authority in the UK.
(i) The document referred to in paragraph 9(h)(iv) must be provided for a company registered on the London Stock Exchange or an FSA-approved international stock exchange.

[olawest]

I don't think you do - the evidence required by UKBA shows that audited accounts and notices to file a company tax return are required. All this along with bank accounts covering 12 months.

M.

9. In respect of self-employment in a limited company based in the UK all of the following must be provided:

(b) Evidence of registration with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House.
(c) Latest Notice to file a Company Tax Return - CT603 and Company Tax Return - CT600 (both parts must be supplied).
(d) The organisation's latest audited annual accounts with:

(i) the name of the accountant clearly shown; and
(ii) the accountant must be a member of an accredited accounting body specified in paragraph 19 (g)(ii) of Appendix A of these rules.

(e) Monthly corporate/business bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the tax return(s).

(f) Monthly personal bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the tax return(s) showing that the income from self-employment has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

(g) Evidence of ongoing self-employment through:

(i) evidence of payment of Class 2 National Insurance contributions (for self-employed persons); or,
(ii) current Appointment Reports from Companies House (for Directors),

(h) One of the following documents must also be provided:

(i) A certificate of VAT registration and the latest VAT return confirming the VAT registration number, if turnover is in excess of £73,000.
(ii) Proof of ownership or lease of business premises.
(iii) Original proof of registration with HMRC as an employer for the purposes of PAYE and National Insurance, proof of PAYE reference number and Accounts Office reference number. This evidence may be in the form of a certified copy of the documentation issued by HMRC.
(iv) Proof of registration with the London Stock Exchange or with an international stock exchange approved by the Financial Services Authority in the UK.
(i) The document referred to in paragraph 9(h)(iv) must be provided for a company registered on the London Stock Exchange or an FSA-approved international stock exchange.

A new company that has just started trading in its first year will not have audited account and will not need to file Corporation tax until after company year end.

[harv]

I applied for my wife's spouse VISA prior to the 9th July changes, my circumstances were quite similar to yours at the time.

------------
- I had been working in my company for just over an year
- Got my accountant to produce a set of accounts for the year
- I did not provide any further confirmation such Tax Return confirmation, CT600 etc etc

- I provided for financial details:
Company registration certificate copy
Accounts for the year from my accountant
Dividend vouchers and payslips from my accountand
A letter from my accountant confirming my pay (also detailed in the accounts)
My personal bank statements
Savings statements
ISA statements



However the new rules cause too much confusion and asks for a lot more then we can arrange. As far as I know the same would possible apply for my wife when she will need to apply for her ILR, in terms of providing evidence of my income source. The issue lies in the CT600 and other documents required as their is a lot of preparation needs doing in the background in submitting the accounts and getting to the stage of getting these documents in your hand. This takes a lot of time and effort.

The rules have now been forced onto us and it will take some time for UKBA to understand or maybe correct them to meet the real life scenarios. I am disapointed with the heavy duty hammer smashing on to us forcefully of these cumbersome laws of requiring more and more certificates/documents...

[MPH80]

A new company that has just started trading in its first year will not have audited account and will not need to file Corporation tax until after company year end.

I appreciate that - that's why I'm saying I don't think you qualify. The new rules are very specific about the evidence required - and you fall into a crack, you aren't employed and you don't have sufficient evidence for self employment.

I think you have to wait for your first audited accounts.

[olawest]

I applied for my wife's spouse VISA prior to the 9th July changes, my circumstances were quite similar to yours at the time.

------------
- I had been working in my company for just over an year
- Got my accountant to produce a set of accounts for the year
- I did not provide any further confirmation such Tax Return confirmation, CT600 etc etc

- I provided for financial details:
Company registration certificate copy
Accounts for the year from my accountant
Dividend vouchers and payslips from my accountand
A letter from my accountant confirming my pay (also detailed in the accounts)
My personal bank statements
Savings statements
ISA statements



However the new rules cause too much confusion and asks for a lot more then we can arrange. As far as I know the same would possible apply for my wife when she will need to apply for her ILR, in terms of providing evidence of my income source. The issue lies in the CT600 and other documents required as their is a lot of preparation needs doing in the background in submitting the accounts and getting to the stage of getting these documents in your hand. This takes a lot of time and effort.

The rules have now been forced onto us and it will take some time for UKBA to understand or maybe correct them to meet the real life scenarios. I am disapointed with the heavy duty hammer smashing on to us forcefully of these cumbersome laws of requiring more and more certificates/documents...

Thanks Harv.

If I show over £16,000 cash savings for over 6 months will it suffice?

[harv]

If you have savings in the following amount, you would be fine:

£18,600 X 2.5 + £16,000 = £62,500

Actually having to think about this. When I applied I had savings of £70,000 so basically I would have passed the new rules straight away anyways.

Since your employment is not recognised in ots current state due to the lack of history (no accounts available). You have the follwoing three options:

1) Wait for your one year accounts to be done - There could be even more hurdles implemented by the time you are ready

2) Show savings of £62,500 to wualify on savngs alone

3) Apply by providing as much evidence as possible of your existing employment together with accountant review of the accounts for the months you have completed. Also add in details of why you have not filed your accounts (obvious you have not completed the period). The more detailed cover letter you provide the better. I would say you ask your accountant to detail all these aspects and show the profit made by the company for the period you have so far been trading.

The last option has a bigger probability of a refusal, but if you have the evidence and I am sure you do. The judge would straight away accept the application (hope it does not come to that).

Best of luck

[frustratedbrit]

Hi olawest.

I'm in exactly the same situation as you. I'm waiting until the end of my company's financial year, so that I can supply a full year's accounts like the rules say. It's painful to have to delay everything by months for some technicality, but I think this is the best route under the current political circumstances.

You could try harv's suggestion of applying earlier, but I suspect there would be a significant chance of refusal. UKBA seem nowadays to be looking for any excuse not to let people in, and it seems to be getting more extreme. If you did get refused, I would think you would win an appeal, but the problem is that the appeal costs money and, probably more significantly for you, takes time. I don't know, but I suspect that it would take several months and cost several hundred pounds to appeal (can anyone provide any information about their experiences under the new July 2012 settlement visa regime?).

[MPH80]

Except - here's my problem with an appeal on these grounds - you would have to show that the rules were in someway unfair or against the law.

It isn't the case that you could claim an error in applying the rules as they are clearly laid out and if they refused you for lack of documentation they'd be within the rules.

You'd probably have to appeal against the rules themselves and by the time you've done that - you'd find you could have waited for the 1 year of accounts and applied.

M.

[frustratedbrit]

Yes but I would dispute that the rules are clearly laid out. For example, if you are taking salary from your private limited company, in what way are you allowed to include this in your income? It might be the case that the paragraphs relating to being an employee apply. Nowhere in the paragraphs relating to being a private limited company is there any explicit mention (it only refers to income derived from post-tax profits). In which case there is confusion about the timeframe over which one is supposed to supply the proof of income for. For employees it is the last 6 months or the last 12 months. For private limited company owners it is the 12 months of their company's most recently filed accounts. Indeed a company is allowed to file its accounts up to 10 months after the end of its financial year, so the most recent accounts could be covering a period which finished up to 22 months ago.

The rules are not at all clear, and so are open to interpretation.

[MPH80]

I'd disagree on one point - the rules are very clear and there's a specific section about the evidence required as a self employed person in a limited company.

The fact that the accounts may be completely unrelated to the other periods required for (for example) a normal salaried employee - is another matter altogether and merely makes the rules inconsistant rather than unclear.

M.

[asim72]

If you have savings in the following amount, you would be fine:

£18,600 X 2.5 + £16,000 = £62,500

Actually having to think about this. When I applied I had savings of £70,000 so basically I would have passed the new rules straight away anyways.

Since your employment is not recognised in ots current state due to the lack of history (no accounts available). You have the follwoing three options:

1) Wait for your one year accounts to be done - There could be even more hurdles implemented by the time you are ready

2) Show savings of £62,500 to wualify on savngs alone

3) Apply by providing as much evidence as possible of your existing employment together with accountant review of the accounts for the months you have completed. Also add in details of why you have not filed your accounts (obvious you have not completed the period). The more detailed cover letter you provide the better. I would say you ask your accountant to detail all these aspects and show the profit made by the company for the period you have so far been trading.

The last option has a bigger probability of a refusal, but if you have the evidence and I am sure you do. The judge would straight away accept the application (hope it does not come to that).

Best of luck

Applying by providing the documents in option 1 or 2 will be fine. Using option 3 is a guaranteed refusal and a guaranteed appeal refusal too. Keep in mind, you do not have to prove £ 18600. YOU HAVE TO PROVE £18600 BY PROVIDING SPECIFIC PROOFS AS LAID DOWN BY IMMIGRATION RULES.

Under the new (current) rules, the required documents are clearly and specifically laid down. You have to provide those specific documents. If you do not have those specific documents, you will surely be refused. There are no IFS and no BUTS.

[harv]

To be honest it feels like the documents required by the immigration department to process an application are putting the self employed to a very big disadvantage and it is loop hole in the rules. This is going to cause a lot of problems to the self employed due to the lack of documentations.

I would argue this and I am pretty sure a chartered accountant if presented to explain the situation in getting the required documents in time and the problems. Not sure if you see the issue clearly, here are a few:

- say you have accounts made up from Jan 2012 to Dec 2012
- prpare the accounts by the deadline by HMRC usually 6 months deadline and takes sometime to prepare
- Corporation tax to be paid after the accounts are submitted

With the above you will be panning out possible a couple of months before you submit the accounts and corporation tax due if you work quickly. Now by this time the records are already 2 months old and by the time you are going to get the confirmation documents back from HMRC it may well be 3 to 4 months old. So, lets say you are applying on May 2013 with the above documents as evidence does that mean your documents are out of date and lack the last four months data?

Now how on earth can you provide up to date accounts to UKBA to comply with the rules!


So the argumanet is:

- The required HMRC documents corporation tax and accounts may not be available straight away, thus they will be regarded as out of date and missing the remaining months from the company's accounting end date to the date of application.

- Self Employed (company director) will have to wait for the time when company accounts are filled to HMRC before applying for his/her spouse VISA application - this seems to be unfair and a discrimincation. Both employed and self employed should be treated similarly!

[Kaise12345]

1-For employees who are employed by a company does it mean that they have to not only reach the 18,600 pound financial requirement but also have a year long documentation of payslips and bank statements, or is 6 months also fine?

2- My wife has a year long documents of payslips and back statements but it does not add up to 18,600, it less. So, my wife is planning to get a second job so we can meet the 18,600 requirement. does this mean we have to wait for at least six months to get the payslips from the second job to be able to apply?

3- Does the job have to be a permanent job in order to qualify towards the financial requirement?


Thanks in advance

[frustratedbrit]

Would be nice if anyone out there could provide facts about their own experiences under the new system. We are just speculating about how these rules will get interpreted in practice.

MPH80 / asim72: On reflection I agree an appeal on submitting less than one year's accounts would probably not succeed.

MPH80: Yes, the rules are inconsistent, but I disagree that the rules are very clear. The specific section you are referring to makes no mention whatsoever of salary. Does this mean I am not allowed at all to include salary as part of my income? Or does it mean that I am allowed to include salary, and that the same documentary rules about this apply as for normal employed people? The latter is the common sense interpretation, but then there is the question about under what timeframe of employment.

So two unclear aspects: whether salary can be counted, and if so then under what timeframe.

[harv]

1-For employees who are employed by a company does it mean that they have to not only reach the 18,600 pound financial requirement but also have a year long documentation of payslips and bank statements, or is 6 months also fine?

2- My wife has a year long documents of payslips and back statements but it does not add up to 18,600, it less. So, my wife is planning to get a second job so we can meet the 18,600 requirement. does this mean we have to wait for at least six months to get the payslips from the second job to be able to apply?

3- Does the job have to be a permanent job in order to qualify towards the financial requirement?


Thanks in advance

I think it would be best to start your own thread.

[harv]

Would be nice if anyone out there could provide facts about their own experiences under the new system. We are just speculating about how these rules will get interpreted in practice.

MPH80 / asim72: On reflection I agree an appeal on submitting less than one year's accounts would probably not succeed.

MPH80: Yes, the rules are inconsistent, but I disagree that the rules are very clear. The specific section you are referring to makes no mention whatsoever of salary. Does this mean I am not allowed at all to include salary as part of my income? Or does it mean that I am allowed to include salary, and that the same documentary rules about this apply as for normal employed people? The latter is the common sense interpretation, but then there is the question about under what timeframe of employment.

So two unclear aspects: whether salary can be counted, and if so then under what timeframe.

The speculations are on the fact of the requirements imposed. As far as I can tell UKBA would not think twice and would literally go over the requirements list while making their judgement. They will not have more then 20 minutes to spend on your file, so there would be a straight off refusal if required documents are available.

MPH80 is correct to say that the rules are clear but the problem is they are inconsistant and have too many assumptions. The only reason for this is that UKBA do not have well informed information about the employment type the issues surrounding them. Thus inconsistent rules implementation.

If you are getting paid salary through PAYE from your own company, you are classed as self employed. An employed person would be working for somebody else even if it is your family memeber on an employment contract and paid accordingly.

The problem on your side is that you do not have any accounts for your company as the time has not come. I would imagine if you have atleast one set of accounts you can use them along with any further months post filling to be accompanied by your payslips, dividend vouchers, accountant letter and bank statements showing the amounts to cover atleast 12 months in total on the date/month you apply.

[asim72]

There is no speculation. I think you are causing too much discussion for no reason.

Previous year's tax return is required, with matching bank statements, simple.

Nothing less or more is required.

[frustratedbrit]

Asim, So accounts for a tax year that ended 21 months ago is ok then?

[MPH80]

Nicely done Asim - more confusion

Tax Returns are *NOT* part of the requirements.

I will quote them again:

9. In respect of self-employment in a limited company based in the UK all of the following must be provided:

(b) Evidence of registration with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House.
(c) Latest Notice to file a Company Tax Return - CT603 and Company Tax Return - CT600 (both parts must be supplied).
(d) The organisation's latest audited annual accounts with:

(i) the name of the accountant clearly shown; and
(ii) the accountant must be a member of an accredited accounting body specified in paragraph 19 (g)(ii) of Appendix A of these rules.

(e) Monthly corporate/business bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the tax return(s).

(f) Monthly personal bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the tax return(s) showing that the income from self-employment has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

(g) Evidence of ongoing self-employment through:

(i) evidence of payment of Class 2 National Insurance contributions (for self-employed persons); or,
(ii) current Appointment Reports from Companies House (for Directors),

(h) One of the following documents must also be provided:

(i) A certificate of VAT registration and the latest VAT return confirming the VAT registration number, if turnover is in excess of £73,000.
(ii) Proof of ownership or lease of business premises.
(iii) Original proof of registration with HMRC as an employer for the purposes of PAYE and National Insurance, proof of PAYE reference number and Accounts Office reference number. This evidence may be in the form of a certified copy of the documentation issued by HMRC.
(iv) Proof of registration with the London Stock Exchange or with an international stock exchange approved by the Financial Services Authority in the UK.
(i) The document referred to in paragraph 9(h)(iv) must be provided for a company registered on the London Stock Exchange or an FSA-approved international stock exchange.

[asim72]

You say that its not a requirement.

But, under the requirements you have copied, it is a requirement. Its mentioned a few times in what you have copied.

[MPH80]

You say that its not a requirement.

But, under the requirements you have copied, it is a requirement. Its mentioned a few times in what you have copied.

Reason not to trust people who post on forums number 537: People like me who don't read every single word closely and mistake an AND for an OR.

(This is also a good reason why everyone should DYOR)

I take it back - a company tax return is required - but it isn't the be all and end all as you've outlined.

[frustratedbrit]

So, according to paragraph 9 quoted, the company's latest "audited" annual accounts are what is needed. So, according to the immigration rules, given that a company can file accounts up to 9 months after the end of the company's financial year (I was previously mistaken to say 10 - it has recently been reduced to 9), then the accounts are allowed to be for a company tax year that ended up to 21 months ago. Am I right or am I wrong?

[olawest]

I created this thread to highlight my concerns about how the financial requirements for spouse visa did not cover limited liability contractors that are in their first trading year and have been salaried employees previously.

I showed my dividends/salaries for 6 months which exceeded £18,600 and added my savings and added a cover letter that explained my peculiar circumstances. The VFS made me to sign a sponsorship declaration form.

The conclusion is my spouse got the visa approval within 6 business days. I am keen to share details of my cover letter with any one. This is to encourage others in similar situations not to lose hope. There is hope!

[sanfus]

Hello All, I am a newbie to this forum

I am planning to apply for Spouse visa for my wife under Partner of British Citizen category. Currently i run a Limited Company in UK for which i am the sole Director and 100% shareholder.

Though i am the Director of my limited company and self employed i had never with drawn any salary from my company . as a 100% shareholder I've withdrawn DIVIDENDS of £29000 during 12 months period prior to my application date only.

I am planning to meet the Financial Requirement thru NON EMPLOYMENT INCOME source only ( i.e DIVIDENDS from shares ONLY not SALARY) .

as per the FM1.7 supportive document provided by UKBA to Evidence Dividends income from shares, the following supporting documents are required

1)A Certificate showing proof of Ownership

2) Personal Bank Statements for the 12 month period prior to the date of application showing that the income relied on was paid into an account in the name of the person


For proof of Ownership i have a letter from Company House stating i am the sole director and 100% share holder of the Company also i have a letter from my Accountant stating the same and my personal bank statements showing entries of Dividends received from my Business Account.

Can any one please advise if i can apply for spouse visa using the above category and evidences stated above only

Appreciate your quick response

many thanks