UK fiance visa- advice on financial requirement

[Katie688]

Hello,

I am new to these boards but I was wondering if anybody could give me some insight into the application my partner has recently made.

She submitted a proposed civil partnership visa in South Africa on the 14th April this year.

I put together the application myself and made sure, on the advice of an immigration lawyer friend that, the application folder was immaculate in terms of numbering, indexing etc. I am confident in every aspect except the financial requirement bit and unfortunately he wasn't able to fully answer my questions either.

The first bit we relied upon was my salary. I have been in employment for 8 months but only just received a pay rise so we relied on category B. That amount was £17,000, so we had £1,600 to make up. I had two options, so for the avoidance of any doubt or issues I included both.

The first was a 'stipend.' I scoured the internet for the actual border agency definition of what they constituted a stipend but could find nothing except that it must have been received for a period of 12 months and that it must be for higher education (degree level etc). I received £500 per month from my parents, consistently for the past 4 years, for the sole purpose of completing my law degree and then my post graduate law degree. I thought it might be a long shot, but I just couldn't find anything that would confirm or deny whether a 'stipend,' defined as a fixed and regular payment. Therefore, I decided to go for it as I was receiving a fixed and regular payment for the purposes of my post graduate education. Naturally I put the corresponding bank statements in the folder to reflect this.

In case that didn't work (and I did explain in a cover letter why both of these were included) I also included my investment fund statement. It is a fund that I have had in my name since I was born and I stipulated that on the financial requirement appendix. My investment company sent me a letter on headed paper showing the value of the fund a few weeks before the application was submitted (just over £23,000). For some unknown reason they couldn't provide the exact value of the fund for the 6 months previous to that but they did provide a table showing the share values which allowed me to work out the fund value and attach a table with those figures to the back of the letter for the immigration officers reference. My fund company also kindly confirmed that I could withdraw from the fund at any time without a penalty. I have just read the new guidelines released barely a week before the application was submitted which shows much more clearly that money from investment funds can count towards cash savings but specifies when they are liquidated. The 6 month period does not start then. Obviously, because of the timing and in order to satisfy the 6 month rule I didn't contemplate liquidating my fund at all. Now I am slightly concerned that they will reject the application on the grounds that the money is held in an investment fund account as opposed to a standard bank account.

This is playing on my mind all the time and I was wondering if anybody at all may be able to provide a little clarity to these rather vague guidelines that we are provided with when we are merely trying to be with the people we love.

Many thanks

[Amber]

Hello,

I am new to these boards but I was wondering if anybody could give me some insight into the application my partner has recently made.

She submitted a proposed civil partnership visa in South Africa on the 14th April this year.

I put together the application myself and made sure, on the advice of an immigration lawyer friend that, the application folder was immaculate in terms of numbering, indexing etc. I am confident in every aspect except the financial requirement bit and unfortunately he wasn't able to fully answer my questions either.

The first bit we relied upon was my salary. I have been in employment for 8 months but only just received a pay rise so we relied on category B. That amount was £17,000, so we had £1,600 to make up. I had two options, so for the avoidance of any doubt or issues I included both.

The first was a 'stipend.' I scoured the internet for the actual border agency definition of what they constituted a stipend but could find nothing except that it must have been received for a period of 12 months and that it must be for higher education (degree level etc). I received £500 per month from my parents, consistently for the past 4 years, for the sole purpose of completing my law degree and then my post graduate law degree. I thought it might be a long shot, but I just couldn't find anything that would confirm or deny whether a 'stipend,' defined as a fixed and regular payment. Therefore, I decided to go for it as I was receiving a fixed and regular payment for the purposes of my post graduate education. Naturally I put the corresponding bank statements in the folder to reflect this.

In case that didn't work (and I did explain in a cover letter why both of these were included) I also included my investment fund statement. It is a fund that I have had in my name since I was born and I stipulated that on the financial requirement appendix. My investment company sent me a letter on headed paper showing the value of the fund a few weeks before the application was submitted (just over £23,000). For some unknown reason they couldn't provide the exact value of the fund for the 6 months previous to that but they did provide a table showing the share values which allowed me to work out the fund value and attach a table with those figures to the back of the letter for the immigration officers reference. My fund company also kindly confirmed that I could withdraw from the fund at any time without a penalty. I have just read the new guidelines released barely a week before the application was submitted which shows much more clearly that money from investment funds can count towards cash savings but specifies when they are liquidated. The 6 month period does not start then. Obviously, because of the timing and in order to satisfy the 6 month rule I didn't contemplate liquidating my fund at all. Now I am slightly concerned that they will reject the application on the grounds that the money is held in an investment fund account as opposed to a standard bank account.

This is playing on my mind all the time and I was wondering if anybody at all may be able to provide a little clarity to these rather vague guidelines that we are provided with when we are merely trying to be with the people we love.

Many thanks

1. Third part income from family given to you is excluded in the calculation unless you use it as savings.

2. The time the shares are held can be used towards the 6 months period once liquidated.

3. Do you get any dividend from your shares?

4. Is the 17k salary a Gross figure (before deduction of tax etc)?

[Katie688]

Hi,

In answer to your questions, I don't get any dividends no, any increase in share price, interest etc is kept in the savings account. £17,000 is before tax and NI.

Thanks

[Amber]

Hi,

In answer to your questions, I don't get any dividends no, any increase in share price, interest etc is kept in the savings account. £17,000 is before tax and NI.

Thanks

You would need to liquidate £20,000 of your shares to get £1600 income. I don't think the family income could be classed as a stipend. Wait for the decision, you may then have to liquidate your savings or try and get another job and wait or a pay rise and wait.

[Katie688]

Thanks for your reply.

I can certainly liquidate my investment fund if need be. Seems a little ridiculous when trying to show you have money to support someone that you must take it out of a fund that increases and put it into a bank account with the lowest interest rates ever at the moment.

Do you think, given the ambiguous nature of how money in investment funds are held, prior to this new guidance coming out so recently that it's possible the officer may take a view on it and accept the fund as it is? Of course I can liquidate it but applying again with exactly the same application except 1 extra bit of paper showing the money now in a standard bank account seems insane for nearly £900!

[Amber]

Thanks for your reply.

I can certainly liquidate my investment fund if need be. Seems a little ridiculous when trying to show you have money to support someone that you must take it out of a fund that increases and put it into a bank account with the lowest interest rates ever at the moment.

Do you think, given the ambiguous nature of how money in investment funds are held, prior to this new guidance coming out so recently that it's possible the officer may take a view on it and accept the fund as it is? Of course I can liquidate it but applying again with exactly the same application except 1 extra bit of paper showing the money now in a standard bank account seems insane for nearly £900!

I imagine a strict application.