Spouse Visa for Mexican wife living in the UK

[Mike_B]

Hello all,

I am a British citizen called Michael, and I currently reside in Bristol, UK. I am married to a Mexican woman. We married almost 4 years ago in Mexico where we lived together for 3 years.

We have been living together in the UK for the past year, with my wife being on a student visa, studying a PHD in Neuro Science. She is qualified to masters level in psychology. She speaks English fluently.

I work full time earning £15,950 per year, she receives a scholarship from the Mexican government amounting to £780 per month.

We would like to apply for a marriage visa so we can live here permanently when she qualifies at doctorate level, but I now come to realise that I simply do not earn enough money, and my wife's income will not count toward the £18,600 required income.

It is highly unlikely I will get an increase in my salary, likewise with my lack of degree it is unlikely in this part of the world to find a job paying more than £18,600 per year. We also have no savings to speak of, and cannot rely on family for financial support.

Has anyone been in the same or similar situation and been successful in an application? If anyone has any advice on what we can do it would be much appreciated as it feels pretty hopeless right now. The last thing we want to do is go back to Mexico to live when her student visa expires, but right now that seems more likely than being eligible for a spouse visa under these ridiculous financial rules being imposed.

Sorry for the lengthy post, I think I needed to get a bit of frustration about the situation off my chest haha. Thanks for reading

[Amber]

As your wife is in the UK, her scholarship may count, in addition to your earnings, see Annex FM 1.7. at page 36. Thus consider applying now whilst you may qualify.

[Mike_B]

Thank you for your quick response

So even though the examples they list talk about the UK resident having the student grant, they could take this into consideration if its the applicants tax free grant and add it to my net annual income?

Here is the example from that link

Example (a)

The applicant‟s partner is in receipt of a tax-free academic stipend of £12,000 a year and
also has post-tax employment income of £4,500 a year. Her combined net income is
£16,500 (£12,000 + £4,500). There are no sponsored children.

The applicant‟s partner has an income which is more than the equivalent net amount
(£15,800) needed to meet the gross level of the financial requirement (£18,600).

[Mike_B]

Does anyone have any experience with including the applicants non taxable income with the sponsors wage to meet the financial criteria?

This is a saviour for us if it is possible. Any guidance on this particular matter would be of great help!

[Amber]

(g) To evidence a maintenance grant or stipend (not a loan) associated with undergraduate study or postgraduate study or research:

(i) Documentation from the body or company awarding the grant or stipend confirming that the person is currently in receipt of the grant or stipend or will be within 3 months of the date of application, confirming that the grant or stipend will be paid for a period of at least 12 months from the date of application or from the date on which payment of the grant or stipend will commence, and confirming the annual amount of the grant or stipend. Where the grant or stipend is or will be paid on a tax-free basis, the amount of the gross equivalent may be counted as income under this Appendix.
(ii) personal bank statements for any part of the 12-month period prior to the date of the application during which the person has been in receipt of the grant or stipend showing the income was paid into the person's account.

So long as you can supply the specified evidence it should be acceptable.

[Mike_B]

Hi guys, so I have now managed to get together most of the documents required but I am having trouble with our marriage certificate.

It is a Mexican certificate so will need to be translated. Does anyone know if this needs to be translated by some official place, if it needs to be a certified translation or a sealed translation etc?

I found a couple of places online that will allow me to scan it, and they will translate and post me the translation, but the cost varies wildly with each company, and each level of translation.

Also, my wife's scholarship money gets paid directly into a citibank account which she does not receive statements for. I have contacted citibank to ask if they can provide certified prints of her statements or transaction history to prove the income, but they flat out refuse saying that it is not a normal account, it's just a prepaid card for the purpose of her scholarship so therefore they will not provide regular statements.

Will the UKBA accept non certified print outs of statements along with a letter of some kind explaining the situation?


Thanks for the advise so far, this place is the only place I seem to be able to get any help. You do great work here guys!

[Mike_B]

Just scanning through the form itself and I cannot see anywhere to record my wife's scholarship as a form of income

I get that as her sponsor, I should complete section 7.3A.

It looks like my wife should complete 7.3C (income not from employment), however that section suggests it is to do with income from property. Should I just put the scholarship details in there?

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to waste a load of money by making a silly mistake!

[Mike_B]

Hi guys, any help would be really appreciated on those last 2 posts of mine..

Help please

[Amber]

Yes 7.3C is correct, further information can be provided on page 30.

Can your spouse not have the stipend paid into a basic UK bank account?

[Mike_B]

That's great, thanks Amber

So with me being employed for the last 15 months with a constant salary, I should complete 7.3A Category A and the applicant should complete 7.3C?

As for the bank situation, it's not possible to have it paid into a normal UK account unfortunately. I think I will have to print off the statements online and enclose them with a letter of complaint to Citibank. I don't see any good reason why they won't at least stamp and verify the statements as true, they are being printed from their own website after all.

[Amber]

Seems right.

[Mike_B]

Phew, I think I'm almost there . Just wanted to do a quick document check to see if I have overlooked anything. With regard to my wife's scholarship bank statements, we have phoned UKBA twice and taken the names and times of the call. Both times they told us that an unstamped print out from online would be acceptable provided we send the original scholarship document showing the annual amount she receives, and when it is due to end.

Here is what I have gathered so far...

1. Applicant’s form and documents
• FLR(M) Application form
• Current & Previous Passport
• Two Passport Size Photographs

2. Proof of English Language Requirement
• English language test document

3. Finances
• 6 months of stamped bank statements of spouse
• Letter from employer of spouse confirming employment and salary
• Contract of employment of spouse
• Original Scholarship letter stating the net amount received annually, and 6 months of printed statements showing the location of the scholarship payments.

4. Accommodation
• Tenancy Agreement in both our names
• Online print out of most recent electricity bill in both our names

5. Spouse Documents
• British Passport
• One Passport-size Photograph

6. Proof of Relationship
• Original Mexican Marriage Certificate
• Certified translation of the marriage certificate
• Wedding Pictures, and around 15 other general pictures of us together over several years.
• Print outs of various emails exchanged since we met in 2008
• Print outs of Flight itineraries from before we were married

We have also written a letter each with details of how we met and why my wife and I want to extend her stay in the UK. Around 1000 words each.

I have written a covering note explaining why my wife's bank statements are not stamped, and also giving the names of the UKBA agents and times of the calls when we were told just a print out would suffice.

So am I missing anything as far as you good people can see?

[Mike_B]

In addition to the above, I have a question regarding my wages.

I'm wary of the fact my documents have to be from within 28 days of the application date so am going to post everything this weekend. I was wondering if the fact that my wage was increased 5 months ago from £15,000 to £15,950 would have any effect on the application. One of my payslips will show the lower wage (although we still meet the financial requirement regardless. My employer has written a letter stating the date of pay pay increase.

Also, my wife's scholarship income is tax free so should I enter her net income into the form, or work out what the gross equivalent would be to tie up with the gross income I am entering?

Thanks for your help

[Mike_B]

Any thoughts on my last 2 posts before I send this tomorrow?

[Mike_B]

Ok so I solved one problem, I am waiting until the end of the week so I can so a bank statement with my latest wage to correspond with the latest payslip. That's the full 6 months at the wage I am stating on the form.

Would greatly appreciate any answer to this though...

my wife's scholarship income is tax free so should I enter her net income into the form, or work out what the gross equivalent would be to tie up with the gross income I am entering?

[Mike_B]

Anyone?