If you want to apply for a UK spouse visa, but you and your partner don’t earn together at least £18,600 per year, your partner’s annual income must be at least £18,600 per year. As a result, the spouse SMS (Short Message Service) will be higher than £29,000 in Spring 2024, then later on it will be £38,700 according to the latest Home Office policy paper 1.
How to meet UK spouse visa financial requirement
Meet the financial requirement for granting a spouse visa; it can be done using your income your savings account or even a combination of these. If you have children, then you will pay more fines for your firstly £3,800 per year, and for the second and all next children you would pay £2,400 per year.
Income requirement for spouse visa
For a spouse visa, your yearly income needs to be at least £18,600. If you’re supporting children too, this amount increases. To demonstrate your income, you can use your salary slips. For those employed at their current job for more than half a year, the recent six months’ salary slips are necessary. However, if your employment is newer than six months or your salary varies, then presenting salary slips from the past year is required.
Other ways to prove your income include:
Income from Employment:
- Payslips for the last 6 months
- Payslips for the last 12 months
- A letter from your employer
- P60 form
Self-Employment:
- Tax return
- Account statements (SA300 or SA302)
- HMRC self-employed registration
- Personal bank statements for 12 months
- Accounts (audited or unaudited)
- VAT registration if applicable
Director of a Limited Company:
- Company Tax Return (CT600)
- Registration documents
- Annual accounts
- Bank statements for 12 months
- Appointment report from Companies House
- VAT registration and return if applicable
Cash Savings Over £16,000:
- Bank statements for 6 months
- Declaration of savings’ source
Pension Income:
- Official pension documents
- Bank statement showing pension payment
Other Income (e.g., property rental, dividends):
- Property deeds for rental income
- Bank statements showing rental income
- Dividend certificates or vouchers
- Bank statements showing dividend income
- These documents help prove you meet the financial requirements for a spouse visa.
- £62,500 cash savings for spouse visa
- The savings are in a bank.
- You have had the money for at least 6 months.
- The account is with a regulated financial institution.
- You provide regular bank statements.
- The savings are in cash and can be taken out right away, even if there’s a penalty.
- You and/or your partner control the savings, and have done so for 6 months.
- The money comes from a legal source.
- You have declared where the money came from.
You may prefer saving in a temptation-free environment provided by a fixed-term deposit or ISA. Just make sure that you have access to these accounts quickly.
Another advantage of saving money to meet the financing requirement for a spouse’s visa is that if you have saved enough, you will not have to show that you indeed have a currently ongoing income. In this case, where you are using only cash from savings to meet the required financial amount, you are willing to have £62,500 cash. To calculate the effect of your savings on meeting the financial requirement, you will need to: To calculate the effect of your savings on meeting the financial requirement, you will need to:
Examples of the £16,000 savings to the savings that you have held.
Divide the remaining sum by 2.5 which will give you the number of years (2.5) that your initial spouse will be granted.
For example:
Savings
Amount of savings that can be used
Amount of annual income from other sources needed
£62,500
(62500 – 16000) ÷ 2.5 = £18,600
£0
£40,500
(40500 – 16000) ÷ by 2.5 = £9,800
£8,800
£33,000
(33000 – 16000) ÷ 2.5 = £6,800
£11,800
£25,000
(25000 – 16000) ÷ 2.5 = £3,600
£15,000
£17,500
(17500 – 16000) ÷ 2.5 = £600
£18,000
UK Spouse visa financial requirement exemptions
In the case of a UK spouse visa, some people do not have to meet the regular sufficient funds requirement, especially if they possess the National Insurance number (Personal Independence Payment (PIP). They too are still interested in your capacity to have sufficient funds that will cover your stay and a place to live during there. If you can’t meet the requirements but have very strong reasons, like causing big problems for your family, you might still be able to get the visa by showing other financial support.