Spouse Visa

[marksroomspain]

Hi my name is Mark from the UK I recently married my beautiful wife in the Philippines and she is in the process of applying for a UK spouse visa I know almost everything about the process of the visa but one bit of advice i would like is because with myself as the sponsor I am in receipt of DLA which exempts me from the financial part of the visa process but i still have to show that i am able to support my wife without resource to public funds, I currently own my own house which is mortgage free and i do not pay council tax my only other expenditure is water and electricity which is £70 per months this gives me an income after this of £157 per week £101 jsa and £75 per week dla so leaves the £157 after expenses I also have savings of £6000 would this be enough to show ECO that I can support her many thanks...

[Terpe]

Hello Mark,
Firstly welcome here to the forum. Hope you'll stay around.
Secondly, congratulations on your recent wedding and well done in finding a beautiful and wonderful Filipina wife. Best wishes for a shining future together.

Now, turning to you question.
I'm sure you already understand the evidence you will need to provide in support of your exemption from the Financial Requirement under new rules.
You must provide this, and here's a reminder of what UKBA require:-

To evidence their exemption the applicant must provide:-
• Official documentation from HMRC confirming the applicant’s partner’s entitlement and the amount received.
• At least one bank statement showing payment of the benefit or allowance into an account in the name of the applicant’s partner.

As you quite rightly say, you now need to provide evidence of your ability to support you both without 'recourse to public funds'.

Here's what UKBA state:-

The applicant is required to demonstrate that they will be adequately maintained without recourse to public funds and without relying on promises of third party support. The relevant guidance is set out in IDI Chapter 8 section 1.7a

In principle UKBA will use the appropriate level of Income Support as the baseline.
For the current taxyear this is £111.45 for a couple (both aged 18 or over) with no children.
Means this is your target level of discretionary/disposable income after accommodation costs, council tax and secured loans have been deducted.

Here is the latest immigration rule on maintenance - IDI Chapter 8 section 1.7a (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/IDIs/chp8-annex/maintenance.pdf?view=Binary)

Take a look and ask any specific questions you need clarification on.

Just remember that you may well be required to pay some council tax, since you will no longer legally be able to claim you are single (living alone)
Also do remember that it's very tricky if your benefits increase solely due to the fact that you non-EU wife is living with you.

On the issue of savings, this will significantly help you as you need to clearly demonstrate you can support yourselves for 30 months.
Anyway take a look at the rules and determine where you stand
Please get back here with any specific questions you may have.

Don't forget that after 30 months you'll either need to prove exemption again or compliance with the new financial rrequirement.


Hope this helps in some way

[marksroomspain]

Thanks Terpe for your quick response so now I know my housing costs are covered ie: not claiming housing benefit due to my own property also I understand about council tax ie: if my wife works while here, she is a registered nurse and wants to work when she arrives they asked her that on vias application whether that counts towards ant credibility I do not know also I am educated to a level of accountant technician which I am looking for work in, I have specified that in my sponsor letter to UKBA once again I do not know whether that counts also, I forgot one thing in my earlier post is that my wife is 18 weeks pregnant so I know that as the child will be a british citizen he would not be under financial control if I were to become non exempt after 30 months ie: extra resources what I need to know is that the total amount I have left would actually be £175 per week because electricity and water is not taken into account is that right so should I show on my wifes visa application that my monthly outgoing expenditure is 0 £ because I have no council tax, rent/mortgage or secured loans so basically that £175 per week would suffice to support us both as been over the £111.45 by over £60 also my savings as well then I think that would satisfy the ECO that I would have sufficient funds your thoughts would be appreciated thank you.

[Terpe]

............your thoughts would be appreciated thank you.

Mark,
Based solely on the information you have supplied and the sources and variability of your income, my immediate response is that any application for spouse visa will require significant preparation in order to minimise refusal.
You may find it helpful to consider discussions with an experienced immigration advisor who will be able to highlight relevant caselaw.

JSA can be rather tricky to work with depending on the components that build up the total payments.

[marksroomspain]

Thanks Terpe for your response once again I have on my case a very experienced immigration lawyer who assures me that I would not have a problem based on my facts but I still like to get responses from people like yourself, my JSA is £101 a week that includes the disability premium because I am in receipt of DLA any further input to this information would be highly appreciated thank you...