Financial Requirement Question

[captaincay]

Hello everyone

I just want to ask for help because I'm a bit confused.

My fiance earns £18,271.50 pre-tax, but this does not include tips (he works in an industry where tips are common). He has studied his end of year p60 and has discovered that his gross pay is £19,155.95. Is this the figure we will need to show for the settlement application and is it enough to be accepted?
TIA

[Terpe]

Hello there CC

This the first time I came by this question.

I have to be honest and say that I have no previous experience where the use of tips makes the difference of meeting the income threshold or not.

On the positive side, I can say that UKBA will allow any income on which the correct tax has been paid to be counted as income for evidential requirements of the Financial Requirement, and which is included in payslips and P60's
If that is the latest P60 (tax year April 2012- April2013) then it can be used as evidence.

I'm a little out of the 'loop' these days but HMRC always used to have a PAYE scheme especially for those industries where tips form an everyday part of the income. These schemes were called TRONC schemes and were used to regularise the tax implications. They were usually run as a separate scheme from the normal Employer PAYE scheme and with a different PAYE scheme reference number. The person responsible was known as the Troncmaster.
These schemes can also be used as evidence.

Now, on the negative side, I have no personal experience of using Tips in support of UKBA visa. So I cannot give any confirmations.

Due to the wording of the UKBA rules I cannot see why tips cannot be included, but to be sure in your application I suggest seeking some advice from an experience immigration advisor.

That's the best advice I can give.

If you do receive any confimation one way or the other please could you update us here.

Just to recap, I'm feeling positive it is simply income but no practical experience to confirm 100%

Good luck

[captaincay]

hi terpe, thanks for your advice helpful as always

We're a bit nervous because the gross pay on the p60 is 19,155.95, but there are payslips within the last 6 months that are below 1550. which of these facts are more important to them, and is there a risk i will be rejected even though the gross pay is above the threshold?

[Terpe]

hi terpe, thanks for your advice helpful as always

We're a bit nervous because the gross pay on the p60 is 19,155.95, but there are payslips within the last 6 months that are below 1550. which of these facts are more important to them, and is there a risk i will be rejected even though the gross pay is above the threshold?

The best way to manage variable monthly payslips is to apply under Category B
Category B encompasses circumstances for those having a variable income.

Under this category you must be in employment at the date of application and be in a 'non-salaried employment' or receiving a variable income and wish to be considered in this category rather than under Category A.

To be compliant under Category B you must meet requirements and show evidence in two parts

Firstly
Where you are in 'salaried employment' at the date of application, and earning the amount relied upon you can count the gross annual salary at the date of application towards the financial requirement.

Gross income from 'non-salaried employment' will be counted on the same basis as income from 'salaried employment' where you have been with the same employer, or earning the amount relied upon, for less than 6 months at the date of application.
('non-salaried employment' includes that paid at an hourly or other rate or paid an amount which varies according to the work undertaken.)

When you're in 'non-salaried employment', the level of gross annual income relied upon in the application can be no greater than the annual equivalent of your average gross monthly income from 'non-salaried employment' in the 6 months prior to the date of application, regardless of whether that employment was held throughout that period.

So, the calculation will include all non-salaried employment undertaken during that 6 month period, and will be calculated over that 6 month period regardless of how much of that period was actually spent in employment.

The calculation for this annualised average of 'non-salaried employment' in Category B is made like this:-

(Total gross income from all employment undertaken during the 6 month period, divided by 6) multiplied by 12 = Income from non-salaried employment that can be counted towards the financial requirement.


Secondly

You must ADDITIONALLY have received in the 12 months before the date of application that level of income required to meet the financial requirement.

Your P60 will be important for this evidence.

So the fact that one month payslip is lower will not cause a problem since the UKBA calculation is based on total income during the previous 6 months followed up with evidence of income over 12 months.

Hope that helps

[captaincay]

Hi again terpe

please enlighten me because i dont really understand what exactly i need to show and prove in category b. can you please tell me exactly what i need? my partner only has this 1 salaried income, where he has earned above the threshold in the past 12 months, but in the past 6 months there has been differences in payslips.

And also my partner doesnt think that the last 6 payslips average 1550, will this be a problem considering his gross pay for the past 12 months? (more than 19,000)

[Terpe]

Were you able to follow the UKBA calculation for Category B with variable salary ?

As I mentioned it's like this:-

Add the Total gross income from all payslips during the past 6 month period just before application.

Divided the above total by 6 to get the average monthly income.

Then multiply that calculated average monthly income by 12 so as to arrive at the annual income that can be counted towards the financial requirement.

Try it with the info/data you already have.
It should be just fine for you.

[captaincay]

terpe, with the equation you gave me, he is short of the 18,600 for the past 6 months (18,250 is the amount we get from the calculation), is there anything we can do from here? thanks

[Terpe]

terpe, with the equation you gave me, he is short of the 18,600 for the past 6 months (18,250 is the amount we get from the calculation), is there anything we can do from here? thanks

Well as it stands right now the rules state that he must be earning at the appropriate level at the time of application.
Maybe you'll need to wait another payslip month until that income threshold can be met.
I'd imagine he'd be getting another payslip anytime now.

[captaincay]

does that mean it will be no good if we show 12 months worth of payslips? they will only take into account the most recent 6 months?

[captaincay]

also, the reason why the previous 6 months is below the average is because my partner took unpaid time off work to go to the Philippines for an extended time. if we explain this in the letter, do you think it will help? thanks!

[Terpe]

Please re-read my post number #4

Your husband is paid a variable salary. This means the Financial Requirement of the visa application, needs to be made under Category B

Under Category B, the financial requirement must be met and evidenced in two parts.


First Part is that your husband MUST be earning £18600 at the date of application.
This can be made up of varying monthly pay but needs to be calculated according to the equation I already posted.
Means it MUST result in £18600 minimum.



Second Part is that you husband MUST have actually RECEIVED £18600 minimum during the previous 12 months employment from date of application.

You must comply with both parts independently.

If you cannot then I'm sorry to say that the application will fall to refusal.
No matter how strong your explanation letter is, the caseworkers have no discretion or flexibility with regard to the level of the financial requirement that must be met.