Have met £18600 and claiming housing benefit

[sofia464]

I am a British Citizen and am planning to marry.
I have two options if my partner will come to UK to marry here and then the he will be applying for FLRM. The second option is marrying him overseas, then he will apply for spouse visa from his country.
I am a qualified teacher working through a supply agency. I work at different schools but paid through mainly one agency. All three agencies are paying me through an umbrella company. I have earned £18600 this year and have met the requirement of earning £18600 to sponsor a partner/husband, (my daily rate £130 was based on a gross salary of £24700 per year (38 teaching weeks✕650). However, I have also claimed contribution based job-seeker allowance for a month (March-April) and housing benefit for 4 weeks as I was not offered work. I get paid every week and receive a payslip. I do not have a permanent contract with a school. I am living on my own as a single person.

Am I classed in a salaried or non-salaried category? Which option is applicable to me category A or B?


I am again not employed at the moment and I will be applying for (JSA contribution based) and housing benefit, I am renting privately and paying £850 per month.
Do these benefits, contribution based JSA and housing benefit considered to be public funds or not?

I have a job offer for the next academic year at a school (September 2015-July 2016) I am verbally told that this job will be for a full year, with a salary of around £24700) through the same agency and the supply agency has given me a written contract without the start date or ending date, it says “ongoing” on the contract, it has school’s name and daily rate of £130. I am also told that I might be offered a permanent contract during first four months of the job. My annual salary minimum would be around £24700.

During current academic year, I had not worked each week of the year even then I have met the financial requirement of £18600. There are around 39 teaching weeks in an academic year. Being on supply also means that I don’t get paid for 13 weeks of holidays as well, so I don’t have payslips for those weeks when there was no work available or school was closed(holidays).
I have been earning £650 (£130) gross a week. I worked at a school continuously from 2nd September 2014 until 17 March 2015. Afterwards, I worked at different schools through other agencies as well. All these agencies paid me through the same umbrella company. So all my payslips have one employer on them that is the umbrella pay company. I am also told I am employee of this umbrella company. I have signed a contract with them as well.
I can produce all the payslips, and bank statements showing earning of £18600. I have all the online bank statements. Are online bank statements acceptable? Do I have to print them off and ask bank to put stamp on them?
Would I be able to sponsor spouse visa from within the UK?
Also would I be eligible to sponsor a spouse/finance from abroad?
I am again in need to claim housing benefit as I am not getting many supply days this term. Would that affect the spouse visa application? Would that effect fiancé visa application form abroad? My fiancé is working abroad could his monthly salary be considered towards the financial requirement? Suppose if I have a small short fall in meeting the requirement.

[SoHopeful]

I am a British Citizen and am planning to marry.
I have two options if my partner will come to UK to marry here and then the he will be applying for FLRM. The second option is marrying him overseas, then he will apply for spouse visa from his country.
I am a qualified teacher working through a supply agency. I work at different schools but paid through mainly one agency. All three agencies are paying me through an umbrella company. I have earned £18600 this year and have met the requirement of earning £18600 to sponsor a partner/husband, (my daily rate £130 was based on a gross salary of £24700 per year (38 teaching weeks✕650). However, I have also claimed contribution based job-seeker allowance for a month (March-April) and housing benefit for 4 weeks as I was not offered work. I get paid every week and receive a payslip. I do not have a permanent contract with a school. I am living on my own as a single person.

Am I classed in a salaried or non-salaried category? Which option is applicable to me category A or B?

Firstly are you considered to be self employed being paid via the umbrella company? In my experience as a temp this was the case and the reason I opted out of being paid in this way as I wanted to avoid the self employment route when my husband made his application.

If you are not deemed self employed then you could apply as non salaried under Cat B once you are back in work. Cat B would allow you to apply asap once you receive your first payslip in the new job as you have earned 18600 in the last 12 months.


I am again not employed at the moment and I will be applying for (JSA contribution based) and housing benefit, I am renting privately and paying £850 per month.
Do these benefits, contribution based JSA and housing benefit considered to be public funds or not?

Yes these payments are public funding so you would not be able to sponsor your husband whilst you are in receipt of these despite whatever your previous earnings may be.

I have a job offer for the next academic year at a school (September 2015-July 2016) I am verbally told that this job will be for a full year, with a salary of around £24700) through the same agency and the supply agency has given me a written contract without the start date or ending date, it says “ongoing” on the contract, it has school’s name and daily rate of £130. I am also told that I might be offered a permanent contract during first four months of the job. My annual salary minimum would be around £24700.

During current academic year, I had not worked each week of the year even then I have met the financial requirement of £18600. There are around 39 teaching weeks in an academic year. Being on supply also means that I don’t get paid for 13 weeks of holidays as well, so I don’t have payslips for those weeks when there was no work available or school was closed(holidays).
I have been earning £650 (£130) gross a week. I worked at a school continuously from 2nd September 2014 until 17 March 2015. Afterwards, I worked at different schools through other agencies as well. All these agencies paid me through the same umbrella company. So all my payslips have one employer on them that is the umbrella pay company. I am also told I am employee of this umbrella company. I have signed a contract with them as well.
I can produce all the payslips, and bank statements showing earning of £18600. I have all the online bank statements. Are online bank statements acceptable? Do I have to print them off and ask bank to put stamp on them?
To save a lot of hassle getting bank statements signged/stamped, I would suggest requesting print outs from the bank or changing to paper statements until after the application. Given that you may not be in the position to apply until Sept/Oct you could just put that request in now.
Would I be able to sponsor spouse visa from within the UK?
Also would I be eligible to sponsor a spouse/finance from abroad?
Your location is only relevant if you are returning to the UK after leaving abroad. Your husband makes the application - if you will not be physically with him when he does so then you send your documents to him by courier.
I am again in need to claim housing benefit as I am not getting many supply days this term. Would that affect the spouse visa application? Would that effect fiancé visa application form abroad?
As I said you won't be eligible to sponsor whilst claiming benefits - whichever employment category you are relying on requires that you are in employment at the time of the application.
My fiancé is working abroad could his monthly salary be considered towards the financial requirement? Suppose if I have a small short fall in meeting the requirement.
Unfortunately his income outside of the UK will not be counted, however the application does ask for details of his employment to get a full picture of your circumstances as a couple.

[sofia464]

I am not self-employed but am an employee of the umbrella company and entitled to all the employee benefits e.g. sick pay and holiday pay etc. I have employment contract with them.
I called an advisor and his first question was, “Do you have a contract of employment with the company? Are you an employee?” I replied him, "Yes."

I have thoroughly read the document and JSA contribution is not a public fund. However, JSA income based might be a public fund.

I have not again claimed any benefit so far (except March-April 4 weeks). I am working 4 to 5 days each week.

[sofia464]

Thank you very much SoHopeFul for your input.
I was eligible to apply under Category A with current employer for 6 months or more. Even salaried or non-salaried employees, both are eligible to apply under this category. They must be with the same employer prior to the date of application.

During the first 6 months of continuous employment with the same employer (the umbrella company), I have earned the required limit of £9,300. Unfortunately, I didn’t know, was eligible for sponsorship in February 2015.

Home Office doc (April 2015 ) says:
To calculate this annualised average for non-salaried employment in Category A the following calculation should be used:
(Total gross income from employment held throughout the 6 month period, divided by 6) multiplied by 12 = Income from non-salaried employment that can be counted towards the financial requirement.

Also Home Office does not say that you must be in a permanent job. You are still eligible under Category A even employed on temporary basis for six months (minimum).

Home Office doc (April 2015) says:
5.1.3. Non-salaried employment includes that paid at an hourly or other rate (and the number and/or pattern of hours required to be worked may vary) or paid an amount which varies according to the work undertaken. Salaried employment includes that paid at a minimum fixed rate (usually annual) which is usually subject to a contractual minimum number of hours to be worked.

According to this definition, I am also in salaried employment (Category A) as my pay rate is fixed £130 daily/£650 per week for teaching work. My number of hours cannot be changed; my nature of work cannot be changed. My pay is fixed for the teaching day under a contract and I am not hourly paid. My employer cannot pay me less than that and cannot ask me to do the work of a teaching assistant. As I am employed as a temporary teacher.

Sorry, I made a mistake in saying that I don’t get paid during school holidays. My employer does pay me for holidays, it’s called rolled up holiday pay and it gets included in my weekly wage.

However, the income from JSA contribution and housing benefit cannot be counted towards £18600 (9,300 for 6 months). The Home Office doc does not say I will be not eligible for sponsoring, as I have claimed (March-April 2015) after 6 months of meeting the eligibility under category A salaried employment in February 2015.

Home Office doc has used two types of wording under the Category A, a person should have been in the employment, at least for 6 months, prior to the date of the application. On the other hand, it also says a person should be in the employment at the date of the application.
It shows that after submitting the application, if a person is going to lose the job or he/she is being sacked, they are unemployed(incapacitated), on JSA contribution based/JSA income based/ or on housing benefit/ council tax benefit, incapacity benefit after the date of application or any other benefit, it does not matter to Home Office, the application will be processed and spouse/ fiancé visa will be issued outwith or within the UK.
Currently, I believe I am still eligible, I claimed benefits for 4 weeks and closed the claims then started to work for the same employer and have again met this £18600 requirement (2nd time). I have not calculated the benefit income in £18600, in the first place. An advisor gave me advice that, “Oh, I can show through your savings that you were able to support yourself during that month (benefit).” I do not believe his advice was correct and I need to show, I was able to support my self during that month as I have not counted benefit income in the total £18600.
I believe you can claim (JSA/housing Benefit, working part-time (or not) under 16 hours for the same employer or other employer(s)) benefits and deduct them from your total income to rely upon for your case and still meet £18600 requirement to sponsor your spouse/fiancé/partner.

Home Office doc also says:
(bb) Payslips must be:
(i) original formal payslips issued by the employer and showing the employer's name; or
(ii) accompanied by a letter from the employer, on the employer's headed paper and signed by a senior official, confirming the payslips are authentic;

I have all electronic payslips and my employer doesn’t issue paper payslips. I think there will be no issue regarding the payslips. My employer is happy to provide me an employment letter satisfying the Home Office requirements. I have already signed the employment contract with the employer when I started work. I don’t think so I need any employment letter on top of that. I have also signed a contract for the next academic year with the agency as well, (even my employer would stay same), starting from September 2015-until July 2016. We sign two contracts with the agency and with the employer the pay company.
I will speak to the bank if it is happy to write me a letter confirming my electronic statements are authentic, then I don’t need their stamps on each of the page. I do not want to switch back to paper statement just for the sake of this sponsorship. Also, I do have choice to be paid as PAYE but I am fine with the pay company. A year ago, I got paid as PAYE by the agency. I can use that option but I do not want to use it as through company (one employer) I can work for as many agencies as I like.
Am I right?
Any challenges?

[SoHopeful]

You need to have six months of consecutive payslips when you sponsor your spouse. You won't have that which is why I stated Cat B. You won't have to wait any longer - just supply more paper (12 months of documentation rather than 6).

Home Office doc has used two types of wording under the Category A, a person should have been in the employment, at least for 6 months, prior to the date of the application. On the other hand, it also says a person should be in the employment at the date of the application.
You must meet both... in employment at the point of application AND worked for the same employer for 6 months prior to...
It shows that after submitting the application, if a person is going to lose the job or he/she is being sacked, they are unemployed(incapacitated), on JSA contribution based/JSA income based/ or on housing benefit/ council tax benefit, incapacity benefit after the date of application or any other benefit, it does not matter to Home Office, the application will be processed and spouse/ fiancé visa will be issued outwith or within the UK.
Please provide a link to this information as I have never come across this and nobody has ever mentioned this before.
Currently, I believe I am still eligible, I claimed benefits for 4 weeks and closed the claims then started to work for the same employer and have again met this £18600 requirement (2nd time). I have not calculated the benefit income in £18600, in the first place. An advisor gave me advice that, “Oh, I can show through your savings that you were able to support yourself during that month (benefit).” I do not believe his advice was correct and I need to show, I was able to support my self during that month as I have not counted benefit income in the total £18600.
I believe you can claim (JSA/housing Benefit, working part-time (or not) under 16 hours for the same employer or other employer(s)) benefits and deduct them from your total income to rely upon for your case and still meet £18600 requirement to sponsor your spouse/fiancé/partner.
This final bit doesn't make sense... one of the reasons the financial requirement is 18600 is because most people will not be eligible for public funding if they are earning this amount - especially in part time work.
Where did you read that if the sponsor loses their job that won't affect the application??

[Casa]

Are you saying you can claim JSA if you are 'working under 16 hours for the same employer'? JSA is paid for someone unemployed who is seeking employement.

[sofia464]

Thank you CASA!!! you are correct, just spot on.

During claiming JSA (Income/contribution) you are allowed to work less than 16 hours, these less than 16 hours for a teacher are 3 days of teaching. So I am allowed to earn £390 for 3 teaching days, JSA stays open but does not pay me, and housing benefit makes up the shortfall in the rent if there is any.
You are claiming benefits, can still work for same employer on a part-time basis, and meet the requirement of £18600. This requirement of £18600 is not making me ineligible for claiming any benefit.
£18600 requirement cannot prevent a person or take their eligibility away of claiming benefits.

SoHopeFul... You have misunderstood. This requirement of £18600 has noting to do with making citizens ineligible for claiming benefits.
This requirement £18600 is a discrimination to tear apart the families and worst kind of unequal treatment against Non-EU spouses.
Basically, citizens are eligible for benefits however; benefit income cannot be counted towards meeting the £18600.

You show me, where home office says, the sponsor is not eligible for claiming a benefit (JSA, incapacity/sickness benefit, housing benefit).
Why don’t you understand, I claimed JSA contribution based and housing benefit after 17 March 2015 for 4 weeks, even I had earned far above £9300 (during 6 months 3 weeks above £15000). I was eligible to claim.
What if I don’t have work for a single day? Who would feed me? (JSA contribution) who is going to pay my rent £850? Am I going to sleep on the road, as I don’t have a full-time permanent teaching job to go? Why am I paying around £600-700 income Tax and National insurance each month, which gets deducted from my pay.
Isn’t Home Office doc saying you are allowed any type of work under category A or B? (Part-time, full-time, temporary, agency, permanent, shift-work)

Why do people/advisers/lawyers have to tell you this? It’s clear from Home Office doc. Please read again you would find yourself in the below Home Office doc extract:

Home Office says:
4.2. Sources that are not permitted
4.2.1. Income from the following sources will not be counted towards the financial requirement:

Income-related benefits: Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit or Support (or any equivalent) and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

 _The following contributory benefits: contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit.

Does this say you are not eligible for claiming (JSA/housing benefit) benefits?

Home Office also says :

Case studies – Maternity, paternity, adoption, parental and sick leave
Example (a)
The applicant’s partner is in the UK, has recently had a baby and returned to work from maternity leave 2 months prior to the date of application. Her contracted salary is £19,400 a year. She has been with her current employer for 2 years but, as she has not been earning the required level of income for all of the last 6 months because of her maternity leave, the period to be assessed can be the 6 months before she began her maternity leave.

Example (b)
The applicant’s partner is relying on Category A non-salaried employment but had 2 weeks’ unpaid sick leave 2 months prior to the date of application. This 2 week period will be discounted for the purposes of the application and it will not break the 6 month period of continuous employment required. So the applicant’s partner can show that they meet the annualised average income required over a period of 6 months and 2 weeks prior to the date of application.

[Casa]

"and it will not break the 6 month period of continuous employment required" Call me pessimistic, but you may need to clarify this before submitting your application. I assume your point would be that you were still technically employed by the Umbrella company although not actually working. The Case Worker may query the fact that it's usual for an Umbrella company to deduct tax and NIC contributions from the earnings rather than the employee having to make a self-employed self-assessment tax return.
When the ECO checks your HMRC records, will they see you registered as employed or self-employed?

[Wanderer]

"and it will not break the 6 month period of continuous employment required" Call me pessimistic, but you may need to clarify this before submitting your application. I assume your point would be that you were still technically employed by the Umbrella company although not actually working. The Case Worker may query the fact that it's usual for an Umbrella company to deduct tax and NIC contributions from the earnings rather than the employee having to make a self-employed self-assessment tax return.
When the ECO checks your HMRC records, will they see you registered as employed or self-employed?

Casa, I think the Umbrella thing is ok, they are very common in my industry if a little tax inefficient. Basically the 'Brolly' takes over your contract and employs you purely as an employee, there is no self-employment. Of course, the brolly takes a fee, and takes the employers NI out of the contracted rate, leaving the employee with contracted rate less fee less employers NI less employees NI less PAYE.

I'm 100% sure the OP is bona fide employed

This also forms the basis of the Contracting on Tier 2 scam..........

[Casa]

Wanderer, my confusion (which I'm sure the OP will clear) is that in her case she has to pay her own tax by annual self-assessment, so how do HMRC view you? The OP has said that she has chosen not to be under PAYE

[Wanderer]

Wanderer, my confusion (which I'm sure the OP will clear) is that in her case she has to pay her own tax by annual self-assessment, so how do HMRC view you? The OP has said that she has chosen not to be under PAYE

Damn, gonna have to read the whole thread now lol!

Self assessment by itself though doesn't mean self-employment, as a Director of a Limited Company I have to do one too.....

[sofia464]

Thanks CASA.
I am crystal clear that I am not self-employed but employee of the Umbrella Company. It says on the contract as well. I have checked with the teaching union as well, they have confirmed, I am employee of the Umbrella Company for HMRC, I am not self-employed. My employer deducts income tax and National Insurance from my pay. I believe HMRC view me as an employee too. I don’t submit any tax to anybody/HMRC, it’s not my job.

[Casa]

This is what confused me "Also, I do have choice to be paid as PAYE but I am fine with the pay company."

[sofia464]

The agency can pay me as PAYE directly. No umbrella company will be involved. This agency has paid me directly as PAYE in the past. This year, I requested the agency to pay me through the umbrella company. I have also requested the agency to pay me next year again through the umbrella company.
If I say to agency I want to be paid as PAYE, then I will be employee of the agency not the company.

[SoHopeful]

Your rudeness is not necessary and by the tone of your reply you seem to be looking for validation for what you believe to be correct rather than assistance based on experience and knowledge of others. Hope Casa or Wanderer can decipher all this - good luck guys.

[Casa]

I think I've thrown in the towel. Down to Wanderer now and he's usually far more pessimistic than me.

[Rose_20]

Hi Sofia464, I'm in a similar situation to you . How did your case work out ? Did you have a problem with the gaps in your salary due to unpaid school holidays ?