What counts as evidence of Foregin earnings?

[nihMoham]

I am a naturalised UK Citizen (with much help from this board, so thanks!) and married my wife in the UK, and got her residency here (also with help from some lovely people here!). For professional reasons (I got a better offer) I moved abroad with her (to Dubai) in late 2016. We are now moving back to the UK, for reasons that will become clearer later in this post.

Her visa needs renewal by the first week of June 2018. I expect to be in a new role by April. My gross annual salary should comfortably cover the maintenance requirement, however as I will have been in that role for less than 6 months, I will be covered under category B, and will need to show evidence of the last 12 months of earnings.

From June 2017 to Dec 2017, I have earned a sufficient amount to demonstrate that I made the maintenance requirement. However - I wanted to know what kind of evidence would be acceptable? I was working on a handshake agreement as a consultant - I have a UAE bank statement that shows the payments going in, but I did not have a contract - the company is owned by a family member, and I foolishly let him convince me a contract was unnecessary. I don't have payslips either, because, well, the company I worked with was highly unprofessional, and was always almost late in paying me (I was paid with a monthly cheque!). In fact, I stopped working in January because I did not get paid for the entire month of December until last week - which is why I am running back to the UK.

So, my question is, would I need attested copies of my UAE bank statement? Would that be sufficient? I could request that the company issue me a letter on official letterheaded paper and stamped with the company stamp that I was working there and my salary was so-and-so per month, but they may be difficult and refuse to give it to me. If they did refuse, what would be my options? If they give me such a letter, would it be sufficient as evidence?

[CR001]

Without payslips and a letter from employer, you will fail to meet the requirements and the bank statements will likely be disregarded as you have no proof of where the money came from.

[nihMoham]

I was afraid of that. When you say a letter, would a letter dated from now be sufficient, as opposed to a contract dated from the start of our agreement?

Also, re. payslips - this company does not have systems in place to issue or print out payslips. It was one of my tasks to implement such a system! Would a company stamped letter (on letterheaded paper) for each of the payments stating the amount paid, and the month it was paid for, signed by the head of HR, be sufficient for evidentiary purposes for the UKBA??

[Londoner007]

Letter from your employer - will it detail the amount and dates of salary paid to you in cash?

Then would you have bank statement to show that this exact cash salary was deposited into a bank at similar dates?

[nihMoham]

The bank statement I do have, and the letter from the employer - in all honesty, I'm not on the greatest terms with them, given that I left due to huge delays in payment of salaries (and not just for me, for everyone in the company). I can ask for it, and see how they respond - but regarding the actual format of the letter, I can propose any format really.

Getting the exact dates in one document might be difficult - it would be evidence that they were delayed in paying me, which makes them vulnerable to a complaint by me to the local labour ministry. I'd have to convince them that this was only for use with the UKBA because I am moving back and not interested in pursuing a complaint against them. If they WERE to agree to it, would such a letter and the bank statement be sufficient evidence?

Edit - Would it be suffcient to have the letter say on what dates the salary was paid, without stating which month it was related to? That might be a workable compromise for them, as it wouldn't make explicit how they were delayed in paying salaries.

[Londoner007]

But would such a letter be backed up by then:

Bank statements to show that these amounts mentioned in the letter as salaries were deposited in your account at similar dates?

[nihMoham]

yes, the dates in the letter and the bank statement would match, with maybe one or two days for clearing. However the bank statement would show the correct amount and correct date, but as a CHEQUE deposit. I was paid with Cheques, not a bank transfer.

[Londoner007]

Doesn't matter what you were paid with, will the amounts shown in letter, cheque, bank deposit all match?

few days variance wont matter as it would take you few days to take these cheques to a bank anyway.