Spousal Visa - Do they count child tax credits as income?

[pompeyboy]

Hi Everyone, hoping you can help me with an important question. I am a British citizen living in Canada with my wife and four children. I am planning on moving to the UK and bringing my family. I have a job lined up in the UK and the pay will be around 25,000 GBP. I have talked to a consultant about this and he says that my income will be a little low and the UK Visa people might not approve my wife and children's VISAs based on my salary alone. I have also contacted the Child Tax Credit people and they say I will be eligible for CTC when I arrive and my children arrive. My question is this: will the VISA people take the Child Tax Credits into consideration when they look at my support for my family? I am sure if they take it into consideration that I will be fine, but if not - we are not sure we will be approved. Can anyone help with my situation? I hate to think I will be paying several thousand pounds for the application and it will not be approved. Many thanks for your help.

[Casa]

You can't take the child tax credit into account when calculating income.
You will need to show that when rent or mortgage, council tax and any loan/credit repayments have been paid you will have a minimum weekly amount remaining of £105.95 as a couple and £62.33 for each child.

[pompeyboy]

You can't take the child tax credit into account when calculating income.
You will need to show that when rent or mortgage, council tax and any loan/credit repayments have been paid you will have a minimum weekly amount remaining of £105.95 as a couple and £62.33 for each child.

Are you also saying the VISA people won't take the Child Tax Credit into account, even though I will be legally able to receive the CTC? If they won't be taken into account, will having cash in the bank satisfy them? For example, if I had the 5000 GBP or more to help us for the first few months, would this help?

Also I was wondering this...a consultant told me it might be better for me to move to the UK and start my job, get housing and open a bank account before my wife and kids apply for the visa. Is this best?

Lastly, would they take my wife's intention to work a job into consideration? It might make the difference between satisfying and not satisfying the amount you mentioned.

Any advice is helpful. As I said, we want to move to the UK, but would hate to risk losing all that money and not get approved?

[vinny]

See also Changes to Public Funds provisions ... from 31 March 2009 and Guidance.
4+yrs married & living overseas - ILE and KOL, before the rules changes.

[pompeyboy]

Thank you for all your help. I see that I need to have the appropriate income and cannot count on the Child Tax Credits to support my wife and children's VISA applications.

So then the next question is this - will having cash in the bank help with the VISA applications? For example, if I am under the amount in the guidelines, will the fact that I have cash to help support us be a benefit? Are they only looking at my salary? Also, will it help for me to go to the UK from Canada first and establish myself?

[vinny]

I am a British citizen living in Canada with my wife and 4 children. I was thinking of having my wife and children apply for a settlement VISA and we all move to the UK together. I have a job waiting for me in the UK, but without Child Tax Credits, it appears my income level will be just below what is required to be approved by the UK VISA office. Could my family come with me to the UK and live for 6 months, then come back to Canada to apply for the VISAs? The reason I am thinking this route is because I could establish myself better in the UK and therefore prove I am able to support my family. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Also, does anyone know if the VISA people consider the fact that my wife can and will be working in the UK to help support the family and therefore we would have the income level needed?

[vinny]

Savings will help. Visitors cannot work nor switch. They will have to convince the Immigration/Entry Clearance Officer of their intention to leave the UK after their visit.

[Casa]

The ECO won't take the possibility of your wife finding employment into consideration when calculating the finances available, but it would help if she could submit a written offer of work for when she arrives.
Savings will strengthen the application. Whether or not you decide to re-locate to the UK ahead of your family, you need to bear in mind that you will have to show in the visa application that adequate accommodation will be available for you all when your wife and children arrive here.

[SoHopeful]

Vinny and Casa - not allowing CTC as income, would that be the case for a child currently in the UK and the parent sponsoring the spouse?

[shadhk]

Same situation with me. I am also in process to move my family wife and four children from hong kong to UK.

I was very confused about this matter, and now I am extremely disappointed, because someone have advise me that the ECO include CTC in net income. But Casa and Vinny provided compeling evidence that infact it is not....so its mean earn 660 per week or forget about moving to UK....

[pompeyboy]

Yes, I am a bit confused because I called the UK Visa number in Croydon and asked them if the CTC is taken into account. The person on the phone said yes. I obviously don't want to take a risk of being refused the 5 VISAs I need as they cost $1330 Canadian each. Any advice?

[shadhk]

Yes, totally agreed. Its really hard to take, in hong kong total cost of visa fees is £3340 for five persons.

For me its not about money, but the fact that I am apart from family for months, and these all months every second of it feel like hell. And more painful is that its still it not clear that if today I apply for visa it will be approved.

I have called a very experience immigration adviser in Halifax, and he told me that after paying rent and council tax which is in my case around £150 GBP per week, you should have £300 GBP in hand.

Now I have book appointment with some more immigration adviser, after this consultation I will think about what to do and how to solve this problem.

Any advice is welcome, and will be much appreciated.

[Casa]

Unfortunately, only too often the staff who handle the telephone calls are not fully aware of the Regulations.

[shadhk]

I can confirm now that after paying CT and rent/mortgage you need 353-359 pound per week in hand to be able to support 4 children and wife.

according to 2 immigration advisers it is 359, and one of them say its between 350-380 per week, and another one say it is 353.

[pompeyboy]

I can confirm now that after paying CT and rent/mortgage you need 353-359 pound per week in hand to be able to support 4 children and wife.

according to 2 immigration advisers it is 359, and one of them say its between 350-380 per week, and another one say it is 353.

So you say you need around 360 after Council Tax and Rent? How about utilities, etc? Is it only Council Tax and Rent or are there others? I just don't want any surprises.

[Casa]

After paying rent or mortgage, council tax and any loan/credit repayments.

[pompeyboy]

Sorry, but one more question. If I have personal funds to upgrade our housing accommodation, but it puts me over the monthly limit, would the VISA people look unfavourably at this?

For example, let's say after taxes I have the required 360 GBP weekly to support my family (wife and four children) and apart from that it leaves me with 650 GBP for accommodation. Can I use my personal funds to upgrade that accommodation to 750 GBP or so? Or because the accommodation is more expensive, could my wife and children's VISAs be rejected because the VISA people now don't think I have enough funds to support my family?

Also, I know I cannot claim income for my children for Child Tax Credits until they arrive here with proper VISAs, but would I have any tax credits based on myself working?

[Casa]

The £360 weekly includes rent, so your post is confusing when you say that after the £360 minimum you have £650 left for accommodation.
The minimum weekly is £355.27 by the way.
£62.33 x 4 + £105.95 for a couple

[Greenie]

You can't take the child tax credit into account when calculating income.
You will need to show that when rent or mortgage, council tax and any loan/credit repayments have been paid you will have a minimum weekly amount remaining of £105.95 as a couple and £62.33 for each child.

Sorry to mix things up a bit - but Casa don't you think that, assuming the children are British, that the OP can rely on future income from tax credits, as it is not his wife's arrival to the UK that will cause him to claim more public funds, but his children's, and then are not subject to immigration control?

[pompeyboy]

The £360 weekly includes rent, so your post is confusing when you say that after the £360 minimum you have £650 left for accommodation.
The minimum weekly is £355.27 by the way.
£62.33 x 4 + £105.95 for a couple

Well if that is the case, it is good news for me. I have thought that you need the 360 GBP a week AFTER you have paid your rent and CT. So just to confirm, if I made the equivalent of 355 GBP x 52 after taxes, I should be fine?

My children are not British. They are Canadian. I have a passport through my father. I know I will get CTC when they arrive on settlement visa, but that won't count in the application process.

[pompeyboy]

You can't take the child tax credit into account when calculating income.
You will need to show that when rent or mortgage, council tax and any loan/credit repayments have been paid you will have a minimum weekly amount remaining of £105.95 as a couple and £62.33 for each child.

Sorry, but now I am confused. Your above post seems to indicate that I have to have the 355 remaining after I have paid my rent, CT, etc.

[shadhk]

pompeyboy its not that complicated...simply deduct 62.33 x 4 + 105.95 from your weekly wage, remaining must be 355.27 GBP. Thats it.

[shadhk]

You can't take the child tax credit into account when calculating income.
You will need to show that when rent or mortgage, council tax and any loan/credit repayments have been paid you will have a minimum weekly amount remaining of £105.95 as a couple and £62.33 for each child.

Sorry, but now I am confused. Your above post seems to indicate that I have to have the 355 remaining after I have paid my rent, CT, etc.

Yes, that is correct.

[pompeyboy]

Hi everyone, here is my situation...

I am a British citizen living in Canada with my wife and family. My citizenship comes from my father born in UK. I am planning on moving to the UK with my family.

• I have a firm job offer from the company I currently work for in Canada to relocate and work in the UK. The salary is 27,000 GBP, but after taxes it is about 21,000. I know the VISA people will not consider the Child Tax Credits I would receive.

• My wife is currently not working, but she is employable as she as a diploma as an accountant and has worked several years in this field.

• We have been married for 17 years. My children range from 5 yrs to 15 yrs old.

I know that I would fall short of the required support level of 350 GBP a week for my wife and kids, but there is potential that my wife would work.

• We would have savings of about 5000 GBP and we also have the money for airfare and VISA costs.

• The area we are looking at living, housing costs are 625 GBP a month plus council tax. I was thinking of moving one month a head of my family applying so I can establish myself - rent a suitable home, open bank account, etc.

• Lastly, we do own our home in Canada (but still have a mortgage). We have a contract with someone to rent our home from us in Canada. After we pay mortgage, we will receive $400 CAN/month from that.

Can anyone give me advice or their thoughts on whether my wife and kids could get a settlement visa? Do you think they have a chance?

[Casa]

Regarding renting suitable accommodation, assuming you will need to live within travelling distance of your work (your job offer), much depends on the location in the UK as far as rental costs are concerned. In the South for example, a small 2 bedroom flat is around £550-£650 a month, more if closer to London. With 4 children you will need to rent a 3 bedroom property. Council tax depending on size and value of property, area etc, around £130-£200 per month. There are cases where an ECO will disregard council tax in the calculation but this can't be relied on. When choosing the accommodation you will need to ensure that the ECO will consider it adequate for your family without being overcrowded.
What part of the UK do you intend to settle? Other members can give a wider picture.