Spouse visa FLR(M) - maintenance funds

[humzah123]

Hi

I want to clarify maintenance funds requirement for FLR(M).

We both are employed and earn around £4000/month after Tax every month but we spend almost all of it every month so that means that available balance close to payday are not more than £100

Our monthly rent is £750 and council tax around £125.

We have two children. I want to know that do we have to show a minimum balance of our account for last 3 months, i.e. that it did not go below a certain amount on any day in last 3 months ?

I cannot find any information on ukba site which state that the certain amount of funds should have been available throughout 3 months.

Can anyone please clarify that do I fulfill maintenance criteria for FLR(M) application.

Much Appreciated.

H

[Greenie]

there is no minimum balance required. what you need to show is that after rent and council tax are paid you have at least the amount that a family on income support would receive, which you clearly have on the bare figures you have given. Although you do need to show that you can survive on the amount you earn.

Given that your wife is already here and earning you are not in the position of someone who is applying from outside the UK and having to show they would be able to cope with the additional expenses of another family member in the UK. If you were living off an overdraft it might be a different matter but if you have £100 left each month you should be OK given your relatively high earnings and low housing costs.

[humzah123]

Thanks Gennie.

We do have overdraft which do use on and off but our monthly salary take us out of it and sometime we do need to use overdraft but it has always stayed within the agreed limit.

Will that cause any problem?

[Greenie]

do you have any savings? How often do you use the overdraft and by how much - when you say you have around £100 before pay day you mean £100 credit or £100 left of your overdraft?

[humzah123]

We have been living together for past 5 years and have been maintaining ourselves without any benefits. Will this go in our favour in any way?

[humzah123]

Thats £100 left off overdraft.

We dont have savings but have an account overseas which will have around £200 balance.

[Greenie]

By how much are you overdrawn each month? do you have debts you are paying off or other significant outgoings e.g. - money be sent to family abroad? High work travel costs etc?

[humzah123]

By £1700-1800 overdrawn.

We do have debts and make minimum payments which are around £350/month.

I have a travel cost of around £470/month.

We do not send any money abroad or give to any one else.

Childcare cost is around £1600.

[Greenie]

It would have been helpful if you had kept to the same thread

You are still talking about applying for FLR(M) however as explained previously your wife can't apply for FLR(M) from outside the UK. Can you clarify has your wife already left the UK, if not when does she plan on doing so and for how long?

I think there is a risk your application will be refused if you are overdrawn by such a large amount each month, on the otherhand you do have a significant combined income and indeed your wife is already established in the UK. If the application were refused on maintenance grounds from within the UK there is a high chance that they would grant her further leave outside the rules instead.

Applying from Pakistan creates an additional risk of refusal, and could result in your wife being stuck there (if they decide to curtail her existing visa).

You have said your wife qualifies for ILR under the 10 year rule, so if she didn't travel to Pakistan this would probably be the better option. Why does she need to travel urgently (if she has not already done so) and can she put off the trip?

[crowline]

hi guys. the bank statements I sent with my flr m application were 8 days shot of 3 months. my last statement was dated 24th april 2012 and not 30th. does anyone know if that will weigh down my application? thanks

[ID29]

Hi Crowline,

I'm not sure the dates on the actual statements are strictly relevant. Rather the numbers of statements you submitted. For example, did you send your bank statements for February, March and April?

If I recall, my final statement in the sequence (printed at the bank) was dated a few days before my application when the one I normally get in the post for that month was dated a few days after our application. Obviously, I had to send the shorter bank printed one as the regular one hadn't arrived by that time. Also in our case I actually sent 4 months of statements but the principle is the same.

[crowline]

i sent statements for feb,march,april however the april statement i got printed from the bank was till the 24th as couldn't wait for postal one as was running out of time. couldn't send the Jan statement because had no money on it. so i basically sent 2 3/4 months statement and not 3 as required. thx

[ID29]

As the guidelines don't specify exactly what '3 months' actually means in days I think they will be satisfied if they see statements labelled/headed with 3 consecutive months.

Remember, unless they have cause to look closely, a caseworker won't be doing a forensic examination of your documents. More likely, they are glancing over your application and using your documents to cross check the information that supports your case.

Anticipating what they might look at, I wonder if your last statement includes your salary/income. So for example, you have three wage slips or a letter from the employer and three bank statements showing corresponding amounts appearing in your account? If so, I doubt they'd pay any attention to when the last statement ends... or even notice it.

Trust me, when you send a perfect set of proofs, you're still left biting your finger nails, hoping and wondering for months. I think you'll be okay though.