Will my details be sufficient to get spouse visa for my wife

[limey10]

Hi everyone.

I have moved back to the UK (from Malaysia) for my son's education (he is a British passport holder).

My wife is still in Malaysia until we can submit and hopefully get a spouse visa for her.

Can someone please review my details and tell me where I may be going wrong or what I may have missed (before we make the formal application)

ME:
OK. I was working unofficially (i.e., not paying local taxes) in Malaysia as a proofreader, earning approximately 1000 pounds a month.

All income was paid into a single local bank account. I have statements for the past 6 months and beyond if required, and I have produced my own breakdown of what individual payments were for, but no official business accounts exist.

I am still doing this work now in the UK (my clients are still in Malaysia and I am still paid into my Malaysian bank account) and maintaining a similar income.

My intention is to go legitimate in the UK. I have started a UK company but as yet I have not informed HMRC that I am self employed.

I also have a pension of approximately 650 pounds per month month

This gives me an approximate total income of 19800 pounds.

WIFE:
My wife is still employed in Malaysia and intends to be right up until the moment she receives her visa.

She earns approximately 13 to 15 thousand pounds a year.

She also receives 7000 pounds a year income from property rental.


My concerns are that UKBA will not accept:
1) My account details
2) My wife's earnings as she will clearly be unemployed as soon as she gets her visa.

I read that bank statements are perfectly acceptable and that my wife's earnings only have to be correct at the time of application.

Can someone (anyone) please offer me any advice, or simply put my mind at rest that all will be acceptable, or point me in the right direction of what to do next.

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Philip Morgan

[Lucapooka]

Your wife's income will be ignored as she is applying for entry clearance rather than leave to remain. Your income would need to be organised officially you will have to wait for 12 months to have that considered eligible. I would suggest that you take professional advice but my immediate solution would be for her to visit the UK and then return to Malaysia and apply for settlement when your accounts are ready.

[limey10]

Hi Lucapooka

Thanks for your reply.

Reading http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary it doesn't differentiate between applying for entry clearance or leave to remain. It also states that joint income sources are allowed.

When you suggest that she visits and returns back to Malaysia, how would that help our cause?

Regards, Philip Morgan

[Amber]

Your wife's rental income may be considered. Do you have any savings?

[limey10]

Hi D4109125

Thanks for your reply

We have very limited savings (less than 10,000 pounds). However, we do own a house which we are considering selling (as a last resort). This would give us around 80,000 pounds.

We would rather not "have' to sell it, if you know what i mean.

Regards, Phil

[Amber]

Then you should consider the EEA route (click)

[limey10]

Hi D4109125

Are you saying that the website mentioned previously is incorrect, in that we can't use multiple sources of income to realise the financial requirement?

[Amber]

If you're not declaring income how will you have the specified evidence?

[limey10]

I will be declaring income, as per my original post:

I was working unofficially (i.e., not paying local taxes) in Malaysia as a proofreader, earning approximately 1000 pounds a month.

All income was paid into a single local bank account. I have statements for the past 6 months and beyond if required, and I have produced my own breakdown of what individual payments were for, but no official business accounts exist.

I am still doing this work now in the UK (my clients are still in Malaysia and I am still paid into my Malaysian bank account) and maintaining a similar income.

It's the form of how i can prove that income that is the problem. I should state that i was working under the umbrella of a Malaysian company; however, no taxes were ever demanded or paid on that income.

Regards, Philip Morgan

[limey10]

Apologies to all if my first post was confusing.

My question is this:

Although I do have an income, proof of that income is only in the form of foreign bank statements and my own customer records. Will this be acceptable by the decision makers?

Regards and hope to hear from someone soon

Phil

[vinny]

Your wife's income will be ignored as she is applying for entry clearance rather than leave to remain.

Lucapooka is correct, under 1( c ). See also the latter link for details of acceptable specified evidence.

[limey10]

Thanks Vinny

I was under the impression that they had revised the sources of income to allow the applicant to contribute to the financial requirement, even if coming from outside of the UK.

If it's going to take a year to prove my earnings, will she be able to apply for a visitors visa?

If yes, are the financial requirements the same?
If no, and the eea route is not viable, any other suggestions?

Regards, Phil

[Amber]

Hi all.

I (UK Citizen) have been working in Malaysia as an on-line proofreader for the past three years, continuously making more than GBP18,600 a year.

I have moved back to the UK with my 6 year old son so that he can go to school (he has educational needs that can not be met in Malaysia) and obviously I want my wife to join us both there.

I have continued working for my Malaysian clients, and registered myself as self employed with HMRC. Although I intend to operate as a sole trader initially, I have registered as a UK Ltd company, which I intend to leave dormant until my income reaches a higher level.

Whilst in Malaysia, I never formalized any accounts or paid taxes (even though I was legally allowed to work in any field I wanted). In the meantime, I have created my own accounts and have bank statements to back up my income.

My wife owns a property (all be it paid for by myself) and we receive GBP500 per month rental income.

I also receive a pension of GBP650 per month.

We own a house that will give us approximately GBP70K if we sell it

If UKBA accept all of my finances as valid, then clearly there is no problem. However, here are my questions:

1) Does anyone have any comments on what I have said so far?

2) If they don't accept my finances and put our visa application on hold, I believe that under the latest regulation changes (I think October 1st) that money from property sales (i.e., our house) can be used as savings instantly to boost any financial requirement shortfall. Can I simply submit this new information to UKBA while our visa app is on hold?


I'm sure there are more questions coming, but these seem to be the most pertinent.

I really look forward to hearing from you guys and girls

Thanks in advance,
Phil

Well the money from the rental income will be taken into consideration, and the earnings of over 18600 will certainly be accepted, provided it is properly documented.

The 70K property will not be considered, as it is not savings or earning.

The pension payment will also be considered, if indeed it is necessary.

Seen as your income is pretty decent, you will not encounter much problem.

Obie, I believe there may be a problem with submitting verifiable accounts. The OP says he has a 'dormant' limited company which is registered with HMRC. The ECO is unlikely to accept unaudited UK accounts as proof of income. Also income on self-assessments for sole traders is taken as the net sum declared for tax purposes after expenses and allowable deductions...which may well not amount to £18,600 annual earnings.

[Amber]

You can submit further evidence for reconsideration at any time before a decision is made. If you sell the property and the money is put into an approved financial institution then £70000 should suffice the financial requirement for a couple. The period the property was owned in the 6 months prior to the date of application, before it was sold to produce cash savings, can be counted towards the 6 month period as per 7.2.11.