Requirement to maintain balance in bank account

[innovinity]

Hi All,

My gross salary meets the required threshold level for supporting my wife's application for Spouse Visa.
Last month, I was paid some overtime but the HR department has not categorised it as overtime on my wage slip rather they included it as part of my base salary.

My questions are as follows:

1) Should I get my HR department to mention this overtime payment in a separate letter even though I meet the salary threshold without this overtime payment?

2) We get our payslips in digital format on an online portal, do I need a letter from HR stating that these payslips are genuine or there is no need for that?

I would really appreciate your response, thanks in advance.

[AmazonianX]

Hi All,

My gross salary meets the required threshold level for supporting my wife's application for Spouse Visa.
Last month, I was paid some overtime but the HR department has not categorised it as overtime on my wage slip rather they included it as part of my base salary.

My questions are as follows:

1) Should I get my HR department to mention this overtime payment in a separate letter even though I meet the salary threshold without this overtime payment?

2) We get our payslips in digital format on an online portal, do I need a letter from HR stating that these payslips are genuine or there is no need for that?

I would really appreciate your response, thanks in advance.

1.HO will use the lowest income in past 6 months as basis of checking meeting threshold income so not necessarily since you stated without it you still meet up with the financial threshold but for your peace of mind, you may.

2. Yes, you will need the HR to give you a letter stating they are genuine OR take the printed payslip to company for stamping.

[innovinity]

Thanks a lot, AmazonianX

[innovinity]

Hi,

My wife is filling in the application form online and one of the questions about the sponsor (me) is as follows.

What do they earn? (Required)

1: The same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount

2: The same amount continuously, below the financial requirement amount

3: Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount

4: Not the same amount continuously, below the financial requirement amount

My monthly salary varies a little due to overtime/bonuses (but it is always above the minimum financial requirement), am I correct in thinking that she should select option 3.

Your reply will be highly appreciated, thanks.

[innovinity]

Hi,

I would like to know when submitting documents online yourself, does one have to submit all the documents at once, or can the documents be submitted at two different times, such as I am waiting for my bank statements but would like to upload the rest of the documents now, is it possible?

Also, Am I correct in thinking that all the documents must be submitted before the Biometric application is attended?

[seagul]

Hi,

I would like to know when submitting documents online yourself, does one have to submit all the documents at once, or can the documents be submitted at two different times, such as I am waiting for my bank statements but would like to upload the rest of the documents now, is it possible?

Also, Am I correct in thinking that all the documents must be submitted before the Biometric application is attended?

You can keep uploading your documents until the date of biometrics appointment but your documents shouldn't be older than 28 days from the date of application and also shouldn't be dated after the date of application. And the date of application is the day when you pay & submit the application instead date of biometrics. Therefore, the application should only be submitted when all documents are ready.

[innovinity]

Thanks, Seagul. One follow up question.

As part of the on-line application, we are asked to upload the employment contract as a supporting document. I do have my employment contract that was dated and signed in 2016, at the time my Salary was above the required threshold.
Since then my Salary has increased and the employer has mentioned the current figure on the Employer letter.

My question is, am I ok to submit the employment contract that I received in 2016 or should I ask the employer for a new contract with mentioning the current salary?

[seagul]

Thanks, Seagul. One follow up question.

As part of the on-line application, we are asked to upload the employment contract as a supporting document. I do have my employment contract that was dated and signed in 2016, at the time my Salary was above the required threshold.
Since then my Salary has increased and the employer has mentioned the current figure on the Employer letter.

My question is, am I ok to submit the employment contract that I received in 2016 or should I ask the employer for a new contract with mentioning the current salary?

No need to attach employment contract rather a recent employer letter along with payslips & corresponding bank statements are enough.

[innovinity]

Thanks Seagul for your prompt reply.

[innovinity]

Hi,
I have managed to convince a Natwest bank branch to stamp my printed Bank statement that I received as pdf in my online banking mailbox. They have stamped every page of the bank statement. In addition to this they printed a page showing the current balance, the extra page shows the bank logo, branch address and is also stamped and signed.

Do you guys think that stamped bank statements (every page) would be enough or do I also have to get a letter from them saying that the bank statements are authentic? They were not willing to give me a letter stating that it is against their policy.

[seagul]

Hi,
I have managed to convince a Natwest bank branch to stamp my printed Bank statement that I received as pdf in my online banking mailbox. They have stamped every page of the bank statement. In addition to this they printed a page showing the current balance, the extra page shows the bank logo, branch address and is also stamped and signed.

Do you guys think that stamped bank statements (every page) would be enough or do I also have to get a letter from them saying that the bank statements are authentic? They were not willing to give me a letter stating that it is against their policy.

If stamped then nothing else you need from bank

[innovinity]

Thanks again Seagul, your advice has been invaluable.

[innovinity]

Hi,

Regarding the payslips, I have mentioned previously that we get electronic payslips, I have converted them to the PDF and will be sending them as proof of meeting financial requirements.

I have also had the following generic statement added to my Employer letter (which does state my current annual salary), do you think this is enough or do I have to get HR to sign and date each of the printed payslips (my employer do not have a stamp) as well?

We can also confirm that all the payslips and P60 provided by the applicant in order to support the UK Appendix FM Partner Visa Application for his spouse are genuine and are provided by XYZ Limited.

[seagul]

I have also had the following generic statement added to my Employer letter (which does state my current annual salary), do you think this is enough or do I have to get HR to sign and date each of the printed payslips (my employer do not have a stamp) as well?

No need to sign and stamp the E-payslips provided they resembles to originals. Also the online version of employer letter must at least be signed by the issuing person. And yes the words added in employer letter confirming the authenticity of payslips is fine. Dont attach p60 which doesnt shows correct income for immigration purpose and can distract the caseworker from correct calculations.

[innovinity]

Thanks again Seagul.

One more item, Do I as a sponsor need to write a Letter of Support for my wife, detailing how we met, how we communicate, how I fulfil financial requirements etc?

This seems unnecessary to me considering nearly everything is covered in the application and documents, we are providing pictures, WhatsApp chat and call logs etc?

One thing that is not covered, is the explanation of the change of my wife name after marriage (some of the documents have pre-marriage name such as degree certificate, UK Naric assessment etc) but both her names (pre and post marriage) are detailed in the application.

[seagul]

Thanks again Seagul.

One more item, Do I as a sponsor need to write a Letter of Support for my wife, detailing how we met, how we communicate, how I fulfil financial requirements etc?

No need as the application form must have similar questions.

One thing that is not covered, is the explanation of the change of my wife name after marriage (some of the documents have pre-marriage name such as degree certificate, UK Naric assessment etc) but both her names (pre and post marriage) are detailed in the application.

No issue as the marriage certificate will cover it.

[innovinity]

Thanks, Seagul.

One last thing that is confusing me is the Category as per the Appendix FM Section 1.7 Financial Requirement

My Salary is above the financial requirement of £18600 and in the last 12 months it has not been less than £2000 in any of the months, but my salary varies a little due to overtime/bonuses i.e. the figure changes but never less than £2000.

On the latest application form, there are a few options for selecting the amount earned but there is no option for choosing the Category, the only available options are given below,

What do they earn? (Required)

1: The same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount

2: The same amount continuously, below the financial requirement amount

3: Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount

4: Not the same amount continuously, below the financial requirement amount

Based on the fact that my salary is above the financial requirement and varies, we are going to opt for option 3 (Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount).

In your opinion, is my assumption correct that I need to select option 3?

If true then what category does it relates to as per the Appendix Appendix FM Section 1.7.

[seagul]

Based on the fact that my salary is above the financial requirement and varies, we are going to opt for option 3 (Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement amount).

In your opinion, is my assumption correct that I need to select option 3?

Yes provided you are happy to attach 12 months of payslips and bank statements as it will ask that.

[innovinity]

Cheers, Thanks Seagul.

[innovinity]

Hi,
I am having trouble with the VFS Global website. I have just self-uploaded my documents, all the files are in pdf format and all the files are less than 10 MB in size. I uploaded each document one at a time in each category separately.

After uploading all the documents, when I am reviewing the uploaded documents in each category, the order of documents has changed and also some documents are attached to another completely random document within the same category.

It seems that the VFS website has merged the documents and changed their order, seem like some sort of machine learning/sorting is going on.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation, some of the documents that are merged are confusing, it will be confusing for an Entry Clearance officer?

Not sure if an Entry Clearance officer will see the documents individually as I uploaded them or the merged version as created by the VFS Global website.

Any advice will be highly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[innovinity]

Hi,

Can someone please shed some light on this, I am so nervous right now........

We self uploaded our documents on VFS website for our first spouse visa application, we booked an appointment for 26th November 2019 but my partner could not make that appointment so we decided to opt for the walk-in service, my partner went to the VFS centre today, they took the passport and Biometric etc....

My partner received the text message stating that the application has been forwarded to the UKVI and we should be able to track it but when we check on-line we are still able to upload the documents and there is no tracking option.

Can someone please tell me if this is normal, I was under the impression that once the Biometric appointment is done, it will not be possible to upload any documents but it seems that we can still upload, there is no tracking information available.

Does it mean that VFS has forwarded our application without the supporting documents which will be a straight refusal?

[seagul]

Hi,

Can someone please shed some light on this, I am so nervous right now........

We self uploaded our documents on VFS website for our first spouse visa application, we booked an appointment for 26th November 2019 but my partner could not make that appointment so we decided to opt for the walk-in service, my partner went to the VFS centre today, they took the passport and Biometric etc....

My partner received the text message stating that the application has been forwarded to the UKVI and we should be able to track it but when we check on-line we are still able to upload the documents and there is no tracking option.

Can someone please tell me if this is normal, I was under the impression that once the Biometric appointment is done, it will not be possible to upload any documents but it seems that we can still upload, there is no tracking information available.

Does it mean that VFS has forwarded our application without the supporting documents which will be a straight refusal?

If you haven't purchased their documents scanning service and uploaded the documents yourself then they must have electronically sent your documents to UKVI after biometrics enrollment which is a very normal practice.

[innovinity]

Thanks for your response Seagul.

What is troubling me is that my wife did not receive an email confirming the biometric appointment and we can still upload the documents on-line as the VFS Global system has not been updated with the Biometric appointment/confirmation.

Would you say it is normal that an applicant can still upload documents and access documents even after the Biometrics is done?

I must admit, VFS Global is the worst document management/upload and user interface website that I have used in recent times. Their customer service is worst and they frankly do not care about the applicants...... I am not sure why a lot of Governments around the world would contract them for such an important task......They are constantly getting negative reviews and do not seem to be improving at all.............

[AmazonianX]

Thanks for your response Seagul.

What is troubling me is that my wife did not receive an email confirming the biometric appointment and we can still upload the documents on-line as the VFS Global system has not been updated with the Biometric appointment/confirmation.

Would you say it is normal that an applicant can still upload documents and access documents even after the Biometrics is done?

I must admit, VFS Global is the worst document management/upload and user interface website that I have used in recent times. Their customer service is worst and they frankly do not care about the applicants...... I am not sure why a lot of Governments around the world would contract them for such an important task......They are constantly getting negative reviews and do not seem to be improving at all.............

A couple of forum members stated same occurrence and later on it became inaccessible. Have you uploaded all that is required prior to biometrics?

[innovinity]

Thanks for your response AmazonianX.

Have you uploaded all that is required prior to biometrics?

Yes, I uploaded all the documents that were required prior to going to the Biometric Appointment.