Help: Increase in salary meets requirements

[so_lucas]

Hi there,

I've just landed a job (Oct 2012) which is currently salaried at £18,362 but will be increasing to £19,220 from January 2013.

My question is: If my partner applies for a fiance visa in March/April (after 6 months of my employment) whether the increase in salary will be enough to meet the finance threshold?

It seems strange that being short of the threshold by £238 for the first three months would be enough to refuse the visa. If this is the case however, are there any other options other than waiting an additional 6 months from January?

[MPH80]

There is no real world experience posted here of lots of these scenarios yet - so we have to go with how the rules are laid down.

If you go in category A (employed for more than 6 months) - then the rules say they will assess your gross annual income at it's lowest level in those 6 months.

I personally suspect this is designed to stop family businesses giving a temporary rise to someone for one month to allow them to bring someone over, then dropping the level back down again. 6 months forces it in.

Your alternatives are:

Category B - employment over the last 12 months - e.g. prove your income over the last 12 months - but it'll have to be above the £18,600 threshold.

Use savings - if you have savings over £16,000 - you can use your savings to make up the shortfall. You won't need much over the £16k - just a grand and a bit from my mental maths.

Consider abandoning the UK altogether and go to live in their country.

Get married, move to an EU country for 6 months to work, bring your partner as your spouse there on a family permit and then return to the UK.

Or finally - wait 3 months.

M.

[so_lucas]

MPH80

Thanks for the quick reply, I think I might also try another option then: asking my employer to raise my salary to £18,600.

Thanks alot for the advice

[so_lucas]

Can anyone confirm that if you have two payslips for one month as you have a second form of employment (in my case some temporary work), will this count providing it is consistent over 6 months?

[MPH80]

The rules aren't explicit on second jobs - but neither do they say they will only accept one salaried employment.

As a result, two jobs, SHOULD be able to combine together to create sufficient income.

But - my interpretation of this is that if you're employed by one company for 7 months (category A) - but only 1 month for another (category B) - you'd have to prove your income as per category B. But that's personal opinion.

[so_lucas]

The rules aren't explicit on second jobs - but neither do they say they will only accept one salaried employment.

As a result, two jobs, SHOULD be able to combine together to create sufficient income.

But - my interpretation of this is that if you're employed by one company for 7 months (category A) - but only 1 month for another (category B) - you'd have to prove your income as per category B. But that's personal opinion.

I see what you're saying, it's really shame since there isn't an option to select a 'main employer.' I'm really beginning to despise all the ambiguity in these laws. I wish they'd be more explicit!

I'd look into speaking to an immigration lawyer but from what I've seen, even they might not know the answers as there isn't much experience with the new laws.

Very frustrating nonetheless.

[st pauli]

People are currently putting applications in under Cat A with more than one employer (source: expatforum etc) so that will be the acid test I suppose. As of right now it remains ambiguous, confusing and untested. Over the next 2 or 3 months it will become more clear.

Honestly though I'm expecting the worst, so if I decide to go UK Visa route instead of moving to ROI, I am prepared to probably have to go Cat B (and therefore have to wait until at least August '13 to submit the friggin' application )

[so_lucas]

People are currently putting applications in under Cat A with more than one employer (source: expatforum etc) so that will be the acid test I suppose. As of right now it remains ambiguous, confusing and untested. Over the next 2 or 3 months it will become more clear.

Honestly though I'm expecting the worst, so if I decide to go UK Visa route instead of moving to ROI, I am prepared to probably have to go Cat B (and therefore have to wait until at least August '13 to submit the friggin' application )

Thanks for the info St Pauli, would it possible for you to post some links to the people in the same situation? It would be great if I can monitor their progress.

I hope things work out for you regarding the categories

[st pauli]

People are currently putting applications in under Cat A with more than one employer (source: expatforum etc) so that will be the acid test I suppose. As of right now it remains ambiguous, confusing and untested. Over the next 2 or 3 months it will become more clear.

Honestly though I'm expecting the worst, so if I decide to go UK Visa route instead of moving to ROI, I am prepared to probably have to go Cat B (and therefore have to wait until at least August '13 to submit the friggin' application )

Thanks for the info St Pauli, would it possible for you to post some links to the people in the same situation? It would be great if I can monitor their progress.

I hope things work out for you regarding the categories

Thanks mate

This is a link to a guy with a cat A/B situation that tests UKBA's interpretation in a similar, although not exactly identical way.
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/britai ... -help.html

I've seen more but that was the only one saved in my browser, there are more even just on that forum though if you do some digging.