Overdrawn bank statements concern

[mmeehh]

Hi everyone
I am going to apply for FLR for my partner (who is currently on Tier4 visa) in May/June time. I will have to submit bank statements for the whole of April 2012-April 2013 due to working self employed sporadically throughout the year (AND working part-time in a permanent job). My income will be about £20,000 during that time.

Because my partner is on a Tier 4 visa, he is not allowed to work, so I am currently supporting both of us, and paying for his tuition for his study. So I have been overdrawn (between £1000-£2000 overdrawn) for the period of April 2012 - Christmas. I also used quite a few payday loans, which I always paid back on time.

I was planning to write a letter explaining that I was overdrawn due to supporting 2 people and paying tuition fees (which I won't have to anymore since he is finishing in July 2013, so we have paid the final amount to the college already). Will the UKBA be concerned about how overdrawn I was? I am currently not overdrawn, by only a few hundred pounds. It might go overdrawn again before the application date, but not by as much as before, and definitely on the date of application will be in the black since am expecting some money in Easter.

Would it also be useful to note that I am a full time student studying engineering at university who is also graduating this year, so my income will rise also (I have a job offer already). However I don't want to have to include proof of my job offer, because I don't want UKBA phoning my workplace and checking/I don't want to have to ask my boss for a letter to confirm it, because it is a new job and I am very happy to have it...

Would the UKBA be concerned by the bank statements?

[ID29]

Let me see if I can reassure you.

Firstly, please note we applied under the old rules (I'm the sponsor) but the new rules are actually more favourable to your situation.

Throughout the application I was was permanently overdrawn by about £500, and worse, I'd not long started a new business too. So in our case I was careful to detail where my income was coming from and our modest outgoing expenses. Under the old rules they looked not only at the income but also the amount left over after important expenses like rent/mortgage, council tax and utility bills etc. Rather than draw their attention to my overdraft or attempt to explain it, I simply put in my covering letter the following line: "I also have an overdraft facility (which has just been renewed) and have access to credit cards". So instead of stumbling with a negative I turned it into a positive. And that was it.

Now in your case, and under the new rules, the decision maker will concern themselves mostly with your income only. Do you meet the income threshold? If yes (and you can prove it), they won't much care what you do with it or the state of your finances (within reason).

The important thing in your case is that your finances appear to be stable or improving and therefore shouldn't be a concern of the UKBA.

Whatever you do, don't mention the tuition fees or that you are in anyway struggling to support your partner... after all, they are looking at you as the sponsor to provide that support and it would be unwise to suggest you might not be able to do that.

Submit ALL your evidence as specified/required and then use your covering letter as a kind of introduction and as a way to guide the case worker through your evidence (where any needs explaining like for example how your income is derived). Also state that you fully support your partner's application, your improving prospects for the future - so yes, do mention your forthcoming qualification and your job offer (you don't need to go into detail, just the role and expected salary etc) - and then finish with a cheery sign off.

One of the beautiful aspects about the new rules is that the case workers are basically checking things off a list of requirements. They are less concerned now with making subjective judgements or making determinations based on submitted evidence. Your application should take a similar approach. In other words, look at what they ask for and supply it. Don't feel that you need to add stuff (most of which is no longer part of the consideration), keep it focussed.

Does that help?