Funds and evidence - Spouse visa

[BondFamily]

First I would like to say I found many answers to my questions already but a few still remain, therefore I apologise if my questions have been answered before and/or this is in the wrong category.

I'm having difficultly in completing the application form for a settlement Visa to the UK. I have read so many helpful advice on here but my situation is a little bit different to the normal.

Firstly my wife is Ukrainian. Where I am stuck is on the proof of income that is required of us to prove to be able to get a visa. Now both of us (me and my wife) don't have official Job's for the last 4 years! We work online for ourselves and have no company to speak of but our income is pretty good. We have lived together in Ukraine for over 4 years and have bought so many expensive things with no debt (2 houses a nice car ect) but no business to show where all this money comes from. All the work we do together online gets collected into an online bank account then from there we wire transfer the money to a bank account located in Ukraine where we receive the money.

The main problem for me right now is not what to write on the application but more about how to prove my situation.

I think I can get printouts from my bank to prove past wire transfers and also could print pages from my online bank account to show this money but basically I cant prove how that money got there at all and looking at people who have been successful in their visa application on this forum they provided comprehensive evidence to this particular and very important area of the application process! I really have a big lack of evidence in this area and I'm concerned.

Some help and advice on things I can do to help my situation would be greatly appreciated right now.

Thanks,

Wayne



I should add some potentially game changing information, we have a child who was born in Ukraine and should be issued a British passport in the next few weeks via me being her British citizen father.

She had a visa application rejected over 4 years ago before we got married and one of the reasons was about the proof of income or lack of it.

[MPH80]

Basically - you'll need to prove that you have sufficient income. So bank statements and an explanation of the money is vital, even with the child.

But I'm going to warn you now - if you are making money online and not properly declaring it - that's tax evasion in the UK and WILL land you with a very nasty fine and potentially a jail sentance.

You will need to register as (at the very least) sole traders and pay tax on your income if you domicile in the UK.

HMRC made a point a while ago of building a computer system to watch sites like eBay for traders who weren't declaring income so they could go after it. That, by the way, is an example - the system almost certainly cover other areas.

M.

[BondFamily]

Thanks MPH80

This sounds like it could get complicated... I receive money in my name but in Ukraine only so I thought I didn't need to pay UK tax... but obviously I will state that once in UK I will be paying taxes as I will receive the money into my UK bank account...

Am I breaking UK tax laws with what I am doing in Ukraine? Can anyone suggest where I could learn about such things?

The worrying thing now is that we actually pay no taxes in Ukraine also... this must look really bad when applying for a visa... maybe even illegal.

But I pretty sure I'm not breaking tax laws in Ukraine

[MPH80]

I'm no tax expert but I doubt you are currently breaking UK law.

You probably only need to worry when you relocate to the UK because you have been away from the UK for the majority of the time over the last 4 years.

Make sure when you return to the UK you properly register as self employed and delcare the income - it gets very expensive if you don't and HMRC's technical sophistication to spot this kind of thing is getting stronger by the day.

As for tax law in the Ukraine - I've no idea. I'd suggesting talking to a competant accountant there and I'd also suggest talking to a competant accountant in the UK to sort out bringing the money back.

On the issue of the visa - I would suggest you need to show that you have sufficient savings to cover you, spouse and child for a period of time and the plan for income in the UK.

M.

[BondFamily]

OK thanks again this! It's getting me moving again in the right direction, I will find out from a Ukraine tax adviser to be sure this end.

You lead me nicely to my next question... how much is suitable to show that I have enough money to support all 3 of us? I have 14,000 USD (8600 GBP) in a savings account right now plus I plan on saying in the application that if the visa application is successful then I plan on selling 1 of my houses and the car to create extra money in the area of $20,000 (so say $35k total 22k GBP). Does this sound good or should I build this much bigger?

And going back to the employment/income issue am I going to have a problem because of not saying exactly where this money is coming from? (working on internet seems like it could be too vague and cause problems in the application) If so; what should I do?

[MPH80]

It's hard to say. Why can't you actually explain what you do?

The ECO is going to be interested that you can sustain your spouse in the UK without recourse to public funds - so the savings are good - but they'll also be looking for your ability to generate further funds - so they'll want to understand your business.

M.

[BondFamily]

The problem with saying about what we do and how the money gets into the bank account is because what we do encroaches on a law in Ukraine while being perfectly legal in the UK.... So this is the big problem here....

It could cause problems for us in Ukraine if we are honest and I'm guessing that without going deeper into this, the ECO will simply reject the application on the ground of trust or something?

Any advice with this situation please?

[MPH80]

So - to summarise - you don't want to explain - but probably have to.

Ok - that's known as a rock and a hard place.

So instead - I'll give you a frying pan and a fire.

You return to the UK - set yourself up - get your income going and provide accounts with a legitimate accountant - then call your wife over after a few months.

Means being separated, but it's path 3 out of the rock and hard place.

M.

[BondFamily]

Yeah, looks like the only way so far

I will ponder it deeper and maybe come up with an alternative solution... but moving back alone now seems inevitable.

I have another question though... how am I supposed to prove my income from internet activity? I mean all I can do to prove my money is with printouts from sites I use and back them up with bank statements showing the money is indeed coming in from the sites.... but this seems pretty weak to me, is it gonna cut it with the ECO? (a few screen printouts from internet sites). Any suggestions on what else I can do to make my evidence stronger?... like getting a lawyer to sign a declaration that the printouts are genuine, for example (would that help?)

And thanks MPH80 you have been a great help and I thank you for your time invested in me thus far.

[MPH80]

Since this is legitimate income in the UK - you'll be able to hire an accountant who will be able to produce business accounts for you.

You'll also have your registration as a sole trader (or ltd company) and the fact you're paying NICs.

That's how.

Of course - if the income is illegal in the UK too (but you've said it's not) - then you've got a bigger problem.

M.

[BondFamily]

I see what you are saying and thats a great way for proving my income in UK but my wife will continue to work on the areas that are legal in Ukraine in order to have some money coming for herself also... how is she going to prove her income in Ukraine? She will trade in Forex which counts towards 35% of our annual income, no accountant is necessary as it's simple to manage the money and setting up as a sole trader or business is not required because the money comes into my bank account (which she has full access too) so she doesn't need to pay tax on it (as well as cheaper commission rates) which to me seems like a legitimate way of making the most of our situation here in Ukraine.

I don't know how to effectively prove this income though... any ideas?

[BondFamily]

Since this is legitimate income in the UK - you'll be able to hire an accountant who will be able to produce business accounts for you.

You'll also have your registration as a sole trader (or ltd company) and the fact you're paying NICs.

That's how.

Of course - if the income is illegal in the UK too (but you've said it's not) - then you've got a bigger problem.

M.

I think I can change a few things around on a temporary basis (say 6 months) to come in-line with Ukrainian regulations and hire an accountant here to produce business accounts but the thing is that I don't own the sites I work for.

My questions are:

If I contact the site owners, what should I ask them to provide me with to help with the visa application?

What should I be getting the account to do exactly? I work, make money, that money goes to an online bank account, that money goes to my Bank account in Ukraine and I take it out. What would an account do for me? I don't mind wasting a bit of money on an unnecessary accountant and paying a few unnecessary taxes along the way to help prove my income but I need to know the types of evidence this accountant should be providing me to submit in the Visa application.

Thanks