Please help - Complicated Spouse/Fiance Visa funds and CSA

[Bunny7783]

Hello everyone. I have been reading many threads on this Forum and it has really helped me out although I think I would feel fully confident only after I shared my story to get everyone thoughts on it. Therefore, I am writing this thread and I hope to get all the help I need.

I am an Indian and my Fiance is British. We plan to settle in the UK and I will be applying for my visa mid-January 2012.

My fiance pays Child Support for 2 children but they are not living with him. He does not meet them either. The current minimum balance for a couple says 105 pounds per week but for 2 children it moves upto 214 pounds.
I was wondering whether that would apply to this??? The children do not even live in the same city, let alone the same locality or house.
This is sort of stressing me out as we can show 115 pounds a week approximately but we can definitely not show 214 pounds!

Please help! I have discussed some details below:

1. My Fiance is a Black Cab driver in Edinburgh. He pays and has receipts for his house rent and taxes.
2. We are not sure whether we should have the court wedding here in India and apply for Spouse Visa or get a Fiancee Visa and then get married there.
3. He has a steady job as a taxi driver to support both of us till I am allowed to work. He saves around 110 pounds per week after paying everything.
4. I am a Textile Designer by profession and would like to work in a design firm or similar field once I can in Edinburgh.
5. My husband pays CSA for 2 children who do not live in the same city.
6. He will have bank statements from the last 3 months when I apply. His job is a cash job and he did not put his savings into the bank earlier but has started to since we found out that we need to show bank statements.
7. He also does not have Tax returns to show as he was studying earlier so he was working part time and then he was in India for one year. It has been just a year since he moved back to Scotland.
8. We meet each other every few months when he flies down to India. Other than that we chat online and talk on the phone everyday. We have records of everything.
9. He is not very rich but has a steady income and enough to be happy, lives in a nice place and will be able to support me.
10. I do not have any savings.


Things I would like to know please:

1. I read that he needs to show around 105 pounds per week in his bank account as proof that he can support me till needed. Some people say that its just a figure and really not the actual amount as it is too low. Is there a certain amount of money that he has to show OR is it just showing a steady income and savings after paying all rent and taxes?

2. We would also like to know if I need to show any funds in my account or is it just his income we need to show? I do not have any savings. Would that affect my chances of a visa?

3. Is it higher chances with a Spouse Visa? If we cannot get married in time (as Indian offices make it very difficult to marry a foreigner), then we will apply for a Fiancee Visa.

I have tried to provide all the information I could think of. Please help us and let us know if there is anything else you think we would need to know.

Eagerly awaiting any help you can provide us,

Thanking You,

Neha Sharma

[John]

A couple of questions for you. Firstly, after he has paid the CSA, and also paid his housing costs, how much per week is he left with?

Secondly, as regards the taxi driving, is he employed or self-employed? And if self-employed, has he registered the existence of his business with HMRC? And when did he start that self-employment? How long ago?

You ask about where to get married. It is certainly cheaper to get married outside the UK, in the sense that it cuts out the need to convert a fiancée visa into a spouse visa. Instead the spouse visa is applied for outside the UK. It would also mean that as soon as you arrive in the UK with a spouse visa, you would be allowed to work. Whereas if you arrived on a fiancée visa you would not be allowed to work, not until after the marriage and the issue of a spouse visa.

[Bunny7783]

Hi John,
Thank you for taking out time to reply to me.

after he has paid the CSA, and also paid his housing costs, how much per week is he left with?

After paying all bills, rent and CSA, he is left with 110-115 pounds per week.

as regards the taxi driving, is he employed or self-employed? And if self-employed, has he registered the existence of his business with HMRC? And when did he start that self-employment? How long ago?

Well he uses the taxi of a certain individual and pays them a weekly fee to use it. They have no say in how much money he makes as long as he pays them their weekly rent.
He has registered for tax but was unable to pay it the last few years since he was earlier studying and work only part time.
After that he was in India for 1 year and got back only towards the end of 2010.
He had certain overdrafts to pay off which finally got cleared by August 2011 and he started making a proper living from September 2011. He has kept a steady bank account since October 2011.
In the past it was also difficult for him to save since all his money was spent between overdrafts and traveling to India. We have proof of all flight tickets and hotel stays while he was in India. Once I am there, these travel costs would be cut down.

We are trying to get married in India but they are clueless about getting foreigners married here and the process has been going on for a month and a half already. We are still however trying to finish it by December or else we will apply for Fiancee Visa.

[Bunny7783]

I apologise about sending you a private message. I am just very stressed about the Visa and did not read that.

[John]

Earlier you told us :-

He also does not have Tax returns to show

-: but now you say :-

He has registered for tax but was unable to pay it the last few years since he was earlier studying and work only part time.

I do not think that "unable to pay" comes into it. If his self-employment profit was low then he might not be liable to pay any tax, which is a rather different matter.

You tell us that "He has registered for tax", but if HMRC know he is self-employed they would undoubtedly insist that he files a Self Assessment tax return each year. So I do not understand that he "does not have Tax Returns to show".

Please clarify, do HMRC know he is self-employed? Also, is he paying Class 2 National Insurance Contributions?

[Bunny7783]

What I meant to say was, he has paid tax in the past when he was working part time (which is why he is registered for it) but he has not paid tax in the last one year.

I will ask him clearly about his HMRC status and get back to you as I do not know the details of his tax related information.