Dominic2401

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the great information on this forum, I've been lurking for a few years now, but am almost ready to return to the UK with my wife. Still in the process of gathering all information and filling out the form, but it's likely we will return next March. (Yes, still got some time to go until I can send off the form but best to get everything sorted now).

Bit of background information;

Me:

Nationality: British
Age: 30
Country of residence: Japan for just over 9 years
Job: Project Manager / Technical Director
Salary: 5,000,000 yen (35,000 pounds or so)

Wife:

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 37
Country of residence: Japan for just over 14 years
Job: Database Architect and Data Analyst
Salary: Currently unemployed but until last month was earning 12,000,000 a year, so just about 70,000 pounds a year.

We have been married for 2 and a half years and together for about 4 years now, and met 6 years ago or so.

My wife has savings of about 130,000 pounds (20,000,000 yen) held in her bank account (just her name) for the last year or two. She is also selling her house in South Korea and we would eventually (hopefully next month) have about 600,000 pounds in total coming in.

We would be eventually looking to buy a house in the UK using this money.

Under these circumstance I'm aware that the normal job route would be fine to sponsor her, but i'm aware I would also need a job offer letter in hand which would likely need me to go to the UK and take interviews.

I've seen that if we go the cash savings route and show we have 130,000 in her bank account, we wouldn't need to have a job offer in hand (although of course both of us plan on working in the UK when we return).

My question is would there be a problem with the cash savings amount being only in her bank account and in her name and having nothing to do with me. My wife might be okay with changing it to a joint account, but to be honest the money was earnt and saved by her and I want her to have full control of it. Shes had problems with her family in South Korea and money and although it probably wouldnt be a problem, I'd rather not bring up those memories for her.

Also, in addition to that, changing the account to a joint account, would that cause problems when showing proof? Would we have to wait a further 6 months to show that these funds have been in this joint account for 6 months?

I'll probably have a bunch of questions but I hope this was detailed enough.

P.S. Anybody that has done the application in Japan know of good places or ways to get the necessary proof in English or translated and certified in English for a good price, please let me know.

mikelincs

WElcome to BE.

Please have a quick read of the site rules, beige bar at the top, and should you have any site related problems please contact one of the moderators, names in bold at the bottom of each forum page.

Can't really help with your query, but BritinParis will be along at some time with the definitive answer, although, to me, the money would seem to have to be your control, a joint account might well be sufficient.

Dominic2401

Awesome! Thank you very much!

Dominic2401

I've been looking at the financial requirements document (cant post a link as I dont have enough posts)

On Page 9, Part 3.1.2. it mentions this;

Income and cash savings must be in the name of the applicant, their partner or jointly. However, income and cash savings of a dependent child of the applicant can also be included once the child has turned 18 years of age.

This suggests that cash savings can either be in my name (sponsor), jointly or in the applicants name (wife).

Pulaski

That is correct. And it is possible to move money from one account to another, one bank to another, or, on paper at least, even from one country to another, but you have to prove that you had the money seamlessly on deposit for the six month period.

But as funds held in either of your names, or jointly, is sufficient then there is no need to move money or retitle an account, so I would keep things as simple as possible, and not mess with the account the funds are held in.

Dominic2401

Okay good! The Wiki on here suggested that it might not be that simple but thats good to know, and we also wouldn't need a job offer on hand before applying, correct?

Pulaski

Not as (if) you meet the savings requirement, no.

Dominic2401

Thank you!

HKG3

One more thing for the OP - if your wife has a Japanese driving licence, she can exchange it to an UK one without test. However, her Japanese driving licence needs to be officially translated by the Japanese consulate in the UK. Please see link below for details -

Certified Translation of Japanese Driving Licence : Embassy of Japan in the UK

benfarwan

Hi there .

Britinparis is popular in this website.

I have recently got my British citizen by decent through my mother.

Can I work outside UK while still living in the UK and able to bring my family from risky war country Yemen to UK. I need my family to be in a safe place.
4 kids and there mother.
I do work in a rotation of 28 days on and 28 days off.
I do have savings of 100,000pound and my annually gross income is 40000pound.

Is the spouse visa the right one for my family are there other alternative since they are in a war country.

I am happy with my job and I don't want to work in UK.

I will be waiting for anybody help or experience. especially Britinparis this guy is very perfect and experienced.