Originally Posted by rebeccajo

Found this article today while doing my usual game of "follow the links". The sentiments within mirror my own.

http://thejusticegap.com/News/theres...s-media-myths/

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl

That is what I meant. You can use your Social Security from the US to make up the financial requirements.

It's all in the link I sent you. If you read it carefully it sets out what monies can be used with what, i.e. employment income + savings; pensions +savings; income + investments etc etc.

Originally Posted by gailc

Everyone has been so helpful and we have been able to find out so much more in the last few days.
For a while, it was looking quite hopeless, but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Many thanks.
Gail c

Originally Posted by DaveLovesDee

Don't let the Government hear you say that, or they'll build more tunnels!

Originally Posted by DaveLovesDee

Don't let the Government hear you say that, or they'll build more tunnels!

Originally Posted by gailc

Unless one has loads of money laying about, the governments seems to go out of their way to make it as hard as they can and make us more confused than we already are
Probably in the hopes we will all give up.

Originally Posted by rebeccajo

........the rules have been modified a couple of times since they were first announced and it's really really difficult to find your way around them on the internet. Original links to information on broken everywhere, including the Home Office website. So, the link SanDiegogirl put up is one of many that still works. But a person has to scour around to find some of the other bits.

Within the original statement of intent is a table that explains this language, also from the original statement:

"In respect of the use of cash savings to meet any shortfall against the income threshold under the financial requirement:

To be counted, the sponsor, the applicant or both jointly must have cash savings of more than £16,000 (the level of savings at which a person generally ceases to be eligible for income-related benefits), held by the sponsor, applicant or both jointly (but not with a third party) for at least 6 months at the point of application and under their control.

The amount of cash savings above £16,000 can be counted against any shortfall against the £18,600 income threshold (or the relevant higher figure where a child or children are also being sponsored).

This will be done on a basis that either multiplies the amount of the shortfall by 2.5 – the probationary period (30 months or 2.5 years) to be served before the applicant has to apply for further limited leave or for indefinite leave to remain – or, at the indefinite leave to remain stage, is equal to the amount of the shortfall.

For example, where the sponsor and applicant have no income which may be
counted towards the financial requirement, £62,500 in cash savings will be required for the financial requirement to be met at the entry clearance/leave to remain stage or at the further leave stage, i.e. the ‘floor’ amount of £16,000, plus 2.5 times the shortfall of £18,600. At the indefinite leave to remain stage, the same couple will require £34,600 in cash savings to meet the financial requirement by that means alone, i.e. the ‘floor’ amount of £16,000, plus the shortfall of £18,600. "

In essence this means the savings requirement drops down when the foreign spouse applies for ILR at the end of five years residency. Which means you could spend some of your cash after a successful grant of FLR (the application made after 2.5 years of residency).

Here is the link to the original statement of intent:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...oi-fam-mig.pdf

The table which gives examples of the explanation can be found on page 45 of that document.

Originally Posted by WEBlue

Exactly, they want to cut those non-EEA numbers any way they can!

The only way to defeat their aim is to do as much research as possible to ferret out all the angles for every single possibility for spouse settlement. Don't give up!

Originally Posted by englishguygoinghome

New changes are due in on the 6th April.
http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco...march/24-rules describes them as "minor changes to reflect feedback from legal practitioners and our caseworkers"

The full details are in paragraphs 210 - 280 of http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary

Trying to dig through these it looks like:
- adding the new personal independence payment to the list of reasons for getting an exception to the financial requirements
- clarifying the case of cash-in-hand income (allowed as long as tax is paid)
- clarifying the conditions related to salaried directors who own the company they work for
- allowing savings to be kept in investments other than cash during the 6 month period BUT: they must be at the correct value at the start of the 6 months and cashed in (at the correct value) by the point of application
- clarifying the case for workers whose income is variable (can't work out what the exact effect is)
- excluding periods of unpaid parental leave etc from the time counted for calculating previous income
- alterations to the regs for self-employed (again that needs someone to mock up the new wording to work out what the exact changes are)
- allowing stipends and grants to be counted as future income
- restricting the use of rental income from a UK property for a returning expat who intends to move into said property
- creating a new rule to specify how to treat people who were self-employed abroad and have a UK job lined up:

Originally Posted by perthhomeschool

OMG, will they ever stop changing the requirements

Thank you for picking out the salient points, as I can't make head or tail of most of it

Originally Posted by dontheturner

Wowee! This person missed the most important one! THE PRICES ALL GOING UP UP UP. I mentioned them the other day.......

Originally Posted by perthhomeschool

But of course they are Don. Isn't that what it's all about?

Originally Posted by dontheturner

I was referring to the Visa application prices............