Sarus

This is all fantastic news for UK citizens living abroad who wish to dump the non-European spouse and resettle in the UK with a British child of dual nationality. Instead of seeking permission from the wife/mother to take the child out of her country of residence (which she likely would not give), just take the family to the UK with the wife on a visitor visa, appeal for her to remain in the UK with her family (or wait 6 months for the visitor visa to run out) and Bob's your uncle, she will be deported and barred from seeking to re-enter for ten years. No chance for appeal either.

Former Laowai

So so sadly true!
My wife really is the most trusting person in the world and the poor lass has to field umpteen questions on a daily basis about where her husband and children are and why she isn't with us
Perhaps Kelly Brock, or that Beth off of Neighbours, should work for the UKBA and be sent around to visit people like me to truly test if our marriages are genuine.
I'm willing to be a test case

rebeccajo

So.....£7.20 an hour is defined by the UK's Work and Pensions Secretary as a "living wage" on which someone can live comfortably in the UK. Yet the Coalition government requires a UK citizen to earn £8.94 per hour to sponsor a non-EEA spouse for visa?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20196873

"A living wage, described as that needed to live comfortably, is defined as £7.20 an hour, or £8.30 in London.

A recent study suggests a fifth of workers are earning below this level."

DaveLovesDee

Around here, most of the jobs in the Job Centre are being advertised as "meets minumum wage" and temporary for Christmas, or as 16 to 20 hrs per week. 20 hrs a week at minimum wage gives me a take-home minus my rent of less than I'd make on benefits, where I'd get rent and council tax paid., but I'd still be expected to take the job if I was offered it.

As has been said previously by others, I could move to London where the pay is better but then have less money at the end of each month than I would here, or go back to college for a couple of years to gain an up to date qualification, as it seems years of experience aren't getting me anywhere.

dontheturner

Since my wife is earning only £6.08 (the rest goes, I presume to the (Tory)Employing Agent, through which most employment is done) - perhaps these are necessary for only a single person, living alone?

dontheturner

And that wouldn't help, as with quals, and no experience - that provides the necessary reason to refuse to employ you.

rebeccajo

The new rules only count the income of one person?

DaveLovesDee

Yup, the UK resident sponsor.

I think it counts the savings of both, but it has to be savings that having been dipped into below a certain amount.

rebeccajo

I know the requirements are based on only the UK citizen spouse's earnings.

I was querying Don about his post.

DaveLovesDee

Mea culpa!

rebeccajo

Oh, it's cool!! No reason to apologize! I was kind of vague.......

rukiddingme

But, the min wage inconsistency is just another to be added to the long list!

Interested on your thoughts on this... We have non-employment income of $4000 a month from our house in the US, it's been rented for a few years to the same people. But, the mortgage (and tax) is pretty much the same as the rent and it's all going through the same account.

Do you think they would allow that as income?

rebeccajo

Here from the UKBA website:

To evidence property rental income:

(i) Confirmation that the person or the person and their partner jointly own the property for which the rental income is received, through:

(1) The title deeds of the property; or
(2) A mortgage statement.

(ii) Monthly personal bank statements for the 12-month period prior to the date of application showing the rental income was paid into an account in the name of the person or of the person and their partner jointly.
(iii) A rental agreement or contract.

And here, from Appendix FM 1.7

The property, in the UK or overseas, must be owned by the applicant’s partner, the applicant or both jointly, and must not be their main residence (and therefore income from a lodger in that residence cannot be counted). If the applicant’s partner or applicant shares ownership of the property with a third party, only income received from the applicant’s partner’s and/or applicant’s share of the property can be counted. Income from property which is rented out for only part of the year (e.g. a holiday let) can be counted. The equity in a property cannot be used to meet the financial requirement.

rukiddingme

Our property does meet the above requirements, but the only fly in the ointment is the mortgage. I'm thinking about the part where they don't want to carry out a 'balance sheet', to figure it out. There's nothing there that says after costs are met, or net of mortgage/loans... which I find quite interesting given that they're supposed to be following these rules exactly.

rebeccajo

Yes, that part is conveniently missing.

If you sent your bank statement to prove the rents are going in (which they request) and that bank statement also shows a mortgage payment going out, I wonder what they would do.

The handy thing would be having a bank statement which shows the rents going in, but the payments came out of another account...........