Partario

Hi all,

I made a thread previously about bringing my fiancée over from Russia - where people were incredibly helpful - but this is about quite a different area of the application so I thought it warranted a new thread.

We're going for a fiancée visa. The income requirement (same as the spouse visa would be) is £18,600. I've just started a new job with a regular income in excess of this figure, but since I barely have even one payslip for it I need to provide more evidence. Also I think it's going to take a while to get my employer's reference letter and waiting for it will likely hold our application up even more than it has been already.

My previous job (and technically, still my second job) is with the Army Reserve. Looking over the last twelve months (starting in January 2018) I still meet the income requirement. I also have an employer's reference letter from them ready to go. However, because of the nature of the work - instead of drawing a regular salary, you get paid for the days you do - my income has been all over the place. Everything from £0 for one month to over £3,000 for another month.

I thought I was fine, but the "Ultimate Spouse Visa Guide" (on https://www.migrate.org.uk) has this which throws a spanner in the works.

If I go off my army income alone, so we work off the notion that I've been working longer than six months in that role:
If I wait until I have a payslip from the new job (with the nice regular salary), so I can use that along with my past army income:
So... if I tried to use the army income alone it sounds like I'm screwed, because they'd look at the lowest monthly salary in the last six months - a couple hundred quid at best - and multiply that by twelve, ignoring the times I earned £2-3k in a single month.

If I wait until I get my first payslip from the new job, can I still use the army income to back it up? Or will they do the same thing and tell me that, rather than earning £20k or so over the last 12 months, I only earned 12 times whatever my lowest monthly income is? I hope to god that isn't true as I'd have to wait until June to make the application.

Any clarification on this would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
J

SanDiegogirl

Based on the above info, I believe you should be applying under the following category:

5.3. Category B: Less than 6 months with current employer or variable income – person residing in the UK

Under this category you need to show that you currently earn 18,600 GBP per annum AND that you have earned 18,600 GBP in the immediate 12 months prior to the application.

So you need to present at least one payslip together with employment letter, bank statements etc for your current job and similar for your Army reserve job; both sets of documentation showing you earn 18,600 in current job AND earned 18,600 in past job.(for the Army reserve job you need to present all the payslips you have received in the past 12 months)

(The examples you quote above are for salaried employment ie. take the lowest salary for any month and multiply by 12.)

Your Army reserve job is not salaried so you just need to present the payslips for the past year from this job which must add up to 18,600 GBP or above

Read the information in 5.3 in the following document carefully:

https://assets.publishing.service.go...ment_Final.pdf

Partario

Ahh, ok. I think I got through to adult life without realising what "salaried" actually means!

When it comes to the VAF4 Appendix 2 form (financial requirement), I take it this is still correct, though? https://i.imgur.com/4PFamhZ.jpg (screenshot from the form - for part 3.3, I've put "Income from salaried employment" but have ticked Category B as it's for less than six months)

So I've got a new, salaried job, but have to support that with my prior income through the army reserve (non-salaried). Based on 5.3 of that document, they'll take the most recent payslip from my new job, and will add up my income in the last 12 months to see if it goes over £18,600. That should be fine. It raises a new issue though. I started my latest job in mid-December, so my payslip is around 2/3rd what it will normally be. If they take that payslip as the basis for my future annual salary, I'll fall short of the required £18,600. I take it that's what will happen, even if I provide an employer reference stating I'll earn a £24k salary? Will have to wait until I get January's pay then I guess.

Thanks very much for the quick response.

PS: Did you link to the Appendix Armed Forces because of me being in the army reserves? I'm not sure if the Home Office would classify me as being a member of the armed forces; it's often a murky subject when the system is designed for regular/full time servicepeople and someone like me walks in as a reservist. However the advice within 5.3 appears to be relevant to anybody's situation, not just armed forces members.

Partario

Annoyingly, the Appendix 2 form doesn't seem to have any mention of non-salaried employment. So when I put down the details for my previous (non-salaried) employer, in 3.3, I have to answer 'yes' to the following:

However, they seem to treat salaried and non-salaried as the same in this situation (where I have been in salaried employment for less than six months, and just have to provide 12 months of payslips/bank statements to prove I earned over the threshold in the last year). So I assume it's alright.

SanDiegogirl

Section 3 relates to salaried and non salaried employment

- Part 3A Only complete this section if your sponsor is working in the UK. This section contains information relevant to the Category A or B ways to meet the financial requirement as set out in the policy guidance notes.

- You answer YES to 3.13 and put down all the info for your Army Reserve job.

SanDiegogirl

Yes, wait until you have a full January payslip....... and your employment letter/contract MUST back up that you earn 18,600 and above ...... Personally, I would present two payslips from my current job, but that's me.

The Appendix I linked to is for 'ordinary workers' and Armed forces...... your Army reserve work would come under 'ordinary' workers.........

Partario

Thanks for the clarification. This documentation isn't the most intuitive for first timers - for example having an appendix with "ARMED FORCES" plastered on the front, but which applies to everyday people, is... odd.

Getting there though! Just going to have to wait until my January payslip arrives. Apparently the TLScontact centre in Moscow is trialling a system where the applicant can upload their documentation online in advance of the application, which would make our lives a lot easier. https://uk.tlscontact.com/ru/MOW/news.php?id=8916_7203