michali

Larrabee and, of course, anyone else who can advise, please! I have started a new thread as I felt I was hijacking Sianukusa's thread.

My questions are regarding obtaining a spousal visa by applying via the savings requirement category. As an older couple ( well, actually we are definitely old! ) we have beyond the minimum required amount. We have been saving for years from my husband's salary, aided slightly by my own employment some years ago. My feeling is that we should use all our savings information if and when we apply for a spousal visa. The reason being that their obvious question if we just disclosed the basic amount, would be "And what are you going to live on?" seeing as we have to keep the basic amount untouched for another year and a half. We will only have a small income from a rental property over there and a small pension from here, so we will definitely need to use some savings.

Which brings me to the next point....do we include the income we will be getting from the rental and pension from here as part of the application or are they only interested in savings?

Our savings are in month to month fixed deposit accounts and can be broken at any time with just a small penalty of losing interest (which is minimal these days).

When declaring savings amounts are we responsible for converting to pounds sterling or does UKBA do that when they look at the application?

So many questions! Thanks to the this forum for so much help in making major decisions!

sianukusa

Hi michali. You were not hijacking my thread in any way !! It was just great it get all that info. I will be watching this post for anything else I missed !!

larrabee

I really do congratulate you for taking this so seriously and giving so much thought to the application however I think you may be overthinking this a little.

You need what is asked for and no more. In your case 62,500gbp.

Whilst you may want to make mention of the fact that you also have some income, trust me, when it comes to actually preparing the application, it is far easier/less complicated, to prove the savings, in terms both of documentation and form filling, than to prove other forms of income.

If at the time you come to apply for FLR, you have eaten into your savings such that they are then less than the requirement you would need to provide evidence of your pension and rental income at that time.

Take a look at 7.2 here, Cash savings, further guidance, for the criteria regarding your fixed deposit account. It looks like this will be fine subject to your bank being legitimate etc.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary

I had actually assumed that the applicant was responsible for doing the conversion but in looking again at the guidance, it would seem to read that UKBA do it for you. Maybe this will become apparent when you are filling in the forms. Just make sure that the exchange rate is favorable on the date that you apply.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/po...appendix-fmse/

michali

Thank you so much Larrabee! As usual you are spot on! I am definitely an overthinker generally!

feelbritish

Thank you Michali for starting this thread. I am still unsure on spouse visa or ancestral and we also like yourselves are an older couple and have enough savings! I will also be following your progress as you seem to maybe be leaving before us.

michali

Hi feelbritish! I doubt somehow we will leaving before you! My husband is still not convinced but I just want to equip myself with as much information as I can so if and when we make the decision to move, I get it right! My greatest fear is not getting it right and messing with our ability to even visit on holiday. All the best to you and we will follow each other's posts! Isn't this a great forum? Full of helpful and understanding people who know the system.

Perth

Michali, this is an interesting question. We qualify for the spouse visa route under savings too, but wondered if we had over that amount, should it be included in the primary account or kept elsewhere? You would think that since finances are the only means by which they are evaluating our applications, the more available the better! But one can never assume anything...

rebeccajo

I certainly wouldn't show them anything more than the required amount.

The rules are clear that £62500 is the threshold. If their (UKBA's) own rules are not enough for them, then what else is? Sad that people are worried that successfully meeting a ridiculous yardstick might still not be enough for the Home Office.

Just to be clear, I don't mean "pathetic" sad as an insult to Michali. I mean "sad" that people are so tormented by these rules.

michali

I quite understand! Mind you, if you have more than the required savings in one account, I would not want to start moving part of the savings into another account. Might only make life more complicated!