Jay15

[]Hi ,please i just want to know if am eligible to apply for my husband to join me in few months time.I started with previous employer on February 2012 and went on maternity leave on January 2013 to December 2013 but was paid stautory maternity pay for 9 months and had unpaid leave for the last 3 months to look after my son. I resigned from this job on the 27th januray 2014 and also claimed income support and housing benefit on the same day as I have no income. I am also in receipt of child tax credit Luckily,got another job in February 2014 which am due to start in March 2014( over 18600) but it's a fixed term contract for six month.Moreover, I will be cancelling the income support and housing benefit once I start work. When do u think I should apply for my spouse and do u think I will have no problem with the application if I apply the next month after cancelling benefit or do I need to work two months before applying incase my name is still in the benefit System .I have proofs of my income before maternity pay, letter from my previous employer confirming I worked and how much I was earning which is above 18,600.i have all the payslips from the time I started work even during the maternity leave and also a letter from my previous manager confirming my start and finish date of maternity leave. I am settled in country and have a son who is a british citizen too. We're due to move into our own council flat in March too.my husband has been to uk about 4 times to visit us in uk and I have travelled 4 times since we met in 2010. We have evidence of our marriage ie marriage certificate and pix of our rlship and wedding.What do U think about my new job considering it is for 6 month however, it's possible they will make it permeant. Apparently,They require 6 months payslips and bank statement prior to application but I don't have that as I have unpaid leave for 3 months and also was meant to be paid in January 2014 which my payroll cocked up as a result of miscommunication from my HR.
P:S, I got my previous manager to write me a letter stating the start date and finish of my maternity leave including unpaid leave and when I finished with their company.
Questions
1.how long do I need to wait before applying for my spouse visa after cancelling my benefit at the end of March 2014 as I was hoping to apply in first week of May once I get my first month April payslip to back up my contract letter and also my one year payslips before I went on maternity leave.

2. How long does it take for my name to be cleared off the benefit system after cancelling it as am worried if they check to see if I was on benefit if my name will come up even though I have cancelled.

Pls advice me. Thank u for your time. Regards jay

englishguygoinghome

Congratulations on the new job and baby!

If you've not been in your current job for 6 months then your only option is to take 12 month's actual earnings into account. Have you managed to earn over 18600 in the past 12 months? If not, and depending on the past of your new job, can you identify a point on the future where that will be the case?

Jay15

Thanks. I worked for 12 months prior to my maternity leave and earned over 18,600 too. I read on ukba that d will use my 12 months prior to maternity leave.is that what you were trying to convey as I didn't get it.

englishguygoinghome

Sort of - I'd not seen that little bit of extra help (FM-SE 13i for anyone else wanting to try and help out). Based on that, as I understand the rules you would be able to exclude the period of unpaid maternity leave and would therefore need to show that you earned a total of 18,600 or above in the past 15 months from:
- any paid work since your unpaid leave ended
- your paid maternity leave
- any paid work before that maternity leave

Jay15

Thanks for your time. It's just that I went on benefit for month of March as I didn't get any income and also had a bit of delay with the new job clearance. I finished with previous job in feb and will b starting work in April. I will also be cancelling the benefit end of March before I start work. Would i b penalise for that as I Would like to make an application in first week of May. Would b too soon to make an application. Do you think my name will come up if d check my name against the benefit system or should I wait till June to apply.thank u in advance.

englishguygoinghome

They don't count any time on unpaid maternity leave towards the 12 months period in which you have to have earned 18600. Any time not earning and not officially on unpaid maternity will be counted, as will paid maternity leave. You need to write down how much you earned each month for the past year and a half and then go back an work out, for the 12 months they will count, whether you've qualified. If not, then right down how much will you earn each month going forwards, and work out if there is a point in less than 6 months when you will you qualify. It will all depend on how much you earned in those few months before you went on maternity & how much you will earn next month

Jay15

My salary was over 18600 for 12 months before I went on maternity leave and will earn over 18600 from next month. So, does it mean I can apply in May.
I read that they will look into my salary before I went on maternity leave and they will except a 6 months payslip if am with same employer but 12 months if I change employer. I have 12 months payslips b4 maternity over 18600.
My issue is the benefit I took for the month of March I stopped work in feb so have no income and payslip in March only. But will resume in April onwards.

englishguygoinghome

That very much depends on the actual figures - I'm not suggesting youpost them here, you need to do the maths yourself on this one:

eg: if you were earning exactly 18600 before and then got statutory maternity pay then you would not qualify:
- 2 months of salary before maternity is 4650
- 9 months Maternity pay would be approx 6500 according to the gov.uk calculator (that's 90% of your salary for the first 6 weeks and then 136.78 per week or 90% of your salary if that's lower after that)
- and one month of no earnings (last month)
- gives a total of just under 11150

If you were on 100,000 before hand then you'd get:
- 2 months previous salary (16667)
- 1730 per week for the first 6 weeks of maternity (10384)
- 136.78 per week for the rest (33 weeks) of the 9 months (4513.74)
- one month of no earnings
- total 31564

my guess is that your figures are somewhere in between and the time spent on no pay is increasing at the moment but you'll start adding new earnings to it soon.

You need list out the month and the amount you earned /will earn in that month on a sheet of paper or in excel. I'd suggest you do this for a period of two years from Dec 1 2012 to end Nov this year. Then look for a period of twelve months (skipping those on unpaid maternity but counting those where you were not earning but not officially on maternity) where your earnings total over 18600.


Once you've done that it would probably be worth your while double checking that the exclusion of the unpaid maternity leave really is done in this manner - for that you need a GOOD lawyer who knows this (and many OSIC registered ones probably won't)