couchsurfer

Hi,

Quick question that is confusing me in our uk spouse visa application:


What amount of savings are held in this account in GBP? (Required)

(Only include funds that have been in your account for the last 6 months or where you have liquidated or transferred eligible assets or funds that you have owned and controlled for 6 months)


I have two accounts, one is a savings account and one a current account. I transferred money regularly from the CA to the SA so the CA dropped to like £200 at one point. 6 months ago the SA had £10,000 (has increased to £24,000) and the current had £11,000 (has decreased because I transferred the majority of it to the SA)

My question that is really confusing me is how to answer that question above as the form separates the accounts. My money in both accounts combined has never gone below £21,000 but separately for the CA it went as low as £200 a few months ago.

I should put the amounts in both accounts 6 months ago?

Any advice would be appreciated as its getting quite stressful. We just need to have held £17,000 for 6 months and I definitely have but the way the forms is laid out worries me a bit!

BritInParis

If your savings account has held at least £17,000 for the last six months then I wouldn't even mention the current account. If the savings account balance has gone up over the last six months then you should use the lowest figure.

couchsurfer

Lowest both accounts got were £10,000 (savings) and £11,000 (current) at the start of March, since then the combined amount has only increased so we meet the requirements. Its just that I transferred the majority of the money from my current account to my savings around April/May so the current account dropped considerably but the money was still there just in another place. I am just getting confused about how to answer that question for each account as its done separately. I will put those two figures at the start of March.

Thanks for the help.

BritInParis

I would apply the KISS principle and wait until you pass the six month mark for the transfer into your savings account. Then you only have to produce a set of six statements from a single account. You want to make it as easy as possible for your ECO to make a decision in your favour.

couchsurfer

Thanks for the reply, what is KISS principle?

We have had well over the required amount since March it’s just that the money was transferred between the accounts. The combined amount has always been above what is required in the past 6 months plus my wife’s account too.

When the CA dropped to like £200 the SA had £24,000 at the same time.

SanDiegogirl

It means keep it simple...... as your CA has been going up and down, it's better to use the SA from the date you had 17K in it.

BritInParis

“Keep It Simple, Stupid” - that is, don’t make anything harder than it needs to be because if you do then the chances of something going wrong rise exponentially.

You can submit both sets of statements now if you wish but bear in mind it has to be crystal clear to a stranger where the money was at all times over the last six months both on the application form and the bank statements you provide. I would also include a covering note explaining the situation in plain English.

SanDiegogirl

Having had a think about this situation, the CA is presumably just that - a current account for everyday use, an account into which your wages are deposited and from which you pay your bills, rent/food/utilities etc.
To me, it is not a savings/investment account which has additional monies one can draw on in addition to your income.

While the OP has had monies he has been able to move from the CA to the SA, the CA has not shown monies as savings in the normal sense of the word.

Just a thought.........

BritInParis

It’s not a problem in and of itself providing the total amount in both accounts never dipped below £17,000 at any point but by using a current account, with the normal daily transactions going through it, it just make it much more difficult to check and therefore raise the risk of either the applicant or the ECO making a mistake.

If holding off for a few weeks is an option then waiting for the savings account to cross the threshold would be the smart move.

SanDiegogirl

Quite agree ....

Redsoxfan

They ask for a declaration so it will help you explain what went on between those accounts and they should be able to also confirm by looking at your bank statements for the past 6 months. Good luck!

Redsoxfan

Quite concerned about the financial requirement we submitted. So part of meeting it is my CD account. Which is only 1 statement when you opened it. It’s a 9-month CD then you earn an interest after that and have not touched it, so it means the money is in the account for the last 9 months and the bank doesn’t provide monthly statement on that. Do you know if this will be a problem? Or officers are knowledgeable enough to know what types of bank accounts there are? I didn’t get a chance to get an explanation letter from the bank on the description of it sadly.

spouse of scouse

CD account = cash deposit account? If so and the only evidence you provided was the initial statement 9 months ago then yes, that could be a problem. It's not a matter of case officers knowing about different types of accounts - you could have withdrawn and spent the funds at any time since depositing them, even if you were required to pay an early withdrawal fee.

Having said that, if you've already completed the application process there's nothing you can do about it now except wait and cross your fingers. Hope it works out ok for you.

Pulaski

A CD account is a Certificate of Deposit, a type of account that is rarely heard of outside of the US, although Canada has a "Guaranteed Investment Certificate", which is more or less the same. A CD is a fixed term deposit, so while it is similar to a "notice" account, a CD operates differently, in that if you buy a 90 day CD, you will have free access to the funds 90 days later, and have to pay a penalty to get the funds back sooner. Whereas a 90 day notice account would require 90 days notice to be given to get your funds back.

If someone would be so kind as to quote this for me, otherwise Spouse of Scouse won't see this,

Redsoxfan

Thank you Spouse of scouse. Crossing my fingers. I have already submitted docs and that’s worrying I can’t do anymore submission after hopefully we get ours with no problem. Thanks again!