MonsterP

My Wife will be making a "Family of a Settled Person Visa" application from Shanghai, we are targeting this month, and will be applying on the Savings basis.

Question about "Maintenance" from Chapter 8.
Will this be considered?
I am not working for three years since redundancy in Asia, hence our decision to move to the UK after failing to find any more employment there.
My Wife does freelance work in China, not employed, but has clients pay directly into her bank account which she then uses to support herself and our son who is living there with her (he's British).

Any suggestions of what we need to show here?
I tried to call UKVI but they want £1.37/minute to have a conversation and the guy who answered, frankly, didn't sound like he would be giving me confidence in his answers.

Many thanks,
MP

spouse of scouse

It's my understanding that if you qualify under the savings route, then that's all the financial information you need to evidence. That's certainly the case when applying from Australia, so unless there are different rules for China (and I can't see why there would be!), then just the evidence of savings would be required.

So it doesn't matter if you're not employed, and your wife's income is irrelevant.

MonsterP

Many thanks for your thoughts.

Anyone else experience anything or have quotes from the rules?

SanDiegogirl

Chapter 8 "Maintenance" Where are your reading this? Which document?

If you are applying under savings route, then maintenance does not apply to you.

Your wife's income is irrelevant.

MonsterP

SanDiegogirl, thanks for your reply.

Actually, it was referred to as Chapter 8 in the 2013 update, now this is replaced with:-
"Adequacy, Maintenance and Accommodation Appendix FM Annex 1.7A"
If you see section "3.1 - How to Assess Adequate Maintenance" it gives details for the ECO to check income vs expenditure, etc.

The reason I'm concerned about this is because since my return to the UK last year, my Wife has been taking care of herself and our son in Shanghai, whilst I have taken care of buy the house, furniture, etc., and taking care of myself here.

Surely, they will be checking that we have potential for adequate income via jobs in the future, and also to justify support of our relationship that we have been sharing financial responsibility?

Appreciate your help. :-)

spouse of scouse

The section you're quoting doesn't apply to the visa your wife's applying for. The only thing you need to justify or explain is the source of the savings that are being relied on to meet the financial requirement. Eg, savings from salary, or whatever the source of them is.

I'm currently on a UK family of a settled person visa so I know the process, and SanDiegogirl knows what she's talking about.

MonsterP

Excellent Scouse, thank you so much. Strange though, I came across that document since it links on from this particular application. Anyway, glad I can bin it now!

Quick question regarding the savings.... The large majority is in my IOM Lloyds offshore account which I've kept going since moving back. All the cash is from savings from employment, except for a gift from my brother a couple of years ago. As it is the bank that has already checked the origins of this and approved it for anti-money laundering processes, do I need to mention the gift as the bank statements I need to provide is for 6 months only, right?

spouse of scouse

If £62,500 of the funds shown in your 6 months of bank statements were sourced from your own savings/salary etc, then there's no need to mention the gift from your brother. If the gift makes up part of that £62,500, then you need to declare it.

To remove any doubt that your wife is applying for the correct visa, do you want to provide a link to the application document you mention above? Then we can all give you our 2c worth

MonsterP

Thank you Spouse of Scouse!

The link is... https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk
"Family of a Settled Person Visa"

Additionally, the VFS website for Shanghai seems to refer to this as "Settlement". Is this one of the same? Confusing, as settlement generally refers to the final ILR stage after 5 years, and someone would not be applying for that stage outside of the UK. Can you clarify?
UK Visa Information - China - User Pay Services

If it is the same, would I be right in saying that their Priority Service would not be available for this visa?
UK Visa Information - China - User Pay Services

The gift was received in May 2015 and took my balance to much more than the £62,500 (I've since bought a house since then and have much more than the required minimum remaining). So it's debatable to say whether what's left is part of the gift or not. Quite simply, as a gift, it's in my control from that day, so what would be the objective to declare it if it's already gone through the checks etc etc? Just curious and trying to keep it simple.

Cheers! MP

MonsterP

Any further input please folks? I'm aiming to get this application done this month, and have just been told by the bank that it could take them up to 10 days to send out statements! :-( Difficult time management with this visa.