jus001

Hi,

I'm in the process of filling out a VAF4A Appendix 2 form to sponsor my wife's visa and would be hugely grateful if anyone out there has any advice on the best way to fill it in based on my particular situation.

Firstly, my income is in excess of the £18.6k required so that's not an issue, it's just which categories I should go for on the form as nothing really seems to fit.

I am the sole director/employee of a limited company and pay myself a small salary (£12k) and take whatever else I need in dividends. This has been true going back to 2005 apart from between September 2013 and September 2015 where I worked as a PAYE employee on a fixed term contract elsewhere with a salary of £45k per annum. During this time I stopped the payroll of my company and the company effectively had no income although remained officially trading. In January 2016 I started contracting through my limited company again and started up the payroll again in April at the beginning of the 2016-17 financial year.

Assuming we're talking about the last 12 months, if I went for category A (which I'm not sure I could do anyway?) then my gross salary would be £12k which would not be enough. I thought I could then supplement that with the dividends I have taken under category C but I don't think that applies as I am the sole director/employee of my company which then leads to category F or G.

I believe for these two they would take the last financial year or average of the last two financial years into account. Unfortunately this was the time I was working as an employee elsewhere so there was very little income coming into the company so that would not work. I think using this route you can also use salaried earnings from other employment to supplement this but it only applies if you are still employed by that company at the time of application, which I am not!

So, unless I'm missing something, which is very possible, I have run out of options, despite having had an income of over twice the required amount (which I can happily prove has gone into my bank account) for over 10 years.

How would you advise I tackle this? If I was to explain all this in a covering letter somehow would they accept this despite not fitting nicely into their categories?

The only other thing I can think of at the moment is delaying the application until April when the 2016-2017 financial year comes to a close and I will have a fresh set of accounts that will cover everything fairly simply.
The downside there is that we have submitted the online application, paid for everything and my wife's interview is scheduled for next week. We have moved the appointment already, which was actually quite easily done on the website, but not sure how many times and how far into the future it could be moved without upsetting someone somewhere? Also this prolongs the time until she can come back to the UK which is not great either

Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions I'd be very grateful!

Many thanks,

J

BritInParis

I would try and push it back again and ensure you have a full set of financial documents to support your claim under Category F or G otherwise you could come unstuck.

visio159

Hey, what did work for you please? I am also in the same boat, so note sure which Category F or G and what amount should be filled up. Was a permanent employee till March 17 and then moved to independent contracting.

pabonline

You don't have a full year of accounts so I guess you can't apply under F or G. I think you must wait and apply under F.

pabonline

I applied under F, dividend only income.

Is your business in such a position that you can, at relatively short notice, take some large dividend payments in order to reach the requirement?

Perhaps you can then adjust your financial year end and have a set of accounts meeting the requirement...

visio159

Hi - that means I can't invite my partener here till I complete 1 yr! that's bit weird. There has to be a way. Before moving to contracting , had a very good income from permanent job as well and there is no gap between leaving the permanent and starting as a contractor.

pabonline

Yes, this seems to be a blind spot in the financial requirements. I had the same problem and had to delay my application by several months until my first years' accounts were in order.

visio159

Not good, there must be way to get it through without waiting for those many months

pabonline

As per the OP, I would suggest changing your company year end to the next few days once you are comfortably over the level, so that you can get your accounts done without waiting.

According to HMRC you can shorten your year end as often as you like but only lengthen in once every 5 years.

visio159

If I have already received more than £18,600 in these initial six month and my accountant gave me a letter specifying that and my income figure till now since April well exceeding > £18, 600, will that not help please?

pabonline

No - it needs to be a full set of accounts filed with HMRC.

visio159

Thanks, just one more thing please, are they(UKBA) okay to accept financial statement for a financial year less than 12 months if I get my accounts done in less than a year please.

pabonline

That is a fair question. The relevant section of the requirements document is this:

9.3.2. For those employed as a director of a specified limited company in the UK, the relevant financial year(s) will be that covered by the Company Tax Return CT600 and corresponds to the 12-month accounting year of the company.

It's probably at the discretion of the ECO, but maybe someone else can comment on this.

visio159

Prior to starting as an Contractor, was a permanent employee till March 2017 and in April 2017 started as a contractor. Is there a way I can prove it with the combination of that Perm employment and six months of contract employment. My income has always been in well excess of what's required.

pabonline

I am waiting for others to reply... as far as I am aware there is just no way for you to submit both types of income as they are under different categories according to the requirements.