Spouse Extenstion Visa - Using Marcus Account

Hi All,

I need some desperate advice as this issue has suddenly been raised by my lawyer and im panicking.

I will be applying for my wife's spouse visa in couple weeks time. I have all documents ready. When it comes to the financial side - I will be using my Marcus by Goldman Sachs savings account. On a recent review call with my laywer, he said, that the Home Office requirement for acceptable bank savings account must provide regular statements. Marcus does not. However what Marcus does is provide a covering letter for the Home Office's purpose stating my balance over the last 6 months, the highest balance over the period, the lowest balance over the period. It also includes a table with 6 months of transactions with closing balances.

Has anyone used Marcus for this type of application, and has it been a non-issue.

Please advise.

Just an extension to my question above. On the Gov website, the following information has been highlighted for submitting statements:


These are the requirements that must be met:
• the bank/savings account is a current, deposit or investment account
• the account is held is a financial institution regulated by the appropriate
regulatory body for the country in which that institution is @operating
• the financial institution is not on the list of excluded institutions under the
Immigration Rules
• regular bank statements are provided
Page 48 of 71 Published for Home Office staff on 31 December 2020
• the statements cover the necessary time period required in the Immigration
Rules
• the savings are held in cash (or their cash value is clear)
• the savings can be immediately withdrawn (with or without penalty)
• the funds are under the control of the person and/or their partner for the
necessary time period required in the Immigration Rules
• the source of the funds is legal
• the source of the funds has been declared

Is the bold point above just for bank statements? Online Savings accounts are sometimes not a bank and therefore getting statements from them might not be possible. This is the case ith Marcus, but they provide a letter addressed to the Home Office to help with this.

I am just elaborating on this, as this issue may be encountered by others, so helpful for them to navigate around with confidence.

Its weird as the more I research into this, it seems the answer has itself unveiled. Marcus actually does all that it states in lieu of a bank statement just as they have asked for it. I hope this helps anyone who may have had a similar confusion.

It states:
(aa) Where a bank statement is specified in this Appendix, a building society statement, a building society pass book, a letter from the applicant’s bank or building society, or a letter from a financial institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority or, for overseas accounts, the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which the institution operates and the funds are located, may be submitted as an alternative to a bank statement(s) provided that:
(1) the requirements in paragraph 1(a)(i)-(iv) are met as if the document were a bank statement; and
(2) a building society pass book must clearly show:
(i) the account number;
(ii) the building society’s name and logo; and
(iii) the information required on transactions, funds held and time period(s) or as otherwise specified in this Appendix in relation to bank statements; and/or
(3) a letter must be on the headed stationery of the bank, building society or other financial institution and must clearly show:
(i) the account number,
(ii) the date of the letter;
(iii) the financial institution’s name and logo; and
(iv) the information required on transactions, funds held and time period(s) or as otherwise specified in this Appendix in relation to bank statements.

Put to your lawyer what your research revealed and ask him to confirm - it is his job, you are paying for his services :

Para 1(aa) of Appendix FM-SE states:

Where a bank statement is specified in this Appendix, a building society statement, a building society pass book, a letter from the applicant’s bank or building society, or a letter from a financial institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority …… may be submitted as an alternative to a bank statement(s) provided that....

mazkhan110 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:35 pm

Hi All,

I need some desperate advice as this issue has suddenly been raised by my lawyer and im panicking.

I will be applying for my wife's spouse visa in couple weeks time. I have all documents ready. When it comes to the financial side - I will be using my Marcus by Goldman Sachs savings account. On a recent review call with my laywer, he said, that the Home Office requirement for acceptable bank savings account must provide regular statements. Marcus does not. However what Marcus does is provide a covering letter for the Home Office's purpose stating my balance over the last 6 months, the highest balance over the period, the lowest balance over the period. It also includes a table with 6 months of transactions with closing balances.

Has anyone used Marcus for this type of application, and has it been a non-issue.

Please advise.

The appendix FM-SE does provide alternative to bank statements so therefore if the requirement of appendix FM-SE are met with regards to providing letter from the bank showing the funds have been held and also you can get a letter from Marcus stating that, they do not provide bank statements and also add a cover letter explaining that your bank does not provide a bank statements.

The most important thing is to ensure the funds meets the requirement as mentioned in the guidance.

"These are the requirements that must be met:
• the bank/savings account is a current, deposit or investment account
• the account is held is a financial institution regulated by the appropriate
regulatory body for the country in which that institution is operating
• the financial institution is not on the list of excluded institutions under the
Immigration Rules
• regular bank statements are provided
• the statements cover the necessary time period required in the Immigration
Rules
• the savings are held in cash (or their cash value is clear)
• the savings can be immediately withdrawn (with or without penalty)
• the funds are under the control of the person and/or their partner for the
necessary time period required in the Immigration Rules
• the source of the funds is legal
• the source of the funds has been declared "