Family Settlement Visa for my wife - proving income

[jfarid]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to these boards and was wondering if anyone might be able to help me and my wife.

My situation is that I am a British national with a Vietnamese wife. I had been living and working in Vietnam for 4 years up until a couple of weeks ago when I returned home to visit my dad in hospital. He is seriously ill and now I need to be in the UK on a more permanent basis. As you can imagine,I want my wife to join me as soon as possible.

Fortunately I did not lose my income despite my sudden relocation. In February 2015 I began working for an Australian company my father and uncle are partners in. I am able to retain that income and continue working from the UK.
However, I am not salaried and do not receive pay slips. Perhaps this can be rearrange retrospectively or I may register as a sole trader/company. I am not sure what my tax situation should be as I was, up until 2 weeks ago, a non-resident of the UK.

Before then I had been earning wel over the £18,600 requirement for several years working as a teacher with an international school in Hanoi, Vietnam.

My wife is currently in Vietnam so she will be applying through the embassy in Hanoi. Let me try to paint a clearer picture of our situation.

I married my wife (Vietnamese national) in December 2014. The marriage is officially recognized in Vietnam where it took place and we have an (untranslated) marriage certificate in Vietnamese. Neither of us have children or were married before.

She has visited the UK twice on visitor visa's. Once in 2013 and once in 2014. We had been living together in Hanoi up until two weeks ago when I traveled to the UK to look after my father.

My wife has has:
-a recent IELTS certificate with an overall score of 6.5. (7.0 for listening)
-a TB test from an approved location in Hanoi
-a record of employment/payslips from her employer in Hanoi of the past 3 years. She has been earning a salary of around $500-800 per month
-$2000 in a bank account in her name + statements of our joint savings account in Vietnam (~$6000 at the beginning of this year which we've been dipping into)
-A suitable place to live in the UK with the permission of the house owners (my mother and father) where I also reside.

I have:
-A bank account in Vietnam showing regular income of over $2000 per month for the past 3 years (up until Feb this year)
-A bank account in the UK showing regular income from the Feb 2015 of around £1800 the majority of which goes into an ISA account


What we don't have:
-Evidence of living together in Vietnam. We never get any post delivered to our apartment and my wife has officially been registered with the local authorities at her parent's house in Hanoi.
-My payslips/proof of income for the last 6 months. As stated above, I am operating as a sole trader with one client but I have not registered as such/paid tax as I have been a non-resident up until very recently. All I have are the Nationwide bank statements showing regular monthly income.
-?
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As you can imagine I would like to get my wife over to the UK as soon as possible. She has handed in her notice at work and will be free to travel at the beginning of October. Please advise us if you can.

Thank you!

[Wanderer]

I'm afraid you will have to show payslips for the last six months showing earnings of at last £1550 per month, unless you have savings of £62,500 or more...

[jfarid]

Hi Wanderer, thanks for your reply. As I said my income has been around £1800 a month since February 2015 - that's 6 months (fluctuates due to exchange rate).

My concerns are I don't have payslips. I had been living overseas as a non-resident up until 2 weeks ago and I received payment into my UK bank account. The only proof of my income is in my bank statements. I could get pay slips / letter of employment / salary confirmation from the company which pays me but I fear it would not be enough as it would not show me as registered for tax anywhere. Technically speaking I shouldn't have been paying tax in the UK because I was a non-resident. Perhaps I was supposed to be paying tax in Vietnam but I was there on a family visa from December 2014 when I married my wife. I was working for an Australian company within Vietnam, being paid into a UK bank account.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[vinny]

Appendix FM-SE.

[jfarid]

Thanks vinny

[jfarid]

My immigration adviser has said that in order to speed things up, I can evidence my income as an employee (salaried) retrospectively. My client (employer) does not have any issue with that and can provide the necessary documentation which will match up to my bank statements.

When I lodge my application, the UKVI will not see any evidence of tax paid on my earnings but they will see a letter from my employer stating that I was being paid in Vietnam and will continue to be paid having settled in the UK. My income will be above the required amount and properly evidenced.

How do you feel about the approach I have described to you? Can you offer me any advice here? My intention would be to register with HMRC and pay my taxes shortly after the application. My main reason for doing this is the time and effort it will take to evidence my income as self-employed from scratch.

I would really appreciate any guidance in this matter.