Cash savings for spouse visa?

[CJS92]

Hi all,

I'm writing to ask about the specifics of cash savings required to apply for a UK spouse visa for my wife. I'm a British national, and my wife is from Kazakhstan.

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying? Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself? Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum?

Thanks in advance.
C

[seagul]

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying?

Yes provided that gift would be none-returnable

Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself?

No

Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum?

Yes a declaration

[AmazonianX]

Hi all,

I'm writing to ask about the specifics of cash savings required to apply for a UK spouse visa for my wife. I'm a British national, and my wife is from Kazakhstan.

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying? Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself? Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum? The gift can also be done to the sponsor not solely the applicant.

Thanks in advance.
C

[CJS92]

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying?

Yes provided that gift would be none-returnable

Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself?

No

Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum?

Yes a declaration

Thanks for your reply, seagul. Could you elaborate on the bolded point? Would a cash deposit in her account not be considered non-returnable? How can we go about proving the gift is non-returnable?

[CJS92]

Hi all,

I'm writing to ask about the specifics of cash savings required to apply for a UK spouse visa for my wife. I'm a British national, and my wife is from Kazakhstan.

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying? Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself? Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum? The gift can also be done to the sponsor not solely the applicant.

Thanks in advance.
C

Thank you AmazonianX. If I'm the sponsor (as her husband), the savings amount could be gifted to my account, where it would be in my name, and this would also be acceptable for her application?

How about if my father (my wife's father-in-law) acted as the sponsor? In that case, he wouldn't need to make any such gift, as the funds are already in his account. Am I understanding you correctly?

[AmazonianX]

Hi all,

I'm writing to ask about the specifics of cash savings required to apply for a UK spouse visa for my wife. I'm a British national, and my wife is from Kazakhstan.

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying? Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself? Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum? The gift can also be done to the sponsor not solely the applicant.

Thanks in advance.
C

Thank you AmazonianX. If I'm the sponsor (as her husband), the savings amount could be gifted to my account, where it would be in my name, and this would also be acceptable for her application? Yes, this could be done to you. Just thinking if the person or persons doing the gifting is your own blood relations easier to explain the gift. Does not mean it can not be done to her, just my thoughts

How about if my father (my wife's father-in-law) acted as the sponsor? In that case, he wouldn't need to make any such gift, as the funds are already in his account. Am I understanding you correctly? No, your father can not be the sponsor when it comes to spouse visa. You the spouse in UK whom the applicant is coming to meet is taken to be the sponsor, the requirement of at least 6months in the account and not haven fallen below the required amount

[seagul]

I understand that my wife needs £62,500 in savings in the absence of a minimum income. If my family were to gift her this money, would that suffice provided that she has that money in her account for at least six months prior to applying?

Yes provided that gift would be none-returnable

Would she need to prove that she earned the money herself?

No

Would she need to show that my family (her in-laws) gifted her the full sum?

Yes a declaration

Thanks for your reply, seagul. Could you elaborate on the bolded point? Would a cash deposit in her account not be considered non-returnable? How can we go about proving the gift is non-returnable?

Simply it should be a gift instead a borrowed amount. UKVI might reconnoiter the veracity and the source of funds, therefore, ideally the funds should be kept in account until the decision arrives.

[CJS92]

Understood regarding the above answers, thank you both.

Reposting this here on seagul's instruction:

Off Topic

I hope it's alright to ask another question.

My wife is from Kazakhstan and has been visiting me on a Standard Visitor Visa. Her visa originally lasted until 21 July, but she was recently granted an extension to 31 July due to travel hardships related to COVID-19.

It's still very difficult for her to get from the UK to Kazakhstan, who have entered a second full lockdown. There remain no direct flights, and indirect flights come with a lot of risk. We have ascertained that transiting through Istanbul is the only option - but she will be stranded if she flies to Istanbul only to find that her connecting flight to Kazakhstan has been cancelled due to lack of demand (which is understandable, the country is in lockdown again!). We are not comfortable putting her at so much risk while travelling.

What is she to do if she can't travel before 31 July? We have tried emailing the Home Office "Coronavirus Immigration Helpline", but after one working day, they sent back what seemed to be an automated response providing information about switching to a different visa category - this does not help us. I'm out of ideas here. I hope she'll be able to depart before July 31 for the sake of her future visa applications (specifically her spouse visa which we hope to apply for in the future) but I really don't know if it'll be possible for her to do so.

Ideally, the UK will extend visas further beyond July just as they did in March and then May, but it's impossible to know at this point if they'll do so.

[seagul]

Understood regarding the above answers, thank you both.

Reposting this here on seagul's instruction:

Off Topic

I hope it's alright to ask another question.

My wife is from Kazakhstan and has been visiting me on a Standard Visitor Visa. Her visa originally lasted until 21 July, but she was recently granted an extension to 31 July due to travel hardships related to COVID-19.

It's still very difficult for her to get from the UK to Kazakhstan, who have entered a second full lockdown. There remain no direct flights, and indirect flights come with a lot of risk. We have ascertained that transiting through Istanbul is the only option - but she will be stranded if she flies to Istanbul only to find that her connecting flight to Kazakhstan has been cancelled due to lack of demand (which is understandable, the country is in lockdown again!). We are not comfortable putting her at so much risk while travelling.

What is she to do if she can't travel before 31 July? We have tried emailing the Home Office "Coronavirus Immigration Helpline", but after one working day, they sent back what seemed to be an automated response providing information about switching to a different visa category - this does not help us. I'm out of ideas here. I hope she'll be able to depart before July 31 for the sake of her future visa applications (specifically her spouse visa which we hope to apply for in the future) but I really don't know if it'll be possible for her to do so.

Ideally, the UK will extend visas further beyond July just as they did in March and then May, but it's impossible to know at this point if they'll do so.

That temporary magnanimity where the visas were automatically extended won't be repeated given the current ambience of easing the lockdown unless the second wave of cvd19 gets resurrected. Kazakhstan is still safe place to return and there must be several flights in operation.

[CJS92]

Kazakhstan is the first country in the world to have re-entered full national lockdown due to the dire situation there. How can it be defined as a “safe place to return”?

[seagul]

Kazakhstan is the first country in the world to have re-entered full national lockdown due to the dire situation there. How can it be defined as a “safe place to return”?

Well to keep it precise, the spouse visa will have to be applied from outside of UK and presently there are no chances of any likely auto extension of visa rather the IHS might amplify. The more you will delay the more you will be trapped and stuck in the long queue.

[CJS92]

Kazakhstan is the first country in the world to have re-entered full national lockdown due to the dire situation there. How can it be defined as a “safe place to return”?

Well to keep it precise, the spouse visa will have to be applied from outside of UK and presently there are no chances of any likely auto extension of visa rather the IHS might amplify. The more you will delay the more you will be trapped and stuck in the long queue.

I understand. Thank you for your time, seagul.