Financial requirements.

[andytat]

I.
I am really struggling with the financial requirements for my wife's leave to remain visa
and I'm looking for any kind of advice to help us decide what to do.
I am a UK citizen and have been working in Singapore for the last 20 years, my wife is
Thai and we have been married for 7 1/2 years and living together in Singapore for
close to 10 years. We rented a house and moved to UK 2 years ago, my wife has been
staying here on 6 month family visit visas while I have been travelling back to Singapore
on a monthly basis winding down my business there until 2 months ago when I registered
a LTD company in this country.
I was self employed in Singapore so UKBA won't take my financial history into account
when applying for a leave to remain Visa, so for the last 2 years we have been trying to
build up our savings until we have enough money over a six month period to meet the
financial requirements.
This is where I struggle.
To be able to rely on our savings so that we meet the financial requirements of the leave
to remain visa we need to have £62,500 in a bank account for 6 months because this is
what the government calculates that it will cost to keep my wife for 2 1/2 years!
we have just over £40,000 in the bank at the moment and 2 weeks ago my wife's visa
expired so she returned to Thailand and we applied for a 1 year family visit visa.

The supporting documents that we supplied included a letter explaining our situation
regarding the financial requirements and the fact that we are close to meeting the
financial requirements and that by the time this visa has expired we would be able to
meet the requirements and apply for a leave to remain visa.

On Friday she received notification that the family visit visa application had not been
approved on the grounds that:
1) She has been living in UK for the last 2 years on a family visit visa when it is supposed
be for holiday purposes.
2) She has spent 22 of the last 24 months in UK
3) She is seen to represent an immigration threat as the officer dealing with her case
feels that due to her travel history she is likely to not return to Thailand when this visa
expires.

To say that we are devastated is an understatement. My wife has had 12 UK visas
2 Swiss visas and 2 Schengen visas over the last 12 years so has had plenty of
opportunity to overstay if she so wished so that statement is absolutely ridiculous.

As I have just set up in business here our options are severely limited, can anyone
offer some advice as to what to do. We had thought about moving everything to Ireland
exploring the SS route but that will be very messy, maybe no at as bad as the thought
of being split up for 6 months.

Thanks in advance.

Andy

[physicskate]

Unfortunately, your wife HAS already broken the immigration rules. She was granted a two year visit visa - but even so, she is not allowed to stay in the UK for more than 6 months out of 12. To the UKVI, it looks like you have already tried to subvert the immigration rules by your wife living in the UK when she does not have a visa that allows her to do so.

[Casa]

There is no '6 months in 12 rule' as such in the Regulation. However, it isn't permitted to spend longer in the UK within a 12 month period than you spend outside of the country, which amounts to the same thing.

[Wanderer]

1) She has been living in UK for the last 2 years on a family visit visa when it is supposed
be for holiday purposes.
2) She has spent 22 of the last 24 months in UK
3) She is seen to represent an immigration threat as the officer dealing with her case
feels that due to her travel history she is likely to not return to Thailand when this visa
expires.

That's a big no-no, she'd have been admitted subject to being a genuine visitor whereas she's been effectively living here.

Hopefully she hasn't used the NHS/GP or been employed or used any for of false identity?

[andytat]

Thanks for the replies guys.

We have been very open with Immigration & UKBA as we do want to live here.
I was born here and so were my family for the past generations as far back as
we can trace our family tree.
The fact that we decided to move here from Singapore one month after the
big immigration upheaval really put a spanner in the works especially the
crazy calculation for financial requirements that self employed people must
meet. How on earth can it cost £62,500 over 2 1/2 years to live?

We have lived together in Singapore since before we were married with no
financial difficulties, and Singapore is regarded as the most expensive city
to live in, the authorities just wanted 6 months worth of bank statements
before issuing my wife a 5 year PR.

I must admit to being at a bit of a loss at the moment and we are seriously
considering using the Surrinder Singh route and put my business plans here
on hold until next year.

Thanks again.

Andy

[Wanderer]

Thanks for the replies guys.

We have been very open with Immigration & UKBA as we do want to live here.
I was born here and so were my family for the past generations as far back as
we can trace our family tree.
The fact that we decided to move here from Singapore one month after the
big immigration upheaval really put a spanner in the works especially the
crazy calculation for financial requirements that self employed people must
meet. How on earth can it cost £62,500 over 2 1/2 years to live?

We have lived together in Singapore since before we were married with no
financial difficulties, and Singapore is regarded as the most expensive city
to live in, the authorities just wanted 6 months worth of bank statements
before issuing my wife a 5 year PR.

I must admit to being at a bit of a loss at the moment and we are seriously
considering using the Surrinder Singh route and put my business plans here
on hold until next year.

Thanks again.

Andy

TBH, your current situation of more of a worry, you can do the 18.6k if needed by working 2/3 jobs - just doing enough to tick the boxes. SS is an option but that just got much tougher, read the fora.

Fact is the quickest way IMHO is for her to go to her home country, you to fulfil the earnings requirement, by whatever means, and apply normally as per the rules.

Any other route is doable but fraught with retrospective rule changes, massive upheaval no guarantees.

Firstly tho you need to resolve ur spouses current overstay...

[357mag]

You dont need to be earning the full £18.6k, you can use the savings you have in the equasion, anything over £16k can be counted.

But as Wanderer says resolving the overstay could be the sticking point. UKVI cant use it if you go the EEA route and you are lucky enough to have ample funds to go live in another EU country for a while.

[andytat]

Thanks guys.

My wife hasn't overstayed, she has had 4 six month visit visas In the last 2 years and
UK immigration have refused to grant another, she is currently in Thailand.
I was earning in excess of £25k pa but have not been working for the last year while
I closed my business in Singapore and set up a new one in UK in July this year.
Because of this I need to rely on savings alone to fulfil the financial requirements.
The calculation used is based on the length of the leave to remain visa (2 1/2 years),
annual income, (must be £18,900 or greater) plus £16,000 savings. which equals
2.5 x £18,600 + £16,000 = £62,500
Because we only have £42,000 in the ban at present the financial requirements are
not met.

As 357mag says maybe we need to use some of our savings an go and live in Ireland
for a while.

wanderer. We have been married for 7 1/2 years and all w want to do is live together
and no, she hasn't done any of the things that you mentioned.

Cheers.

Andy

[Wanderer]

If she'd spent 22 months out 24 in UK on a visit visa then she had overstayed.

Won't be a block to a spouse visa tho if you decide to go that route.

[SoHopeful]

I totally get how this can be seen as overstaying had she been given a 2 year visitor's visa... but if so many visitors visas were issued in such a short space of time surely it was up to the ECO to pick up on that at the point of each application?

[Wanderer]

I totally get how this can be seen as overstaying had she been given a 2 year visitor's visa... but if so many visitors visas were issued in such a short space of time surely it was up to the ECO to pick up on that at the point of each application?

Because it's in the immigration rules, a visit visa is issued to 'genuine visitors' not to enable someone to effectually live here irrespective of the frequency of issue. Your wife wasn't a genuine visitor was she really, was she?

It's up to the applicant to be aware of the law, ignorance is no defence I'm afraid.

It's in the past anyway and won't affect anything apart from any further visit visas...