FLR(M) financial requirement and limited company

[randomwelshman]

Short version: I am the sole shareholder and director of a limited company. Can/should I argue that the annual profit of the company is effectively my income, even though I only pay myself a small monthly wage from the company?

Long version. My Japanese wife is on a Spouse/CP visa that expires in November. Having jumped through hoops (albeit successfully) to get a visa for my wife from outside the UK in Tokyo I thought that the extension would be a relatively quick and easy task, a bit like passport renewal. To my horror it looks as if it will be anything but. In particular I am worried about the financial requirement.

I came back to the UK in 2013 and created a limited company as a business vehicle, with myself as the sole shareholder and director. Then I worked as a franchisee in a charity-related sector until March 2015. My income was too low for comfort, so I shifted to full-time freelance translation work at that time. This has been successful.

From 1 May 2015 to the end of October 2015 (i.e. most recent 6 months) the company's cumulative revenue should come to about £13,500, an average of £2,200 per month. My expenses are low: internet charges of around £40 per month and accountancy fees of £110 a month including payroll, software and so on. There is nothing else that I really need to pay for although I have spent money on a conference here, a piece of software there and so on. Probably then the profits after operating expenses average £1,800 per month even adding in stationary and other small, effectively discretionary costs.

From the company accounts I pay myself a salary of £883 a month and my wife - whose help as a native speaker of Japanese I make abundant use of every day - £400 a month. At the end of the year I intend that the company will pay me a dividend out of the remaining profits. So although our combined monthly salary is low my/our combined annual income after the dividend should comfortably surpass the financial requirement.

Separate from the company I also have £1,000 in annual income from the rent of our land to a local farmer.

How should I deal with this in Section 7 of the FLR(M) application that I am currently trying to fill in? My key concern is that the authorities will not recognise:
(a) that my circumstances have materially changed for the better since I changed jobs in March 2015
(b) that although I draw a salary, the limited company and all of its assets are owned and controlled by myself and I have a claim on any remaining profits

Any advice or pointers much appreciated!

Thanks
Welshie

[randomwelshman]

I am a British citizen. I married my wife in Tokyo in 2005. Our two children were born in Tokyo. My wife was granted a spouse/CP visa in late 2012. We moved to the UK as a family in early 2013 and have been here ever since.

Given that my wife and I have been married for 10 years, and that we have two young children, both of whom received British passports this year, is it worth applying via FLR(FP) rather than FLR(M)?

In particular I am wondering if this would help with the financial requirement, which seems to be less onerous in FLR(FP) than in FLR(M).

Thanks
Welshie

[Casa]

10 years of marriage and two British children, doesn't enable you to avoid meeting the minimum finance rule, Your wife has to apply under FLR(M).

[randomwelshman]

10 years of marriage and two British children, doesn't enable you to avoid meeting the minimum finance rule, Your wife has to apply under FLR(M).

Understood, thank you for that clarification.

Welshie