Maintenance Funds required for Spouse Visa

[dede3525]

I am trying to figure out exactly how much money is needed to satisfy the maintenance funds requirement for both the fiance and then the spouse visa. I am from the US and trying to get a visa for Scotland. I should have enough money to pay the $1347 visa fee for the Fiance visa, with perhaps another $2000 in the bank to bring with me and will be staying with my fiance in his rented apartment. Will this be sufficient for getting a fiance visa? And, second question, assuming I am approved for this first step, what will I need to have to satisfy the maintenance funds requirement for then getting a spouse visa. My fiance works part time for a company and is starting his own business and he anticipates making about 2000 pounds a month (after tax) beginning around christmas. Will this be enough for us to get the spouse visa once we're married? Also in terms of time, if we were to be married in April would he have a long enough pay history to satisfy the requirements?

Any advice or links to sites would be much appreciated. I can not find a clear description of how much money they feel you need to be self sufficient for two years.

[Lucapooka]

You and your sponsor (considered jointly) need to have an on-going cashflow that provides a sum of at least 455 pounds per month after accommodation and council tax (city taxes) have been deducted from your combined net monthly income. If you don't have at least this sum then you will need substantial savings in lieu. If you have neither and merely the prospect of a job then you may not qualify; it depends on the quality and credibility of the job offer. You'll need to show these amounts for both the fiancee visa and the transition to temporary settlement after the marriage in the UK.

Bear in mind that only a small amount of savings will be assumed to have been already ring-fenced (spent) for the visa application fee and flights so may not be considered or will be seen as negligible.

[Casa]

You will also need to deduct any credit/loan repayments from your income to calculate the current weekly minimum of £102.95. However, you should bear in mind that if the Government implement the new regulations they are currently proposing, the minimum income is likely to increase from April 2012.
If your husband intends to start a new business, you would need to submit financial evidence of trading, normally in the form of accounts, bank statements and HMRC records.

[hredderson]

I am trying to figure out exactly how much money is needed to satisfy the maintenance funds requirement for both the fiance and then the spouse visa. I am from the US and trying to get a visa for Scotland. I should have enough money to pay the $1347 visa fee for the Fiance visa, with perhaps another $2000 in the bank to bring with me and will be staying with my fiance in his rented apartment. Will this be sufficient for getting a fiance visa? And, second question, assuming I am approved for this first step, what will I need to have to satisfy the maintenance funds requirement for then getting a spouse visa. My fiance works part time for a company and is starting his own business and he anticipates making about 2000 pounds a month (after tax) beginning around christmas. Will this be enough for us to get the spouse visa once we're married? Also in terms of time, if we were to be married in April would he have a long enough pay history to satisfy the requirements?

Any advice or links to sites would be much appreciated. I can not find a clear description of how much money they feel you need to be self sufficient for two years.

Hello! I have just received my Fiance Visa (yesterday - woohoo!) and wanted to give you some feedback as I had similar questions. I am from the US, my fiance is British. He and I have been traveling for the last several years and until July, he did not have permanent employment. I have not worked since 2009. We waited to submit our application until he had a couple of months pay under his belt again. The financial aspect of our application was what we were most concerned about, but we were approved.

Here is a breakdown of what we had financially when we submitted:

My income: $0
My savings: $4800 (from which was paid the visa fee - my fiance had sent me money for this)
His income: 900 pounds/month
His savings: 12000 pounds
Debt: $0 for both of us
We will be living with his father temporarily so we did not have to include rental fees.

We will be paying close attention to our rent, etc when we apply for the spousal visa to ensure that we have the roughly 500 pounds a month after bills.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[dede3525]

Thank you so much for the help- this really clears things up for me. Particular thanks to hredderson as we seem to have very similar financial situations....
If i can ask one more question, how long of a salary history did your fiance have before you guys applied?

[hredderson]

Thank you so much for the help- this really clears things up for me. Particular thanks to hredderson as we seem to have very similar financial situations....
If i can ask one more question, how long of a salary history did your fiance have before you guys applied?

The salary history we provided was as follows:

For me (the applicant): I provided my final paycheck stub from my last job which I left in April 2009. This was to show what I was earning then in a job similar to what I would qualify for if I begin to work again in the UK once we are married. I also supplied my tax returns for the last 3 years to show consistent filing despite not being employed for the last several years

For my fiance (the sponsor): As he had not been working since 2010, we provided the following:

His most recent paycheck stubs from his current job. He only had 2 to provide as he has only been working again since July 2011. He also provided the paycheck stubs from 2 contract jobs he had since 2008. Both of these contracts were 5 months long and he provided all of the pay stubs from those months. Finally, he provided his last 5 years tax returns.

Just make sure you include a detailed financial summary for both of you, plus bank statements, etc. If you would like an example of what we submitted, send me a personal message and I will be happy to email you a sample of what we sent.