PGCE Bursary as maintenance for Marriage Visa?

[ldneagle]

Hi guys,

My (South African) wife's renewal for her marriage visa (second set off 33 months) is coming up next year - In July.

However I'm considering leaving my job and taking a PGCE course to become a teacher whereby I'll receive a tax free bursary of £25,000.

My question is; can you sponsor a spouse from payments received (starting September 2017 and finishing July 2018) from a PGCE, as the bursary payments are higher than the £18,600 figure?

For clarity I'm British and we'll be applying for her visa extension in July 2018.

Thanks in advance.

[SimonS]

Hi Idneagle,

the short answer to whether a bursary is accepted is yes....but...and please read all because it is a big but

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... x_1_7A.pdf

Section 4.1 p13.

and

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... rement.pdf

Section 6.4 p41.

However, in your case, I would suggest it is not straight forward because your bursary will be at an end when you apply and you need to demonstrate income from employment going forward. Using a bursary, it must be payable for 12 months or 1 full academic year from date of application.

If you were to delay your switch of career by a year then it would be fine because you would be within receipt of the bursary within 3 months of date of application and for a period of 1 academic year.

I'm not an expert or a lawyer, that's just my understanding from reading the documents provided in links above.

Hope you find them useful
Simon