Appendix FM – SE (Specified Evidence) sets out the specified evidence you need to provide to meet the requirements of rules contained in Appendix FM (such as financial requirements) and, where those requirements are also contained in other rules, including Appendix HM Armed Forces, Appendix Adult Dependent Relative, Appendix Adoption and Appendix CRP (Child Relative (Sponsors with Protection)), Appendix International Armed Forces and International Civilian Employees, and Appendix Adoption, and unless otherwise stated, the specified evidence you need to submit to meet the requirements of those rules.

Appendix FM SE provides specified evidence in order to meet the evidential requirements in connection with English Language, financial requirement and family relationship. 

What is Appendix FM – SE?

This is a separate appendix that explains exactly what documents and evidence you must provide when applying under Appendix FM (Family Members) routes, such as:

• Spouse Visa 

• Civil Partner Visa or Unmarried Partner Visa 

• Fiancé(e) Visa 

• Parent Visa 

• Child Visa

If you fail to provide the specified evidence exactly as required, your otherwise eligible application may be refused.

The Home Office applies the rules of Appendix FM - SE strictly. For example, when assessing whether you meet the financial requirements, even if your income clearly exceeds the threshold, if you fail to include correct documents, your application can lead to a refusal. Understanding Appendix FM SE helps you:

• Submit a complete and compliant application

• Avoid delays or refusals 

• Increase your chance of a positive outcome on the first attempt

What Does Appendix FM-SE Cover?

Appendix FM-SE contains detailed rules about evidence you must provide when you are applying primarily under the Appendix – FM – SE. This evidence includes documents related to the following:

• Financial requirements 

• Employment income 

• Self-employment income 

• Cash savings 

• Pension income 

• Rental income 

• Dividend income 

• English language requirement 

• Marriage and civil partnership evidence 

Evidence of Financial Requirements under Appendix FM – SE

You must provide the specified documentary evidence mentioned in this appendix to prove you meet the financial requirement. The exact documents that you need to provide depend on the source of income you are relying upon, such as employment income, self-employment income, cash savings, pension income, rental income, dividend income, or other income from investments.

Where you are required to meet the minimum income/financial requirement, you can generally do so in the following 5 ways: 

• Salaried or non-salaried employment income of your sponsoring partner (or your income if you are already in the UK with permission to work) - this is referred to as Category A or Category B 

• Non-employment income, for example:  income from property rental or dividends from shares, maintenance payments, income from investment - this is referred to as Category C 

• Your or your partner’s cash savings, above £16,000, held by you or your partner for at least 6 months and under your control - this is referred to as Category D 

• Your or your sponsoring partner’s income from state (UK or foreign), occupational or private pension - this is referred to as Category E 

• Your partner’s income (or your own income if you are in the UK with permission to work) from self-employment, and income as an employee or director of a specified limited company in the UK - this is referred to as Category F or Category G, depending on which financial year (s) is or are being relied upon

1. Common evidence of income from salaried or non-salaried employment of your sponsoring partner (or your income if you are in the UK with permission to work) with the same employer for at least 6 months

This category A applies where your sponsoring partner or you have been employed by the same employer for a minimum of 6 months on the date of application.

The required common evidence includes:

• Payslips covering the six-month period immediately before your application. 

• Personal bank statements showing each salary payment being received. 

• A letter from the employer on the employer’s headed paper and signed by a senior official, confirming the payslips are authentic and also confirming: 

  • Employment status. 

  • Length of employment. 

  • Job title or role. 

  • Current gross annual salary. 

  • Employment type (permanent, fixed-term, agency, etc.). 

The Home Office in the UK will use these documents to verify income level as well as the stability of employment.

2. Common evidence of income from salaried or non-salaried employment where employment is of less than 6 months or variable employment

This category B applies where your sponsoring partner has been employed by their current employer for less than six months or has changed jobs during the relevant period.

You must usually provide the following:

• Payslips from the current employment. 

• Bank statements showing salary payments. 

• Letter from the employer. 

• Evidence of all employment income received during the previous 12 months.

The Home Office will assess the current annual salary at the date of application and the total earnings received during the previous 12 months. 

Both parts of the test must normally be satisfied.

3. Category C – evidence of non-employment income

The Immigration Rules - Appendix FM-SE allows you to use several forms of non-employment income to count towards meeting the financial requirement. For example, property rental income, maintenance payments, dividend income, interest from investments, or trust income.

Common evidence you can provide includes:

• Proof of ownership of the asset generating income. 

• Contracts or legal agreements. 

• A certificate showing proof of ownership and any investment (s) amount(s).

• Bank statements showing receipt of payments. 

• Tax documentation where applicable. 

• Evidence of a maintenance agreement through a court order, written voluntary agreement, or Child Support Agency documentation.

• Official documentation showing pension is being received from an eligible institution or agency

• Where you are relying on rental income, you will normally need to provide:

• Land Registry title documents or a copy of the property title deeds. 

• A mortgage statement

• A rental contract/agreements. 

• Personal bank statements showing the income relied upon was paid

• The Home Office must be satisfied that the income is genuine, ongoing, and legally received.

4. Category D – evidence of cash savings 

You can use your or your partner’s cash savings held by you or your partner or jointly for at least 6 months. You can use cash savings alone or in combination with certain other income categories to meet the financial requirements.

The savings must be held in a regulated financial institution, be immediately accessible, be held by you, your sponsoring partner, or jointly, and be maintained continuously for at least six months before the application, and be free from third-party control. 

The evidence normally includes:

• Personal bank statements covering the six-month qualifying period. 

• Bank letters confirming account ownership and balances. 

• Evidence which explains the source of the savings.

Where the savings have originated from a particular event, you may need the property sale documents, probate records, inheritance documentation, investment sale records, or gift declarations. 

The Home Office may normally investigate any large deposits appearing shortly before your application.

5. Category E – evidence of your or your sponsoring partner’s income from state (UK or foreign), occupational or private pension 

You can count your or your sponsoring partner’s both state and private pensions and provide documents such as the following:

• Pension entitlement letters. 

• Pension provider statements. 

• Official pension award documentation. 

• Bank statements showing pension payments being received. 

• The pension being received must be a regular and ongoing source of income.

6. Category F – evidence of your partner’s income (or your own income if you are in the UK with permission to work) from self-employment

This category applies to you if you are a partner, sole trader, or franchise.

Normally, income from the most recent completed financial year is assessed.

Common evidence you must provide includes:

• Paid and unpaid amount of tax payable for the last full financial year.

• Annual self-assessment tax return to HMRC (a copy or print-out) and Statement of Account (SA300 or SA302) for the last full financial year, or for the last two such years.

• Company Tax Return CT600 for the last full financial year

• Registration proof with HMRC asself-employed if available.

• Unique Tax Reference Number (UTR) of each partner and/or the UTR of the partnership or business.

• Audited accounts for the last full financial year if the business is required to produce such audited accounts

• VAT registration certificates where applicable. 

• Business licences where required. 

• Evidence that the business remains active and trading.

• Your partner’s income (or your own income if you are in the UK with permission to work) from self-employment is primarily assessed using annual financial records instead of monthly earnings.

7. Category G – evidence of your partner’s income (or your own income if you are in the UK with permission to work) as an employee or director of a specified limited company in the UK 

This category G applies where you or your sponsoring partner is a director or an employee or both of a limited company, or a shareholder in a specified limited company. 

The evidential requirements under Appendix FM – SE are particularly extensive because you can receive income through salary, dividends, and retained profits.

You will need to provide the following evidence for this category.

If you or your sponsoring partner receive a salary from the company, all of the following documents must also be provided:

1. Payslips and P60 (if issued) which cover the same period as the Company Tax Return CT600.

2. Personal bank statements which cover the same 12-month period as the Company Tax Return CT600 showing that the salary as a director or employee or both of the company was paid into an account that is in your name or in your or your partner’s name jointly.

3. Where you receive dividends from the company, you must provide all of the following documents:

   1. Dividend vouchers for all dividends declared in your favour during or in respect of the period covered by the Company Tax Return CT600 

   2. Personal bank statement or statements showing that those dividends were paid into an account that is in your name or in your and your partner’s name jointly.

For category G, you will also need to provide other documents such as evidence of shareholding and company ownership, and PAYE records where salary is paid.

Appendix FM – SE - Evidence of Marriage or Civil Partnerships

When you are applying on the basis of a marriage in the United Kingdom, you must evidence it by a valid marriage certificate recognised under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, or Scotland.

(a) You must provide either a decree absolute or a final order for a divorce in England and Wales must be evidenced.

(b) You must provide a “decree of divorce” for a divorce in Scotland.

(c) You must provide a decree absolute for a divorce in Northern Ireland.

If you are applying as a civil partner, you must provide a valid civil partnership certificate.

The dissolution of a civil partnership in the UK (the legal ending of a civil partnership through a formal court process) must be evidenced by a final order of civil partnership dissolution from a civil court.

You must evidence marriage, civil partnership, or evidence of divorce or dissolution from outside the UK by reasonable equivalent evidence (such as a decree absolute or a final order), valid under the law in force in the relevant country.

Appendix FM – SE - Evidence of you living overseas with a Crown Servant

Where:

(a) You are making an application for entry clearance, LLE (Limited Leave to Enter) or LLR (Limited Leave to Remain) or ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) as a partner under Appendix FM (except as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner) or Appendix Settlement Family Life where you intend to enter or remain in the UK to start your probationary period (or have done so) and then to live outside the UK for the time being with your sponsor (or are doing so or have done so) before you and your partner live together permanently in the UK; and

(b) your sponsor, who is a British Citizen or is settled in the UK, is a UK government employee, a Northern Ireland department’s employee, the Scottish Administration’s employee or the Welsh Government’s employee, or a permanent member of the British Council on a tour of duty outside the UK,

You must provide a letter on official stationery from your sponsor’s head of mission confirming the information mentioned above at (a) and (b) and confirming the start date and expected end date of your sponsor’s tour of duty outside the UK.

Appendix FM – SE - Evidence of English language requirements

Under this appendix, if you need to satisfy the English language requirement when applying for a UK Family Visa, you must provide specific evidence depending on how you meet the requirement.

You can prove your proficiency in the English language by passing an approved test, being a national of a majority English-speaking country, or having an academic qualification taught in English. 

1. If you rely on passing an approved SELT (Secure English Language Test)

If you prove your proficiency in the English language through an English test, you must provide evidence that:

• You passed an approved SELT in speaking and listening. 

• The test was taken at an approved test centre. 

• You achieved the required level (usually A1 (for your first visa application) and A2 (for your application for permission to stay) of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) with a provider approved by the Secretary of State (UK).

• Your result can be verified through the online verification system operated by an approved English language test provider. 

• The test was taken within the permitted validity period (no more than two years before the date of application), unless it was previously accepted in a successful immigration application.

2. If you are a national/citizen of a majority English-Speaking country

If you are a citizen of a recognised majority English-speaking country, the evidence required to show is:

• A valid passport or travel document showing your nationality. 

• If you do not have a passport or travel document because it has been lost, stolen, has expired and been returned to authorities, or is with another part of the Home Office, you may provide alternative evidence, such as:

• A current national identity card; or 

• A letter from the relevant government, embassy, or high commission confirming your full name, date of birth and nationality.

3. Academic Qualification Taught in English

If you rely on a degree qualification, you must provide:

• The original degree certificate (or official award certificate). 

• If you were awarded the qualification outside the UK, provide an Ecctis statement confirming that: 

• Your qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree, master's degree, or PhD; and 

• It was taught or researched in English where required. 

If you have a degree obtained in certain English-speaking countries (such as the UK, USA, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand), the Home Office generally accepts that the qualification was taught in English.

Important Note – The list of evidence mentioned in this article is not an exhaustive list. For full details you can check the Immigration Rules for Appendix FM-SE 

How can Visa and Migration help?

We help you not only meet the requirements when applying under Appendix FM but also ensure that you provide the accurate list of documents, in the correct format, documents that are still valid and comply with other requirements under the Appendix FM – SE.

We can also help you with a certified translation for any document that is not in English or Welsh.

The Appendix is complex but our immigration lawyers have extensive experience and we are able to help many clients with Appendix FM -SE issues.

If you need tailored advice on how to comply with requirements under the Appendix FM - SE, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261 or write to info@visaandmigration.com