One of the essential requirements when applying for the UK Spouse Visa is the financial requirement. Whether you apply from outside the UK for leave to enter or from within the UK for leave to remain, you and your partner (sponsor) must meet the financial requirement. Appendix FM of the immigration rules contains minimum financial requirements for both types of applications (leave to enter or leave to remain). 

Financial requirements can be met in different ways, for example, through Income or savings, or both. If there are dependent children along with the applicant's spouse, the minimum Income and/or savings amount changes. 

Meeting financial requirements by way of minimum annual Income 

The applicant's partner in the UK, who is a sponsor, in this case, must show that they can support their applicant partner financially. For this, the combined annual Income of the sponsor and applicant must be at least £18,600 or above in case the applicant is applying for leave to remain. In a situation where the applicant is applying for leave to enter, only sponsoring partner's Income will be taken into account for calculating the minimum annual Income.   

If there are dependent children with the main applicant, the minimum annual income level goes up as the following: 

•  £3,800 in addition to £18,600 a year for your first child 
• £2,400 a year for each child you have after your first child 

A dependent "Child" is any person below the age of 18 years or who was under the age of 18 when he/she first applied for a visa under Appendix FM and who is not British, settled, or an EEA national. 

What counts as Income? 

Income earned by the applicant and/or sponsor from the following sources can only count towards meeting the financial requirement: 

• Income from employment before tax and National Insurance - you can only use your Income if you earn it in the UK 

• Income through self-employment or as a director of a limited company in the UK 

• Cash savings of £62,500 or above 

• Money from a pension 

• Non-work Income, for example, from property rentals or dividends;  

• Self employment outside the UK – provided the sponsor is in self employment outside and will be retruning to the UK with the applicant; etc 

Meeting financial requirements by way of savings 

Applicants can also show that they meet the financial requirement through savings alone. Suppose the applicant is applying for leave to enter or leave to remain. In that case, the applicant and their sponsoring partner must show that they hold savings of at least £62,500 and that such savings have been held for at least six months in the name of the sponsor and/or the applicant in current, deposit or investment account, provided by a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body in the UK or overseas. 

• £72000 if you have one child your first child 
• £78000 If you have two children 

Meeting financial requirements by way of Income and savings combined 

The financial need can be satisfied with the combination of Income and savings of the sponsoring partner and/or applicant. Savings above £16,000 only can be counted in such a scenario.  

Please note – Income from self employment or as a company director cannot be combined with savings to meet the financial requirement.  

The formula to calculate the total savings and Income of the sponsor and/or applicant to meet the financial requirement is below: 

(Your income – 18600 = Remainder x 2.5 (length of visa) + 16000 = Savings required) 

Should you need assistance with your application for leave to enter or remain as a spouse/partner, please contact Visa and Migration Ltd on 02034111261.  

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