UK family visa generally requires you to meet the MIR (Minimum Income Requirement).  This means when you apply to enter the UK or remain here as a partner or dependent child based on your relationship with a family member who is a British Citizen, settled in the UK, or in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection, you need to meet the financial requirement based on a minimum income threshold. 

However, you are not required under Appendix FM to meet the minimum income threshold if:

• You are applying as a spouse/civil partner where your sponsoring partner is in receipt of a specified benefit or allowance in the UK;

• You are applying as a child, and your parent’s partner is in receipt of a specified benefit or allowance in the UK; 

• If you are making an application under the parent route; or 

• An application for a child from outside the UK under paragraph 297 of the immigration rules. 

You have to meet a requirement for ‘adequate’ maintenance instead.

The MIR (Minimum Income Requirement) threshold will apply at the next application stage if your partner is no longer in receipt of one of these benefits or allowances at that time.

The adequate accommodation requirement generally applies to all applicants applying under the Immigration Rules - Appendix FM and is not limited just to those subject to adequate maintenance. You must show there will be adequate accommodation in the UK without additional recourse to public funds.

What is the adequate maintenance and accommodation requirement?

Adequate maintenance is defined as, the net income after deducting income tax, NI (National Insurance) contributions, and housing costs including council tax, the amount available after deductions to the person or family, should be at or above the level of income support in the UK for the family of same size.

This is different from the minimum income threshold. MIR is a fixed amount, but adequate maintenance is not. For example, if you apply as a spouse in 2026 under the Appendix FM, you and/or your partner must have a minimum gross annual income of £29,000 where there is no child. 

The accommodation requirement refers to showing the decision makers that there will be suitable and adequate accommodation (housing) available in the UK without additional recourse to public funds. 

Who needs to meet the adequate maintenance and accommodation requirement?

Several immigration routes require you to show that you will be adequately maintained as well as accommodated in the UK without recourse to public funds. Please note that this is a separate financial test from the MIR that mostly applies to you when you apply as a spouse or partner. 

You must meet the adequate maintenance test if you are applying on the 5-year partner route under Appendix FM where your sponsoring partner is in receipt of one or more of the following benefits or allowances:

• Severe Disablement Allowance 

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit 

• Attendance Allowance

• Carer’s Allowance 

• Personal Independence Payment 

• Armed Forces Independence Payment or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme 

• Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement or War Disablement Pension under the War Pensions Scheme 

• Police Injury Pension 

• Child Disability Payment (Scotland) 

• Adult Disability Payment (Scotland) 

• Carer’s Support Payment (Scotland) 

• Pension Age Disability Payment (Scotland) 

• Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (Scotland)

You must also meet the adequate accommodation in the UK requirement.

All other applicants applying to the 5-year partner route must meet the MIR. If you are applying as a child under Appendix FM, you must meet the same financial requirement the parent you are applying to accompany or join must meet.

The applicants applying under the 5 or 10 year parent route must also meet the maintenance and accommodation requirement.

When you apply as a parent under Appendix FM, you must demonstrate you can maintain and accommodate yourself, and any dependants adequately in the UK without recourse to public funds.

However, the maintenance and accommodation requirement is not limited to applications under Appendix FM. It also applies to you if you are applying on the following routes:

• Applications for children under paragraph 297 

• Applications under private life 

How to meet the financial requirement under Appendix FM through ‘adequate maintenance’? 

Where your partner, or where you are applying as a child, your parent’s partner is in receipt of one of the benefits or allowances in the UK (listed above), you will be able to meet the financial requirement at your application stage by submitting evidence of “adequate maintenance” instead of meeting an income threshold.

To meet the adequate maintenance requirement, there is no single fixed income threshold. You calculate whether sufficient income remains after housing costs to meet the applicable maintenance level.

The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in Ahmed (benefits; proof of receipt; evidence) Bangladesh [2013] UKUT 84 (IAC) established the mathematical formula that decision makers now use:

A – B ≥ C or, in simple terms, net income − housing costs ≥ minimum required amount of income support.

A is net weekly income of the family unit being assessed (after deduction of income tax and NI (National Insurance)), plus any weekly equivalent from cash savings; 

B is the household's weekly housing costs (rent/mortgage payments plus council tax); and 

C (the amount used as the minimum benchmark in the adequate-maintenance calculation) is the weekly amount of income support an equivalent British family would receive.

For example, the relevant household has:

Net weekly income: £600

Housing costs: £200

Applicable Income Support level: £350

The calculation is:

£600 − £200 = £400

Then:

£400 ≥ £350

So, the adequate maintenance test is satisfied.

Evidence you may provide

Depending on your circumstances, you can include the following evidence:

Evidence of Income

• payslips 

• bank statements 

• employment evidence 

• pension statements 

• evidence of permitted benefits 

Evidence of Housing

• tenancy agreement 

• rent statement 

• mortgage statement 

• council tax bill 

Evidence of Savings

• bank statements showing the savings 

• evidence showing that the money is genuinely available to you 

And, evidence showing that your partner actually receives the specified benefits or allowances. For example, a Carer's Allowance award letter plus recent bank statements showing your partner is paid Carer's Allowance.

You should always check the current benefit rate.

How to meet the adequate accommodation requirement?

You must show there will be adequate accommodation available in the UK without recourse to public funds. The accommodation must be for the family, including other family members who are not included in your application but who live in the same household, which the family owns or occupies exclusively.

You must show that you have exclusive use of at least the required number of bedrooms. You can use living rooms as bedrooms, but bathrooms and kitchens will not be counted as sleeping accommodation.

An accommodation will not be regarded as adequate if it is, or will be, overcrowded (means there are or will be too many people living in the property for the available rooms/space); or it contravenes public health regulations (for example, it should not have conditions such as serious sanitation problems, inadequate facilities, dangerous structural conditions, or other conditions that breach applicable public health or housing regulations).

Accommodation in the UK will be considered overcrowded if it breaches either the room or the space standard.

Evidence you may provide

You can provide the following evidence. However, UKVI gives you flexibility with documents. So, you should note that the list of documents mentioned here are not the mandatory ones.

1. Prove you have the right to live there – For example, 

• Tenancy agreement showing the tenant's name, property address, rent and tenancy period. 

• Mortgage statement if the property is owned. 

• Land Registry documents if you own the property. 

• Letter from the landlord confirming that you and the relevant family members can live there, where appropriate. 

• Owner's permission if the accommodation belongs to someone else.

2. Prove who lives in the property – For example,

You may provide:

• Council tax bill 

• Utility bills 

• Tenancy records 

• Official correspondence showing the occupants/address 

• Other documents showing the household composition 

to help UKVI determine how many people will occupy the accommodation.

3. Prove the property is large enough

This is particularly important where children or several dependants are involved. For example,

You can provide:

• Property inspection report (this can be particularly useful if there is any question about overcrowding. 

• Accommodation/property assessment report 

• Floor plan showing the rooms and dimensions 

• Photographs, where useful 

• Tenancy/property documents identifying the number of bedrooms and rooms 

4. If someone else owns the property - For example, the parents of your partner own the house, and you will all live there.

You could provide:

• Land Registry/title evidence showing ownership 

• Letter from the owner confirming permission for the family to live there 

• Property's rooms and occupants’ details

• Inspection report if overcrowding could be questioned

How can Visa and Migration Ltd. Help?

Meeting adequate maintenance and accommodation requirements is quite technical. We have the expertise and full understanding of how to meet these requirements prudently so your application is not delayed or refused.

We can help you collect documents that can help you demonstrate that your sponsoring partner is in receipt of specified benefits or allowances. 

We can calculate whether you are meeting the adequate maintenance requirement using the formula that the decision makers now use.

We can also help you understand and meet the complex nature of an adequate accommodation.

For expert advice and queries on how to meet the adequate maintenance and accommodation requirement, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261 or write at info@visaandmigration.com