With a UK partner visa, you bring and live with your partner in the UK if your partner apples from outside the UK. If your partner is already in the UK, a UK partner visa allows him/her to start living with you in the UK. You must be either a British citizen or have settled status in the UK for your partner to apply for a UK partner visa. Your partner can also include a dependent child or children in their UK partner visa application. You and your partner need to meet various eligibility requirements to make the UK partner visa application successful.

When You Receive PIP or Carers Allowance

There are different ways to meet the financial requirement of a UK partner visa. However, if you are sponsoring your partner and you are in receipt of a disability benefit specified in the immigration rules, you are exempt from meeting the default financial requirement which is a minimum annual income of £18,600 (or higher when there is any dependent children).
If you receive disability benefits such as PIP or carers allowance, you only need to pass the ‘adequate maintenance test’ to prove that you will be able to look after your partner and any children.

What is Adequate Maintenance Test?

The adequate Maintenance test is about proving that enough income is available to your family unit, which is equal to or more than the level of income support an equivalent British family of your size is eligible for. You and your partner need to prove that the income available to your family unit after the deduction of income tax and National Insurance contribution and housing cost is equal to or exceeds the income support amount available to a British family of your size.

How to Pass the Adequate Maintenance Test?

You need to first work out how much income you need each week. The Upper Tribunal identified a formula to be used to arrive at the weekly income required. The formula says that:
The projected weekly income (“A”), less weekly accommodation costs (“B”), would be equal to, or more than, the amount the family would be entitled to if they received income support or equivalent (“C”). 
A – B ≥ C 

The weekly income you need to have is the following:

· For you and your partner - £133.30
· For each child aged under 18 who will live with you - even if they’re not part of the application
- £77.78
 
  When calculating housing costs, you should not include any part of the costs that will be covered by Council Tax Reduction, Housing Benefits, or the housing element of Universal Credit. The Home Office will look at the council tax you’ll have to pay when your partner starts living with you. For example, if you are receiving a single-person discount, it will usually stop when your partner starts living with you.

Other Forms of Income that can be combined

You can include the income from the following sources when calculating weekly income:

 Net Earnings, pensions, and income from things like rent or shares
 Your partner’s net income if he/she is already in the UK
 Your partner’s net income (if they are not in the UK) will continue to get after they move to the UK
 You and your partner’s cash savings (you must have had the savings for at least six months)

Should you need professional assistance with your application, please contact Visa and Migration Ltd on +44 (0)2034111261 or email us on info@visaandmigration.com