Employment Income Documents for British Spouse Visa Applications

Employment Income Documents for British Spouse Visa Applications

 

This article is part 2 of 6 of ‘What are the Supporting Documents to Prove the UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement?’ article series.

You can read the previous article from this series HERE.

I’ve also created the online course, explaining how to check if you meet the financial requirement and what information you need to provide with the application. You can find out more about the course HERE.

Now let us have a look at specific documents, which you may consider submitting based on your source of income.

As you may recall from the previous article in this series, the Home Office accepts only five sources of income, which we can further subdivide into seven categories:

1. Employment income (categories A and B)
2. Non-employment Income (category C)
3. Savings (category D)
4. Pension (category E)
5. Income from self-employment (categories F and G)

 

Employment Income

General Rules

If you are working and intend to prove meeting the financial requirement by way of relaying on your employment income, you need to provide THREE primary documents:

1. payslips
2. a letter from your employer
3. personal bank statements corresponding to the same period.

It is important to note here that you need to provide all of the above documents.

Let me elaborate on the rules for each piece of evidence.

 

Payslips

You’ll need to provide payslips covering the relevant period of time. For example, the applicable period will be six months if you were with the same employer for more than six months. In other words, when you are applying in category A.

If you apply in category B, when you were with the same employer for less than six months than your relevant period will be 12 months.

Payslips will need to be formal payslips issued by your employer and showing the employer’s name. If they are not, or you are in doubt with regards to the ‘formality of the payslips’, your employer will need to additionally cover the payslip topic in his letter. This letter will need to be on the employer’s headed paper. Also, a senior official will need to sign it. They’ll need to confirm that the payslips are authentic. Let us have a closer look at the employer’s letter.

 

A letter from the Employer(s)

What does your employer need to cover in his letter?

Your employer’s letter should shed light on the following four points:

• the fact that you are employed, the nature of your employment and your gross annual salary;
• the length of your employment;
• the period over which you have been or were paid the level of wages relied upon in the application; and
• the type of employment (e.g. permanent, fixed-term contract or agency).

 

Personal Bank Statements

Your bank statement should be corresponding to the same period(s) as your payslips. The account should be in your or your spouse’s name or a joint account.

 

How to Make Your Application Stronger

If you would like to make your application stronger, there are a number of other documents, which you may submit in addition to the above documents.

This may include, but not limited to:

• P60s
• Contracts of employment
• Reference letters from the company’s senior workers.

 

Directors of Limited Companies

It is crucial to understand the rules governing applications submitted by the spouses of directors of limited companies.

All company directors, in addition to payslips, a letter from the employer and bank statements should submit a document confirming that their company is NOT of a type specified in paragraph 9(a). It can include the latest Annual Return filed at Companies House.

What if a non-executive director gets a fee instead of a salary? The Home Office will accept this, provided it is appropriately evidenced. They’ll be treating this form their fees as though it were Income received for employment in that capacity.

 

What is Paragraph 9(a) Company?

Paragraph 9(a) company is the specified type of limited company where:

• the person is either a director or employee of the company, or both, or of another company within the same group; and
• shares are held (directly or indirectly) by the person, their partner or the following family members of the person or their partner: parent, grandparent, child, stepchild, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or first cousin; and
• any remaining shares are held (directly or indirectly) by fewer than five other persons.

 

Which Documents to Submit if You are a Paragraph 9(a) Company Director?

If you look at the above definition of paragraph 9(a) companies, you’ll realise that it predominantly catches family businesses.

The Home Office wants to ensure that:

1. Paragraph 9(a) Company is a genuine and a financially viable one;
2. the directors of ‘family business’ companies are genuinely employed and genuinely receive income at least the minimum income requirement level.

Rather naturally, the burden of proof for these types of employees/company directors is more rigid than for other applicants in this category.

How to Prove Paragraph 9(a) Company’s Financial Viability

All of the Following Documents

With the application, you’ll need to provide All of the following documents:

• Company Tax Return CT600 (a copy or print-out) for the last full financial year and evidence that you have filed the documents with HMRC, such as electronic or written acknowledgement from HMRC.
• Evidence of registration with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House.
• If your company needs to provide annual audited accounts, then you’ll also need to submit such accounts for the last full financial year.
• If your company does not need to submit annual audited accounts, then unaudited accounts will be sufficient for the last full financial year. However, together with unaudited accounts, you’ll also need to submit an ‘accountant’s certificate of confirmation’.

 

Certified Accountants

This certificate can be prepared by an accountant who is a member of a UK Recognized Supervisory Body. You can check register if you CLICK HERE.

Alternatively, an accountant can be a member of the Institute of Financial Accountants, The Association of Authorised Public Accountants, The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the Association of International Accountants and The Association of Accounting Technicians.

 

To Continue the Above List

You should also provide:

• Corporate/business bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the Company Tax Return CT600.
• A current Appointment Report from Companies House.

 

One of the Following

In addition to the above, paragraph 9(a) company directors will also need to provide one of the following documents:

1. A certificate of VAT registration and the VAT return for the last full financial year (a copy or print-out) confirming the VAT registration number, if turnover is above £79,000 or was over the threshold for the last full financial year. You can check the rules HERE.
2. Proof of ownership or lease of business premises.
3. Proof of registration with HMRC as an employer for the purposes of PAYE and National Insurance, proof of PAYE reference number and Accounts Office reference number. This evidence may be in the form of a certified copy of the documentation which you received from HMRC.
4. Alternative evidence may include evidence of ongoing payment of business rates, business-related insurance premiums or employer National Insurance contributions in relation to the company.

 

Paragraph 9(a) Company’s Director’s/Employee’s Genuine Employment

If you are a para 9 (a) director of the company, or its employee or both, and receive a salary from the company, you’ll need to submit all of the following documents:

1. Payslips and P60 (if issued) covering the same period as the Company Tax Return
2. Personal bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the Company Tax Return CT600 showing that you were getting your salary as a director or employee of the company (or both) into your account or your partner’s one or jointly.

 

About this Article and How to Get Further Help

This article is a part of the article/video series called “What are the Supporting Documents to Prove the UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement?’

This article/video series consists of the following six parts:

1. General Rules for All Categories
2. Employment Income Documents for British Spouse Visa Applications (Categories A and B)
3. Non-Employment Income Documents for British Spouse Visa Applications (Category C)
4. Cash Savings – Documents to Provide with Your UK Spouse Visa Application (Category D)
5. Pension Income and the Exempt Category- Documents to Provide with UK Spouse Visa application (Category E and exempt category)
6. Self-Employment – Documents to Provide with UK Spouse Visa application (Categories F and G)

Further Help

And finally, if you are thinking of submitting your UK Partner visa application in near future, first of all, you need to understand the rules of the game. At THIS PAGE you’ll get access to ‘How to Meet the Financial Requirement of Your British Spouse Visa Application when Applying from Outside the UK’ online course. This course will help you dramatically reduce the chances of the refusal of your UK spouse visa application. As after attending the course you’ll understand the financial requirements you need to satisfy in order to succeed.