Using Savings to Meet the Family Visa Financial Requirement
As UK Immigration Solicitors specialising in Spouse Visa and Family Visa applications, we have seen a marked rise in enquiries about the Family Visa financial requirement since the income threshold was raised to £29,000.
In this blog, our Immigration Lawyers in London look at when Family Visa applicants and their sponsors can use savings to meet, in whole or in part, the financial requirement.
Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Family Visa Immigration Legal Advice.
Appendix FM Financial Requirement for UK Spouse and Partner Visas
Appendix FM to the immigration rules sets out the financial requirement rules a visa applicant must meet to secure some types of Family Visa. These include:
- Spouse Visas.
- Unmarried Partner Visas.
- Civil partner Visas.
- Fiance Visas.
Appendix FM provides several ways for an applicant and their sponsoring partner to meet the financial requirement. The simplest way is to prove that a sponsor has a gross annual income of over £29,000. However, many sponsors do not earn that amount or struggle to prove their income because they are self-employed, have recently started a business, or are freelancing.
A Spouse Visa Solicitor can explain the best way to prove to the Home Office that a Family Visa applicant meets the financial requirement. Income, savings, or a combination of the two could evidence this. What is important is providing the best evidence for your financial circumstances.
Using savings to meet the Family Visa financial requirement
If you or your sponsor has less than £16,000 in savings, the savings cannot be used as evidence that you meet the Spouse Visa financial requirement.
If you or your sponsor has £88,500 in savings, you can rely solely on the savings to demonstrate that you meet the financial requirement.
Any amount between £16,001 and £88,500 can be used in conjunction with some sources of income to show that you meet the financial requirement.
A visa applicant's savings can always be considered, provided the cash meets the complex rules in Appendix FM. However, a visa applicant's income can typically only be considered in a visa extension or settlement application.
Combining income and savings to meet the financial requirement
Only some sources of income can be combined with cash savings to evidence that the financial requirement is met. The permissible sources of income include:
- Income from employment provided the employer has employed the sponsoring partner for at least six months.
- Non-employment income such as property rental payments, dividends, or interest payments.
- Pension payments, including state and private pension schemes.
A sponsoring partner cannot combine self-employed sources of income or income from specified limited companies with cash savings to enable the visa applicant to meet the financial requirement. The rationale behind this rule is to avoid money being held in a business being counted twice as both income and savings.
Savings that can be used as evidence that the financial requirement is met
Not all savings count as ‘savings’ under the immigration rules. Appendix FM says that the money must:
- Have been held by the applicant, their sponsor, or jointly, and
- The money must have been held in a bank account for at least six months.
- The savings must either be held in sterling or, if not held in sterling, the savings will be calculated into sterling using Oanda currency exchange rates.
The bank account can be either a current, savings, deposit, or investment account, provided that the funds are under the applicant's or their sponsor's control and can be withdrawn immediately. This includes a share ISA account if all the Appendix FM requirements are met. The immigration rules require the financial institution to be regulated by a regulatory body.
There are some exemptions to the six-month bank account rule, namely:
- The sale of property -if the property or land owned by the visa applicant, sponsor, or jointly, and ownership can be traced back to six months before the visa application, and the money in the bank account represents the net proceeds of the sale of the land or property, and the other requirements of the savings rules are met, then the six-month exception applies.
- The sale of investments, stocks, shares, bonds, or trust funds - provided that the applicant can prove that the funds were owned by them or their sponsor at least six months before the visa application and can provide evidence from a financial organisation regulated by the relevant regulatory body for the country where the investment was held.
Gifts that count as savings
Sometimes, the extended family want to help with a gift of money to help a family reunite. Savings used as evidence that the financial requirement is met can come from any legal source, including gifts from family. However, the gift must be:
- Irrevocable – the gift cannot be a loan to be repaid when the visa is granted.
- Money held in a bank account by the applicant, sponsor or jointly for at least six months.
- Evidenced as a gift with a signed declaration to confirm the source of the funds and that the funds are in the control of the applicant, the sponsor or under their joint control.
Evidence of savings
Many sponsors have cash savings that can be used to partially or fully satisfy the financial requirement. However, many do not realise what evidence is required to prove that the financial requirement is met through savings.
The immigration rules say that the following evidence of savings is required:
- Bank statements evidencing the savings relied upon held in an account or accounts in the name of the sponsor or visa applicant or jointly for a period of six months before the visa application. The bank statements must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the application date.
- Declaration about the source of the cash savings from the bank account holder.
Talk to OTS Solicitors about your Family Visa application
The UK Immigration Lawyers at OTS Solicitors specialise in Family Visa applications. They can guide and support you through the complex application process and ensure that if you are relying on savings to evidence that the financial requirement is met, you comply with the rules on the source of funds and the evidence required.
Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Family Visa and Immigration Legal Advice.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil, Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi.
Related Posts
OTS Solicitors are Ranked in the 2026 Editions of the Chambers and Partners Guide and Legal 500