Our client, a Turkish national residing in Istanbul, Turkey, recently married her partner, also a Turkish national living in London, UK, under a Turkish Businessperson Visa. Their intention was to live together in the UK, prompting them to seek our assistance in navigating the UK spouse visa application process (Appendix FM).

 

A significant challenge in this case was proving that the applicant’s sponsor met the financial requirement. The sponsor is the director and employee of a specified limited company and he relied on his income, which included both salary and dividend income, from the last full financial year to meet the financial requirement specified in paragraph 9(a) of Appendix FM-SE. 

 

Our firm assisted him in gathering and organising all the necessary financial documents. We carefully reviewed the sponsors' financial records to ensure that his income met the financial threshold required and all financial information was accurate and supported by the relevant documents.

 

Despite the sponsor's annual income meeting the required threshold, which included earnings from both salary and dividends from the company, evidencing this through personal bank statements proved to be a challenge. The sponsor clarified that certain portions of his salary and dividend payments were received in cash due to the nature of his business as a café owner. Unfortunately, these cash transactions did not reflect in his personal bank statements, making it difficult to provide the requisite documentation, namely personal bank statements covering the same period as the company's financial year, illustrating the director's salary and dividends deposited into the account.

 

In response to this dilemma, we secured a statement from the sponsor, and his accountants explained the circumstances to the caseworker in order to mitigate potential misunderstandings. Resolving this issue required a comprehensive review of the company and sponsor's bank statements, payslips and the dividend voucher prepared by his accountant. These measures were undertaken to facilitate the caseworker's understanding of the complexities of the case.

 

 

The client his visa with a Partner visa vignette on his passport. This successful UK spouse visa application allows our client to join her husband in London, UK, supporting their life together as a married couple.