Tips on How to Apply for a UK Spouse Visa Under Category B With Less Than 12 Payslips and A Short Term Let
Tips on How to Apply for a UK Spouse Visa Under Category B With Less Than 12 Payslips and A Short Term Let
Applying for a visa is a rigorous process. One must be meticulous with detail and do a lot of research to avoid mistakes and the chance of getting a visa refusal. Though it can be difficult, stressful, and time-consuming, it is still doable with a little patience.
When applying for a UK spouse visa, you have to determine if you are applying under Category A, B, C, D, E, or F. The most common application is under Category A: Employment fr more than 6 months, or Category B: Employment for less than 6 months. Category A is more straightforward and easier than Category B, which is a little more complicated and needs thorough research, analyzation, and forethought. Since I applied under Category B, I will share here the process, documents I submitted, and tips on how I got my visa successfully without a solicitor or an agent's help.
Case Scenario: My Experience on Applying for a UK Spouse Visa under Category B with only 8 Payslips and a 2-Month Accommodation Contract
My spouse is an Irish passport holder, and though he was born in London, he doesn't have a UK passport and he has lived in the Republic of Ireland since childhood. From late 2022 until June 2023, we were both living in my home country in the Philippines, and he was unemployed.
In July 2023, he started working in the Republic of Ireland, and during that time, he received a job offer from the UK. On January 8, 2024, his contract in Ireland ended, and on the same day, his employment in the UK started. We applied for my spouse visa on the 27th of January, a day after he received his first payslip from his new employment and the last payslip from his last employment. We were apprehensive at first, as based on my research and according to people I've asked who applied under Category B, one has to submit a total of 12 payslips covering the 12 months of employment prior to application. However, we didn't wait to complete all 12 payslips from his old and new employment and only submitted 8 payslips (7 from the old employment and 1 from the new). From his old job, the payslips are from the months of July to December and the 8 days in January, and the payslip from his new employment covered the month of January. We decided to take a risk and submitted the application since when we applied, his total gross income from the old employment (converted from Euro to GBP at oanda.com) and new employment already exceeded the financial requirement, which was 18,600 at that time. We wrote a cover letter explaining our case, presented a calculation of his gross income in tabular form, quoted the two conditions stated in Appendix FM under Category B for visa applicants, and explained how we met them.
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Our other issue was accommodation. Since he just moved to the UK on January 9, he didn't have permanent accommodation yet. Upon his arrival, he had stayed in one of the student accommodation room provided by his employer with a 2-month contract up until the end of February. We asked his employer to provide a letter of consent that I could stay there when I arrived in the UK and submitted the accommodation contract and the payment receipt in my application. Once again, we explained our case in the cover letter, stating that we plan to look together for our permanent accommodation once I arrived in the country.
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I believe every application is different, and the visa case officer handles each of them with careful consideration. In our situation, we believed we had a strong case, so we decided to take the risk. On the other hand, if you are doubtful that you will successfully be granted a visa, there is always a cover letter to explain your situation transparently and in detail.
