UK Spouse Visa Refused on Financial Grounds? Cash Savings, Self-Employment and Combined Income Rules Explained
Gabriella Bettiga
on
Most sponsors refused the financial requirement to have the money. What they did not have was the money in the form, the category and the paperwork the Immigration Rules demand.
That gap is where financial refusals live. A sponsor earning £34,000 can be refused because two payslips fall outside the required window. A couple with £95,000 in the bank can be refused because the account was opened five months ago. A self-employed sponsor with healthy profits can be refused topping up with savings, which the Rules do not permit at all.
The threshold itself gets attention. As the House of Commons Library notes, roughly half of UK employees earn less than the £29,000 now required of most new sponsors. But the level is only the first hurdle. The calculation method and the specified evidence are where applications actually fail.
This guide explains how the Home Office assesses cash savings, self-employment and combined income under Appendix FM, where each one commonly goes wrong, and what your options are if a refusal has already arrived.
Key Takeaways
- The threshold is £29,000 for most new applicants. It has applied since 11 April 2024 and does not increase for dependent children.
- Some sponsors still qualify for £18,600. Transitional arrangements protect those who first applied on the five-year partner route before 11 April 2024 and are applying with the same partner.
- Savings only count above £16,000. The excess is divided by 2.5, so meeting £29,000 through savings alone needs £88,500 held for six months.
- Self-employment income cannot be topped up with savings. Paragraph 13(f) of Appendix FM-SE prohibits it outright, and this catches more sponsors than any other rule.
- Self-employed income means gross taxable profit. Not turnover, not drawings, and not profit after expenses have been deducted.
- Owner-directors are assessed as self-employed. If your company is family-owned within the Rules, your salary and dividends count only under Category F or G, never Category A.
- The evidence window is unforgiving. Where a period ends with the date of application, the most recent document must be dated no earlier than 28 days before you apply.
- Refusals are usually appealing. Appendix FM refusals are treated as human rights claims, so most carry a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.
Why Are UK Spouse Visas Refused on Financial Grounds?
Most financial refusals are evidential rather than genuine shortfalls. The sponsor earns or holds enough, but the income sits in the wrong category; the documents cover the wrong period, or the sources relied upon cannot lawfully be combined. The Home Office assesses what you evidence, not what you earn.
The financial requirement has three separate limbs, set out in Appendix FM-SE: the level you must meet, the permitted sources and permitted combinations, and the specified evidence for each source. Failing any one of them is fatal, even where the other two are comfortably satisfied.
This is why refusals feel arbitrary to applicants and are entirely predictable to practitioners. Our guide to the UK spouse visa requirements covers the route as a whole, and the Appendix FM rules set the framework, but the financial limb deserves separate attention because it generates a disproportionate share of refusals.
What Is the Current Minimum Income Requirement?
The minimum income requirement is £29,000 gross a year for most people making a first application on the five-year partner route on or after 11 April 2024. It does not increase for dependent children. Sponsors already in the route before that date may still qualify at £18,600, plus a child component capped at £29,000.
The threshold is assessed against the date of application, not the date of decision. Which figure applies to you depends on your history on the route, not your preference.
| Your situation | Threshold that applies |
|---|---|
| First application on the five-year partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner route on or after 11 April 2024 | £29,000 |
| Applying to stay with a new partner, whatever your history | £29,000 |
| Already in the route before 11 April 2024, still holding that permission, applying with the same partner | £18,600 plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 per further child, capped at £29,000 |
| On the ten-year route at the date of application | £29,000, as transitional protection does not apply |
| Partner or child of a member of HM Armed Forces, first application on or after 11 April 2024 | £23,496 |
| Sponsor receiving a qualifying disability or carer benefit | No income threshold. The adequate maintenance test applies instead |
Further increases towards £38,700 were announced and then paused. The Migration Advisory Committee reported in June 2025 without recommending a single figure, instead setting out options including roughly £17,000 and roughly £23,800. The Government has not changed the threshold in response. Treat any lower figure you read about as proposed, not in force.
If you are unsure about which threshold applies to your stage of the route, an early assessment is worth more than a resubmission. MGBe Legal advises on partner and family applications at every stage from entry clearance to settlement.
How Do Cash Savings Actually Work?
Only savings above £16,000 count. At the entry clearance, initial and further permission stages, the excess is divided by 2.5, because the permission granted lasts 30 months. Meeting £29,000 through savings alone requires £88,500. At the settlement stage the whole amount above £16,000 counts, without division.
The formula, and what it means in practice
The calculation is (total savings minus £16,000) divided by 2.5. So, £60,000 in savings produces £17,600 of countable income, not £60,000. To reach £29,000 on savings alone you need £16,000 plus 2.5 times £29,000, which is £88,500. Sponsors protected at £18,600 need £62,500.
The division falls away at the indefinite leave to remain on stage, where the full excess above £16,000 counts. Couples who scraped through on savings at entry clearance often find settlement easier for this reason alone.
The six-month rule and where savings may come from
The funds must have been held in cash, in an account in the name of the applicant, the sponsor, or both jointly, throughout the six months before the date of application, and be immediately accessible. A declaration of the source of savings is also required.
Three routes soften the six-month rule. Funds transferred from investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds within the period are acceptable if they were owned and controlled throughout, evidenced by a portfolio report. Net proceeds from the sale of a property, building, or land are acceptable on similar terms. A gift from a third party can be the source, provided it has been held for the full six months and is under your control. Competition winnings and a paid legacy also count.
What does not work: a lump sum deposited four months ago, equity in a house, a loan or credit facility, or a promise of support that has not been received. Our spouse visa evidence guidance sets out the documentary side in more detail.
The trap: what savings cannot do
Savings are flexible but not universal. They can top up salaried and non-salaried employment under Category A, non-employment income under Category C and pension income under Category E. They cannot be used for the second limb of Category B, and they cannot be combined with self-employment income at all.
Savings cases turn on dates and account histories rather than amounts. The MGBe Legal FAQ hub answers the questions that come up most often, and the team can check out a savings position against the six-month rule before you apply.
Why Do Self-Employed Sponsors Get Refused?
Self-employed sponsors are assessed under Category F, the last full financial year, or Category G, the average of the last two. Income means gross taxable profit rather than turnover or drawings; savings cannot be added to make up a shortfall, and the specified evidence list is long. Each of those three points produces refusals.
Category F or Category G?
Category F uses the last full financial year. Category G averages the last two full financial years, which helps where one year was weak. For a sole trader in the relevant year is the period covered by the Statement of Account, the SA300 or SA302. For a company, it is the period covered by the Company Tax Return CT600.
You cannot mix the two types of year. Where a sponsor moved from sole trader to limited company, the sole trader years and the company years cannot be combined into one average.
Gross taxable profit, not turnover and not drawings
For a sole trader, partner or franchisee, the countable figure is the gross taxable profit from their share of the business. Before any deductible allowances, expenses or liabilities are applied to establish the final tax bill. Sponsors routinely put forward turnover, which overstates the position, or the amount they drew, which usually understates it.
There must also be evidence of ongoing self-employment at the date of application, dated no more than three months before you apply. A profitable year that has since stopped will not do.
If you are a director of a family-owned company
This is the single most misunderstood provision. Where you are a director or employee of a UK limited company, shares are held by you, your partner or listed relatives, and any remaining shares sit with fewer than five other people; the company is a specified limited company. Your salary and your dividends from it then count only under Category F or G.
Submitting six months of payslips under Category A in that situation is not a minor error. The evidence required is different and includes the CT600, Companies House registration, accounts, corporate bank statements covering the same twelve months, payslips and P60 for the same period, and dividend vouchers for every dividend declared in that period.
The rule that catches most self-employed sponsors
Paragraph 13(f) of Appendix FM-SE states plainly that a self-employed person cannot combine their gross annual income with specified savings to reach the required level. Paragraph 13(j) extends the same treatment to specified limited company income.
This matters because a great deal of online guidance says the opposite. If your profits fall short of £29,000, savings will not bridge the gap. The realistic options are to rely on savings alone at £88,500, to wait for a stronger financial year and apply under Category F, to use Category G if the two-year average helps, or to consider whether other permitted sources apply.
Self-employed and director sponsorships are the most document-heavy applications on the family route. MGBe Legal reviews the financial position and the evidence together as part of its personal immigration work.
Which Income Sources Can You Combine?
Most sources can be combined, but three prohibitions apply. Cash savings cannot be used for the second limb of Category B. Cash savings cannot be combined with self-employment or specified company income. Where both partners rely on employment income, all of it must be calculated under Category A or all under Category B, never a mixture.
| Category | What it covers | Can be combined with | Cannot be combined with |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Employment, same employer 6 months or more | C, D, E | B |
| B | Employment under 6 months or variable income | C, D and E for limb 1; C and E only for limb 2 | A, and savings for limb 2 |
| C | Non-employment income such as rent and dividends | A, B, D, E | Nothing specific, but periods must align |
| D | Cash savings above £16,000 | A, B limb 1, C, E | B limb 2, F, G |
| E | State, occupational or private pension | A, B, C, D | Nothing specific |
| F and G | Self-employment and specified company income | Employment, non-employment and pension income from the same financial year or years | Cash savings, and the other type of financial year |
Two further points cause avoidable refusals. Contractual allowances count, but where they exceed 30% of total salary, only the amount up to 30% is counted. Overtime, commission and bonuses count only where actually received in the relevant period, annualised over six months, and never as a projection of future earnings.
Rental income is permitted, but not from a property that is or will become your main residence, and not from a lodger in it. Equity in property cannot be used at all, although the net proceeds of a completed sale can become cash savings.
Combining sources correctly is a drafting exercise as much as an arithmetic one. If your finances involve more than one source, it is worth having the full range of MGBe Legal services considered against your circumstances before submission.
What If You Cannot Meet the Threshold at All?
Two routes exist. If the sponsor receives a qualifying disability or carer benefit, the income threshold does not apply, and the adequate maintenance test replaces it. Separately, where refusal would breach Article 8, paragraph GEN.3.1 of Appendix FM requires other credible and reliable sources of income or support to be taken into account.
The benefit of exemption is precise. It applies where the sponsor receives Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, an Armed Forces Independence or Guaranteed Income Payment, Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement or War Disablement Pension, Police Injury Pension, or the Scottish equivalents. The exemption is assessed at each application stage, so it can fall away later.
The exceptional circumstances route comes from the Supreme Court decision in MM (Lebanon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 10, which upheld the requirement in principle but required more flexibility where refusal would produce unjustifiably harsh consequences. Paragraph 21A of Appendix FM-SE now allows three additional sources: a credible guarantee of sustainable financial support from a third party, credible prospective earnings from sustainable employment or self-employment, and any other credible and reliable source of income or funds.
These are not easy arguments. The onus sits on the applicant; the source must not be a loan unless it is a regulated mortgage on property already owned, and the Rules set out detailed credibility factors the caseworker must weigh. They need to be raised deliberately, with evidence, in the application itself.
What Should You Do If You Have Already Been Refused?
Read the refusal notice first. Appendix FM refusals are generally treated as human rights claims and carry a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. Deadlines are 14 calendar days inside the UK and 28 days outside. Where the refusal was correct on the evidence you filed, a fresh application with complete documents is often faster.
The distinction matters. An appeal is the right response where the caseworker misreads the figures, ignored evidence you did submit, or failed to consider exceptional circumstances you had raised. A judge can also consider evidence and, in human rights appeals, the proportionality of the refusal. In January to March 2026, 44% of human rights appeals determined by the First-tier Tribunal were allowed, though the mean time to clear one was 71 weeks.
A fresh application is usually better where a document was genuinely missing or fell outside the required window, since that refusal was correct on what was filed. The appeals and administrative review process is explained separately, and relationship evidence issues are covered in our guide to proving a genuine relationship.
Which Mistakes Cause Most Financial Refusals?
The same errors recur across refusal letters:
- Adding savings to self-employment income, which paragraph 13(f) does not permit.
- Treating turnover or drawings as self-employed income instead of gross taxable profit.
- Filing payslips under Category A when the company is a specified limited company requiring Category F or G.
- Submitting evidence dated more than 28 days before the application where the period ends on the date of application.
- Counting savings held for less than the full six months, or in an account not immediately accessible.
- Relying on rental income from the property that will become the couple’s home.
- Projecting future overtime, commission or bonuses rather than what was received.
- Raising exceptional circumstances for the first time on appeal instead of in the application.
Where Legal Support Makes a Difference
Financial requirement of work is arithmetic, categorisation and document control rather than advocacy. The useful questions are which threshold applies, which category the income genuinely falls into, whether the intended combination is permitted, and whether every specified document exists in the right form for the right period.
MGBe Legal is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority at Level 3, the highest level. Gabriella Bettiga is an immigration lawyer in England and Wales and an Advanced Caseworker under the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme. No adviser can promise an outcome, but a regulated adviser can tell you whether your financial position can meet the Rules as they stand, and what would need to change if it is not.
Conclusion
Financial refusals are rarely about wealth. They are about whether the money you have fits the categories, periods and evidence the Rules prescribe. Savings above £16,000 divided by 2.5, self-employment measured as gross taxable profit across a full financial year, and combinations that follow paragraphs 13, 15 and 19 rather than intuition.
If the finances are the difficult part of your application, that is the part worth getting checked before you submit. Our general family visa guidance covers the wider route.
If you have been refused on financial grounds, or you know the financial requirement is where your application is weakest, contact MGBe Legal for an assessment of your position against the current Rules.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Gabriella Bettiga
Director of MGBe Legal
I founded MGBe Legal, a firm regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA), with the mission to provide high-quality, simplified, and accessible legal services to clients from all walks of life.
