How to Prove the £29,000 for a Spouse Visa: Every Income Category Explained

Key Takeaways

• You must show £29,000 a year in gross income, enough cash savings, or that your partner receives a listed disability or carer's benefit. The £29,000 level has applied to first applications on the partner route made on or after 11 April 2024 (paragraphs E-ECP.3.1 and E-LTRP.3.1 of Appendix FM), and no change to it has been announced.
• Whose income counts depends on where you apply from. For entry clearance only your partner's employment or self-employment income counts, and that can include overseas earnings if they are returning to the UK with you. Once you are in the UK with permission to work, your own legal UK earnings can be added.
• Categories A to G are Home Office caseworker labels, not the Immigration Rules. The letters come from caseworker guidance version 13.0 of 11 November 2025. The binding rules are in Appendix FM-SE: paragraph 13 for how income is calculated and paragraphs 1 to 12 for the documents.
• An employee with 6 months or more at the same employer uses Category A; anyone newer or on variable pay uses Category B and must pass two tests. Category A counts the lowest salary paid across the last 6 months. Category B needs the salary at the date of application to reach the target and actual earnings over the last 12 months to reach it as well.
• Cash savings alone must reach £88,500. The formula is £16,000 plus 2.5 times any income shortfall, held in your name, your partner's or jointly for the 6 months before you apply. £88,500 is that formula applied to zero income; the figure itself is not written in the Rules.
• Self-employed sponsors and directors of small family companies are assessed on tax years, not payslips. Category F uses the last full financial year and Category G the average of the last two, and cash savings cannot be added to either.
• Some combinations are banned outright. A couple cannot mix Category A and Category B for their employment income, and cash savings cannot be combined with Category F, Category G or the 12-month limb of Category B.
• Loans, credit, most benefits and promises of support from family never count. A cash gift does count once it has been held in your or your partner's account for 6 months. Wider third-party support is only considered under the GEN.3.1 exceptional circumstances test, and a grant on that basis puts you on the 10-year route.
• Most financial refusals turn on document format, not on the money. The evidence must match the rule exactly: payslips, an employer letter with four set details, bank statements showing the same pay, and the latest document dated no more than 28 days before the date of application. Paragraph D lets a caseworker ask for a missing document, but it cannot fix a shortfall.
• Our spouse visa team confirms your category and checks every document before you submit. We build the evidence bundle around the paragraph of Appendix FM-SE that applies to you, so the application is judged on your income rather than on paperwork.

Introduction

Most couples who apply for a spouse or partner visa already know the headline number. What trips them up is the next question: which of the Home Office's income categories they fall into, what they are allowed to add together, and which documents the caseworker will expect for that category. Get the category wrong and a couple earning well above £29,000 can still be refused.

This guide settles those questions for the spouse visa financial requirement categories, one at a time. It covers who each category is for, how the income is calculated, the period the caseworker looks at, and the exact documents Appendix FM-SE asks for. It also sets out the rule that most guides skip: at entry clearance only your partner's earnings count, while an application made in the UK can add your own.

Everything in this post is confirmed law, in force since 11 April 2024 and unchanged since. The only proposal in this area is a possible lower threshold, which we cover in one clearly labelled line below and in full in our separate post. The same financial rules apply to spouses, civil partners, unmarried partners and fiancé(e)s.

This post does not cover the English requirement (see our English language requirements guidance), relationship evidence or accommodation (see our dependants and family guidance), or visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge, which you can work out with our IHS and visa fee calculator. If you are joining someone on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa, you apply as a dependant under different rules, explained in can care workers bring their family to the UK.

What the Financial Requirement Actually Says

The requirement sits in Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules, at paragraph E-ECP.3.1 for entry clearance and E-LTRP.3.1 for permission to stay in the UK. For anyone making their first application on the partner route on or after 11 April 2024, you must provide specified evidence of one of three things:

• a specified gross annual income of at least £29,000;
• specified savings of £16,000 plus 2.5 times the gap between your income and £29,000; or
• that your partner receives one of the disability or carer's benefits listed in E-ECP.3.3 or E-LTRP.3.3, in which case an adequate maintenance test applies instead.

"Specified" is the important word. The income must come from a source that Appendix FM allows and be proved with the documents that Appendix FM-SE lists. Money that exists but is evidenced the wrong way does not count.

Nothing about the level, the permitted sources or the evidence has changed since 11 April 2024. Two Statements of Changes have amended these appendices in 2026, and neither touched the financial requirement. HC 1691 (effective 26 March 2026) only renamed the body that checks overseas degrees for the English requirement. HC 259 (effective 3 August 2026) changed the length of permission for partners of people with protection status and rewrote the immigration bail rule.

Proposal, not law: the Migration Advisory Committee's review of 10 June 2025 put a reasonable range at £21,000 to £28,000 for the sponsor alone, and the government has not responded. We track that question in will the £29,000 family visa income requirement be lowered?

One warning if you have read about the 28-day rule for Skilled Worker or Student visas. That rule comes from Appendix Finance, which covers maintenance funds on work and study routes (see UK visa maintenance funds). The partner route is governed by Appendix FM-SE, which has its own 6-month savings rule. Appendix Finance only comes in to set the exchange rate and to exclude certain banks.

Whose Income Counts: Entry Clearance Against an Application in the UK

This is where most couples go wrong. GOV.UK's summary page speaks of "combined income", but the Rules draw a sharp line between applying from abroad and applying from inside the UK. At entry clearance, E-ECP.3.2 allows only your partner's employment or self-employment income. Your own job, whether overseas or a job offer in the UK, cannot count. In the UK, E-LTRP.3.2 adds your own earnings, provided you are 18 or over, have permission to work and are working within its conditions (Appendix FM-SE paragraph 1(c)).

Here is how that plays out. You are in the UK on a spouse visa, earning £12,000 a year with the same employer for 18 months. Your partner earns £18,000 and has been in their job for two years. Together you show £30,000 under Category A and meet the requirement. Had you applied from abroad, your £12,000 would have been ignored and your partner's £18,000 would have fallen £11,000 short.

When both of you rely on employment income in the UK, you must use the same method for both. Appendix FM-SE paragraph 13(k) says the income must be calculated under Category A or under Category B, never a mixture.

The Spouse Visa Financial Requirement Categories, A to G

The letters A to G appear nowhere in the Immigration Rules. They are labels used in the Home Office caseworker guidance on the minimum income requirement, version 13.0, published on 11 November 2025. Caseworkers and application forms use them, so you need to know them. If the guidance and the Rules ever disagree, the Rules win: the calculation is in Appendix FM-SE paragraph 13, the documents in paragraphs 1 to 12, and the limits on combining and excluded sources in paragraphs 14 to 21.

Category A: Same Employer for 6 Months or More

Who it is for. Your partner, or you if you are in the UK with permission to work, is employed at the date of application and has been with the same employer for at least 6 months. The job can be full-time or part-time, permanent, fixed-term or through an agency.

How the income is calculated. For a salaried job, the figure used is the lowest annual salary paid during those 6 months. A pay rise three months ago does not help: if you earned £27,500 before it and £31,000 after, Category A counts £27,500. For hourly or variable pay, add up the gross pay over the 6 months, divide by 6 and multiply by 12. Overtime, commission, bonuses and paid travel time are added as an annualised 6-month average (paragraph 18(b) and (bb)). Contractual skills-based and UK location allowances count, but only up to 30% of total salary. Relocation, subsistence and accommodation allowances never count.

Returning from overseas. If your partner works abroad and is coming back with you, Category A has two limbs. They must have been with their overseas employer for at least 6 months at the required level, and they must hold a confirmed UK job offer starting within 3 months of their return that also meets it (paragraph 13(c)). Cash savings, non-employment income and pensions can top up either limb.

Documents (paragraph 2).

• Payslips covering the 6 months before the date of application. They must be formal payslips showing the employer's name, or come with a signed letter from a senior official on headed paper confirming they are genuine.
• A letter from the employer confirming your employment and gross annual salary, how long you have worked there, the period you have been paid the salary relied on, and whether the job is permanent, fixed-term or agency.
• Personal bank statements for the same 6 months, showing the salary paid into an account in the earner's name or held jointly with their partner.
• Optional but sensible: the P60 and a signed contract of employment (paragraph 2A). Without them the caseworker may grant anyway, or may ask for them.
• If the earner is a director of a UK limited company, evidence that the company is not a specified family company under paragraph 9(a), such as its latest filing at Companies House.
• For a returning partner: overseas documents that are a reasonable equivalent of the above, plus a letter from the UK employer confirming the offer, gross annual salary and a start date within 3 months of return, or a signed contract (paragraph 4).

Category B: Under 6 Months with Your Employer, or Variable Income

Who it is for. Anyone who started their current job less than 6 months before the date of application, or who has been there longer but has not been paid at the level relied on for the full 6 months. There is no minimum time in the new job, as long as the evidence can be provided.

The two-part test. Both parts must be met (paragraphs 13(b) and 15).

• Part 1: the gross annual salary at the date of application must reach £29,000. For variable pay, this is the monthly average since the job started, annualised. You can top this up with non-employment income, cash savings or a pension.
• Part 2: actual gross earnings from employment in the 12 months before the date of application must also reach £29,000. Earnings from previous jobs in that year count, including overseas jobs, and you can add non-employment income and pension received over the same 12 months. Cash savings cannot be used for Part 2 (paragraph 15(b)(iv)).

Returning from overseas. A partner coming back with you does not need to be in work on the date of application. Part 1 is met by a confirmed UK job offer starting within 3 months of return, and Part 2 by what they actually earned abroad in the last 12 months.

Documents. Payslips covering every period of employment in the 12 months before the date of application, from each employer. A letter from each employer who issued those payslips with the same four details as Category A. Bank statements for the same periods, showing the pay going in.

Category C: Non-Employment Income

Who it is for. Either of you, if you receive income from property rental, dividends or other investment income, interest on savings, maintenance from a former partner, a student maintenance grant or stipend, ongoing insurance or structured legal settlement payments, royalties, UK Maternity Allowance, bereavement benefits, or certain armed forces payments.

How it is calculated. The gross amount received in the 12 months before the date of application. The asset producing it must be in your name, your partner's or jointly, and still owned on the date of application. It does not have to have been owned for the full 12 months. Rental income must come from a property that is not, and will not become, your main home, so a lodger in your own house does not count. Only your share of a jointly owned property counts, and equity in a property never does. Dividends from a small family company you work for belong in Category F or G, not here.

Documents (paragraph 10). Bank statements for the 12 months showing the income paid in, plus source documents for each type. For rent: title deeds, the Land Registry title register or a mortgage statement, and the tenancy agreement. For dividends and investments: a certificate of ownership and a portfolio report or dividend vouchers. For maintenance: a court order, written agreement or Child Support Agency paperwork.

Category D: Cash Savings

Who it is for. Anyone with cash savings above £16,000, held in your name, your partner's or jointly, and under your control for the full 6 months before the date of application. Savings can be used alone or to top up a shortfall in income.

How it is calculated. The first £16,000 never counts. Everything above it is divided by 2.5, because a partner visa lasts about 2.5 years before the next application. Turned round, the savings you need are £16,000 plus 2.5 times the gap between your income and £29,000.

So £88,500 is simply £16,000 plus 2.5 times £29,000. You will see it everywhere, including in the caseworker guidance's worked tables, but it is derived from the formula in E-ECP.3.1(b) and E-LTRP.3.1(b). It is not written in the Rules.

What counts as cash savings. Money in a current, deposit or investment account with a regulated bank that you can withdraw immediately, even with a penalty. The caseworker guidance accepts a stocks and shares ISA or pension savings that can be withdrawn at once if every condition is met, but not a brokerage account or a betting account. A gift from family counts once it has been in your account for 6 months and you declare its source. A paid-out legacy or competition win also counts. Borrowed money never does.

Money that arrived recently. Funds moved in the last 6 months from shares, investments or a pension pot you already owned can count the time they were held as investments towards the 6 months (paragraph 11A(c)). The same applies to the net proceeds of selling a property you owned at the start of the period (paragraph 11A(d)). You must prove ownership, value and the transfer.

Documents (paragraph 11). Bank statements showing at least the amount relied on held throughout the 6 months, and a signed declaration from the account holder of where the money came from. At the settlement stage the whole amount above £16,000 counts, without dividing by 2.5, which we cover in our ILR and settlement guidance.

Category E: Pension Income

Who it is for. Either of you, if you receive a UK or foreign state pension, an occupational pension or a private pension. War Disablement Pension and similar armed forces payments can be treated as a pension.

How it is calculated. The gross annual amount, but only if the pension has been a source of income for at least 28 days before the date of application (paragraph 20A). A pension that starts next month cannot be used this month. Pension income can be combined with Categories A, both parts of B (actual amounts received over 12 months for Part 2), C and D.

Documents (paragraph 10(e)). Official documentation from the Department for Work and Pensions, an overseas pension authority or the pension company confirming entitlement and amount, reflecting any cash taken out of the pot. Also at least one personal bank statement from the last 12 months showing the pension being paid in.

Category F: Self-Employment or a Specified Limited Company, Last Full Financial Year

Who it is for. Sole traders, partners in a business (other than equity partners, who are treated as salaried), franchisees, and directors or employees of a specified limited company. Under paragraph 9(a), that is a UK company where the person works as a director or employee, the shares are held by them, their partner or close family, and any other shares are held by fewer than five other people. If your company is not of that type, your salary goes in Category A or B and your dividends in Category C.

How it is calculated. For sole traders and partners, the gross taxable profit from your share of the business in the last full financial year, before any allowances or reliefs applied to work out the tax bill. For a specified limited company, your salary and dividends from the company in the year covered by its latest Company Tax Return (CT600). Other employment income, non-employment income and pensions can be added (the applicant's own earnings only if they are in the UK with permission to work), but only amounts received in the same financial year, and each source must still be ongoing at the date of application. Self-assessment years and company accounting years cannot be mixed.

The timing trap. "Last full financial year" means the one most recently ended. A sole trader applying in October 2026 relies on the tax year that ended on 5 April 2026, so the return for that year must be filed with HMRC before you apply. The ordinary 31 January deadline is too late.

Documents for sole traders, partners and franchisees (paragraph 7).

• Evidence of the tax payable, paid and unpaid, for the last full financial year.
• The self-assessment tax return and the Statement of Account (SA300 or SA302) for the year relied on. Paragraph 7(b) requires both, although the caseworker guidance says "or".
• Proof of registration with HMRC as self-employed, if available, and the Unique Taxpayer Reference.
• Business bank statements for the same 12 months, if you have a separate business account, and personal bank statements for the same 12 months showing the income paid in.
• Evidence that trading is ongoing, dated within 3 months of the application, such as a bank statement with trading activity or proof of business rates or insurance.
• One of the following: audited accounts, or unaudited accounts with an accountant's certificate of confirmation from a member of a listed accountancy body; the VAT registration certificate and VAT return (the Rules refer to turnover above £79,000 or the VAT threshold in force that year); evidence of planning permission where the council requires it; or a signed franchise agreement, which franchisees must always provide.

Documents for a specified limited company (paragraph 9).

• The Company Tax Return CT600 for the last full financial year and proof it was filed with HMRC.
• Evidence of registration at Companies House.
• Audited accounts, or unaudited accounts with an accountant's certificate of confirmation.
• Business bank statements covering the same 12 months as the CT600.
• One of: the VAT registration certificate and return, proof of ownership or lease of business premises, or proof of PAYE employer registration with the PAYE and Accounts Office references.
• For salary: payslips and P60 for the CT600 period, and personal bank statements showing the salary paid in.
• For dividends: dividend vouchers for every dividend in the period, and personal bank statements showing them paid in.
• Evidence that the employment or dividend income is continuing since that period ended.

Category G: Self-Employment or a Specified Limited Company, Two-Year Average

Who it is for. The same people as Category F, where one good year and one weaker year average out above £29,000 but the latest year alone does not, or where the latest year is the weak one.

How it is calculated. The mean of the gross income across the last two full financial years. Every other income source added must fall within those same two years and still be ongoing at the date of application. The documents are the same as Category F, provided for both years.

Moving from fiancé(e) to spouse. If your partner's self-employment or company income was accepted when you entered as a fiancé(e) in the last 12 months, the Home Office may accept the same level and evidence when you apply to stay as a spouse, provided the business is still trading (paragraph 19(c)).

Which Income Categories Can Be Combined

Paragraph 14 of Appendix FM-SE says each pound can only be counted once. The rest of the combining rules are spread across paragraphs 13 and 15 and the caseworker guidance. We have put them in one grid. Read across a row to see whether that category can be added to the category at the top of each column.

Yes means the two can be added together. No means they cannot. Year means the income only counts if it was received in the same financial year or years relied on for Category F or G and is still ongoing at the date of application; it is not assessed under its own category. One basis means you must choose F or G, both partners must use the same financial year or years, and self-assessment years cannot be combined with company accounting years. The A and B cells apply where a couple are both relying on employment income: paragraph 13(k) requires the same method for both.

Two practical points follow. A self-employed sponsor with large savings can still use Category D, but on its own and at the full savings level. And a sponsor who has just changed jobs cannot use savings to rescue Part 2 of Category B, however much is in the bank.

What Can Never Be Counted

Paragraph 21 of Appendix FM-SE lists sources that are excluded, and paragraph 1 adds more. These cannot be used towards £29,000:

• Loans and credit facilities, including money borrowed and presented as savings. The caseworker guidance says an application can be refused for deception if savings turn out to be a loan.
• Means-tested and certain other benefits: Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax support, income-based and contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance, contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Child Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit.
• Promises of support from anyone else, including parents. The only third-party money accepted under the normal rules is maintenance from a former partner, the income of a dependent child aged 18 or over still counted in the application, a maintenance grant or stipend, and a gift of cash that has sat in your or your partner's account for 6 months.
• Income of other people in your household, such as parents or siblings you live with.
• Equity in property, and profit on the sale of an asset as income. Sale proceeds can count as cash savings instead.
• Future pay: expected overtime, commission or bonuses, and any job offer other than a returning partner's. The one exception is "on-target" earnings written into a returning partner's UK contract.
• Earnings from illegal working, or from hours beyond your visa conditions.
• Cash-in-hand pay that is not taxed and banked. Cash income counts only if the correct tax was paid (paragraph 1(m)). You can count the gross figure only if your bank statements show the full net pay going in. If you bank only part of it, only the amount banked counts (paragraph 1(n)).

There is one narrow exception. Under paragraph GEN.3.1 of Appendix FM, if you cannot meet the requirement from the normal sources and refusal could have unjustifiably harsh consequences for you, your partner or a child, the decision-maker must consider other sources listed in paragraph 21A of Appendix FM-SE. Those are a credible guarantee of support from a third party, credible prospective earnings, or any other credible and reliable source, such as savings below £16,000 or held for less than 6 months. The caseworker weighs whether the evidence is signed, dated and independently verified, and how likely the support is to last. The threshold is high, and a grant on this basis puts you on the 10-year route to settlement rather than the 5-year one. Our FLR(M) against FLR(FP) comparison and 10-year route service cover that path.

The Benefit Exemption and the Adequate Maintenance Test

You do not need to meet £29,000 if your partner is receiving one of the 14 benefits listed in E-ECP.3.3 and E-LTRP.3.3. The GOV.UK page on financial requirements for partners lists the same set:

• Disability Living Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.
• Armed Forces Independence Payment or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement or War Disablement Pension under the War Pensions Scheme; and Police Injury Pension.
• Five Scottish benefits: Child Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Carer's Support Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment and Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance.

The caseworker guidance confirms the exemption also applies where your partner receives one of these on behalf of a child. Instead of £29,000, you must show your partner can maintain and accommodate you both, and any dependants, without public funds. In practice the caseworker checks that your net income after tax and National Insurance, minus housing costs, is at least what an equivalent British family would get on Income Support. The evidence is official confirmation of the current award and amount, and at least one bank statement from the last 12 months showing it being paid (paragraph 12). If the benefit stops before your next application, £29,000 applies at that stage.

The Evidence Rules That Refuse Applications with Enough Money

Appendix FM-SE is strict because it is meant to be predictable. The caseworker guidance says decision-makers have no discretion over the level of the requirement, and are not generally expected to go looking for missing evidence. These are the points that fail couples who have the money:

• Bank statements must come from a regulated bank not excluded under Appendix Finance, be in the earner's name or held jointly with their partner, and cover the full period. Printed statements must be on bank stationery. Electronic statements need either a letter from the bank on headed paper confirming they are genuine, or the bank's stamp on every page. A building society passbook or a bank letter showing the account number, date, logo and transactions can be used instead.
• Payslips and bank statements must match. The salary on the payslips must be shown arriving in the account for the same months.
• The employer letter must state all four details: employment and gross annual salary, length of employment, the period paid at that salary, and the type of employment.
• The 28-day rule. Where evidence covers a period ending with the date of application, the most recent document must be dated no earlier than 28 days before you apply (paragraph 1(l)). A payslip from six weeks ago fails this.
• Translations must be complete, dated and signed, with the translator's contact details. For applications made in the UK they must also be certified by a qualified translator.
• Foreign currency is converted at the OANDA spot rate for the date of application under Appendix Finance paragraph FIN 1.1, not the rate on the day you were paid. Syrian pounds, Mongolian tugrik and Iranian rials use the Foreign Office consular rate.
• Gross or net. If the gross figure cannot be properly proved, the caseworker counts the net figure instead, even against a gross target (paragraph 1(k)).

Paragraph D: What the Caseworker Can Fix, and What It Cannot

Paragraph D of Appendix FM-SE gives the caseworker some flexibility over evidence. It is a discretion, not a right, and it only reaches documents.

If you know a document is imperfect, say so in your cover letter and ask the caseworker to apply paragraph D. The guidance notes that a refusal letter should explain why flexibility was not used where you asked for it. If an application is refused, the right challenge depends on the decision, and our administrative review and immigration appeals teams can advise.

The £18,600 Transitional Group and the Child Element

A lower threshold survives for one group only: people who first applied as a partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner before 11 April 2024, were granted on the five-year route, still hold that permission, and are extending with the same partner. They must show £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each further child, capped at £29,000 (E-LTRP.3.7 and 3.8). There is no child element at all for anyone new to the route since 11 April 2024; we explain who qualifies in full in our £29,000 post.

Everything Is Judged on the Date of Application

Every period in Appendix FM-SE counts back from the date of application. For an online application made in the UK with no fee waiver request, that is the day you submit the form (paragraph 34G of the Immigration Rules). Four consequences follow:

• A pay rise only helps Category A once you have been paid at the new level for 6 full months before that date.
• Savings must be at or above the level relied on for every day of the 6 months, not just on the day you apply.
• The "last full financial year" for Categories F and G is the one most recently ended at that date.
• Foreign earnings and savings are converted at that day's exchange rate.

If your permission is about to run out while you gather evidence, read fee waiver and section 3C leave before you delay an application.

Worked Examples

Five common situations, each worked through against the Rules above.

How Can WorkPermitCloud Help?

The financial requirement is where most partner applications are won or lost, and the decision usually comes down to choosing the right category and matching every document to its paragraph. Our spouse visa team works out which category gives you the strongest case, checks each payslip, letter and statement against Appendix FM-SE before you submit, and flags anything that will fall foul of the 28-day or 6-month rules while there is still time to fix it.

For self-employed sponsors, directors of family companies and couples returning from abroad, we plan the timing of the application around tax returns, accounting years and job start dates. We also advise on the wider partner and family visa routes where the partner route is not the right fit.

Conclusion

Proving £29,000 is less about how much you earn than about how your money is organised and evidenced. Start by settling where you are applying from, because that decides whose income counts. Then find your category: A for steady employment, B for a recent move or variable pay, C to E for other income, savings and pensions, and F or G for the self-employed and family company directors.

Check the combination grid before you add anything together, and treat the document rules as seriously as the threshold itself. A couple with enough money and the wrong paperwork will be refused. A couple with the right category and a complete, correctly dated bundle gives the caseworker nothing to query. The Commons Library briefing on the minimum income requirement for partner visas gives useful background on how the rule developed.

Glossary