If Mr X is on a salaried income (a consistent pay based on an annual salary at regular intervals), they cannot use Category A as their pay before November 2017 does not meet the financial requirement. Unsalaried employment is when someone is paid according to actual hours worked, e.g., hourly.

Category A does not provide for variable income, as the lowest payslip in 6 months is taken as the salary.

Category B would require him to have earned at least £18,600 in the past twelve months but if this is the case at the time you apply, it is possible to do

 

Thanks,

Is it then easier to apply for

Option 1: CAT A + CAT D Cash savings. Last 6 lowest wage slip plus cash held past 6 months together meet requirement. Salary 18,000 + 19000 cash savings. Source of income is a cash gift and savings from salary over the tears, the source of income is declared as cash gift. The gifter letter states their source of income and also bank statements show trail illustrated transfer of cash gift between gifter and receiver.

or Is it easier to apply

Option 2: ONLY CAT B and show no savings. Thus, 12 x payslips and 12 x bank statement covering 28 January 2017 to 28 December 2017 from same employer. Employer letter mentions wage rise in September 2017 which was paid and backdated in November 2017 (nov payslip shows backdate payment)? Gross of past 12 months is £19,600.

 

Both options are viable and I wouldn't say one is better than the other

 

He is leaning more towards CAT B now as he thinks ECO may think perhaps cash savings were added just for the purpose of meeting requirement even though held in account over 1 year now.

Would including the cash savings with CAT B confuse the ECO?, his idea is ECO can then clearly see he would have met CAT A and CAT B either way.

 

He is leaning more towards CAT B now as he thinks ECO may think perhaps cash savings were added just for the purpose of meeting requirement

Why is that a concern? All they care is that you have the money required for at least 6 months and that it's from a legitimate source - It doesn't make sense that anyone would be suspicious that you're managing your own finances for the sake of meeting the financial requirement so that you can live with your spouse. It's a legitimate use of your own money.

There's no reason to include cash savings with Cat B if you meet the requirements for Cat B as stated. It would only confuse the application.

By the time they get to yours, the ECO will have decided probably thousands of applications - They know exactly what to look for. Both Cat A + Savings and Cat B (alone) are legitimate ways of meeting the financial requirement and both are very common. Simply put, you either meet the requirement or not, and if you are clear about the route you are using then you don't need to add extraneous documentation to persuade the ECO that you could have met the requirement through other means. They don't care and it just adds more for them to sift through.

 

That's true you either meet the requirement or not. I suppose it all depends on the ECO if he wants to see is as plain and simple as that, or try dig in deeper and delay / refuse form even though its all genuine