The £88,500 savings route for a UK spouse visa

If the sponsor's income falls short of £29,000, cash savings can rescue the application. Savings of £88,500 meet the requirement on their own, and smaller amounts bridge a gap. The rules on what counts as savings, and how they are proved, are strict.

Where £88,500 comes from

The rules require savings of £16,000 plus two and a half times the income shortfall. With no qualifying income at all the shortfall is the full £29,000, so you need £16,000 plus £72,500, which is £88,500.

The same formula covers a partial shortfall. A sponsor earning £24,000 is £5,000 short, so the savings needed are £16,000 plus £12,500, which is £28,500 alongside the income. Transitional applicants on the £18,600 rule use the same formula with their own threshold: £62,500 with no income.

At settlement (indefinite leave to remain) the multiplier goes: you need £16,000 plus the shortfall itself, so £45,000 covers settlement with no income under the £29,000 rule.

The six-month rule

The money must have been held at or above the required level for six months before the application, in a cash or savings account (not investments, property or crypto), in the name of the applicant, the sponsor or both. Money moved between your own accounts is fine; money received from a third party in the six months needs its source explained, and a gift must be yours to keep.

Recent sales of property or investments are the exception: proceeds held for less than six months count if the asset was owned for at least six months and the sale is documented.

What can be combined

Savings combine with salaried employment, pension income and non-employment income such as rent and dividends. They cannot be combined with self-employment or specified limited company income (Categories F and G): a self-employed sponsor relies on income alone, or on savings alone.

The evidence

• Bank or building society statements covering the full six months, showing the balance never dropping below the required figure.
• A letter from the bank confirming the account, the balance and the period, if statements are not on official paper.
• For a recent gift or sale, the documents behind it.
• Statements in both names if the savings are joint.

This is not a complete list. What you need depends on your circumstances, and the documents vary from case to case. Your solicitor will tell you exactly what applies to you.

Common mistakes

A balance that dipped below the figure for a day; savings in a fixed-term account the applicant cannot access; money in a parent's name; statements that stop a month short of the application date; a large unexplained deposit in month five. Each one is a refusal, and each is avoidable with a check before submission.