The UK Spouse Visa financial requirement can be met from the income of a sponsor who is an employee and/or director of a limited company they or their family own. This income is assessed under Category F or Category G, from the company’s last full financial year or the average of the last two. A minimum income of £29,000 must be demonstrated in accordance with the immigration rules, or the application may be refused. This post provides an overview of company director income under Categories F and G for a UK Spouse or Partner Visa.
This requirement is one part of the wider Spouse Visa route. It sits alongside the English language requirement for UK partner and spouse visas and the other eligibility rules the application has to meet.
Key overviews
- A director or employee of a UK limited company owned by the sponsor or their family is assessed under Category F or Category G, using the company’s accounts.
- The salary and the dividends taken from that company are both counted this way, not under Category A, Category B or Category C.
- Category F uses the last full financial year covered by the Company Tax Return CT600. Category G uses the average of the last two.
- This income can be combined with other income from the same financial year, but not with cash savings.
What are Categories F and G for a company director?
Categories F and G are the income categories for a sponsor whose income comes from a limited company that they or their family own. The spouse visa financial requirement itself is set out at E-ECP.3.1 of Appendix FM of the immigration rules, and is £29,000 a year. The calculation and evidence rules sit in Appendix FM-SE. That is the part of the Immigration Rules setting out how a partner’s income is worked out and proved.
A director or employee of a company usually takes a salary, dividends, or both. A salary is normally assessed as employment income under Category A or Category B, and dividends as non-employment income under Category C. Where the company is owned by the sponsor or their family, that treatment does not apply. The salary and the dividends are assessed together under Category F or Category G, using the company’s accounts. Paragraph 9 of Appendix FM-SE sets the evidence for this income, in place of the rules in paragraphs 2 and 10(b).
Category F uses the company’s most recently ended financial year. Category G uses the mean average of the last two financial years. The sponsor may choose which to rely on based on which category meets the income requirement. The sponsor must still hold the director or employee role at the date of application, under paragraph 19(a) of Appendix FM-SE.
What is a specified limited company under paragraph 9(a)?
A specified limited company is a UK-registered company owned by one person or by a family. The test is at paragraph 9(a) of Appendix FM-SE. A company falls within it where all of the following apply:
- the person is either a director or employee of the company, or both, or of another company within the same group;
- shares in the company are held, directly or indirectly, by the person, their partner, or a parent, grandparent, child, stepchild, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or first cousin of the person or their partner; and
- any remaining shares are held, directly or indirectly, by fewer than five other people.
Paragraph 9 applies where a company meets all three limbs, and the salary and dividends are then assessed under Category F or Category G. Where the company does not meet all three, the salary stays in Category A or Category B and the dividends in Category C. A listed company, or one with several unrelated shareholders, does not fall within paragraph 9(a).
Someone who holds a senior role but is not a formal director is treated as a director for paragraph 9. A company secretary is the usual example. This follows the Home Office guidance on the family financial requirement, and every other limb of the paragraph 9(a) test still applies.
Which income counts under Category F or Category G for a director?
Both the salary and the dividends the sponsor takes from the company count towards the figure. They are added together and assessed as a single Category F or Category G amount. Paragraph 13(e) of Appendix FM-SE sets out this calculation, and paragraph 13(j) applies the self-employment rules to company income of this type.
Category F takes that combined income for the last full financial year covered by the Company Tax Return. Category G instead takes the mean average of the last two full financial years. The two-year average helps where the most recent year was lower than the year before.
For example, a sponsor is the director of a family consultancy company. In the last full financial year the sponsor took a salary of £12,000 and dividends of £24,000. The Category F figure is £36,000, which meets the requirement. Under Category G it would be the average of that year and the year before.
Company income of this type can only be counted where the role is ongoing at the date of application, under paragraph 19 of Appendix FM-SE. Income from a company the sponsor has left cannot be used.
What is the company’s financial year for Category F or G?
The financial year for a company director is the company’s 12-month accounting year. It is the year covered by the Company Tax Return, the CT600. Paragraph 19(e) of Appendix FM-SE fixes the relevant year as the last full financial year the CT600 covers.
The evidence must cover the financial year most recently ended. Where the CT600 for that year has not yet been filed with HMRC, the sponsor must file it before the application is made. This can mean filing earlier than the company’s normal filing deadline.
A sponsor who is both a company director and self-employed as a sole trader cannot combine the two. Paragraph 13(e) states that a financial year used for self-employment cannot be combined with a financial year to which paragraph 9 applies. The Self Assessment year and the company’s CT600 year are treated as separate.
What if the sponsor’s company is registered overseas?
Paragraph 9(a) applies only to companies registered in the UK. Where the sponsor is a director of a company registered in another country, paragraph 9 does not apply. The salary is assessed as employment income under Category A or Category B. Any dividends are assessed as non-employment income under Category C, on the evidence those categories require.
Where the sponsor’s employment is outside the UK, paragraph 3 of Appendix FM-SE applies. It requires a reasonable equivalent of the UK employment evidence, adapted to the country the sponsor works in. That means the local equivalent of payslips, a letter from the company, and personal bank statements showing the salary paid in. The dividends are evidenced under the Category C rules, with proof of the sponsor’s shareholding, dividend vouchers and personal bank statements.
Company director income where an overseas sponsor is returning to the UK
A sponsor abroad who runs a UK-registered family company uses the company’s accounts for the last full financial year. This is the same basis as for a sponsor already in the UK. The company income is assessed under Category F or Category G in the ordinary way. The sponsor must show the director or employee role is ongoing at the date of application.
A sponsor whose company is registered overseas uses the returning-sponsor rules for employment and self-employment income instead. The returning sponsors income guide covers the wider position, including the confirmed UK job offer route.
Can Category F or Category G income be combined with other sources?
Category F or Category G income can be combined with salaried and non-salaried employment income, with non-employment income, and with pension income. This is set out at paragraph 13(e) of Appendix FM-SE. All of the income relied on must fall within the same financial year as the company income. It must also still be a source of income at the date of application.
Category F or Category G income cannot be combined with cash savings. Paragraph 13(f) of Appendix FM-SE prevents it. A sponsor with enough cash savings can meet the requirement through savings alone, under Category D, as a separate route.
Both partners must rely on income from the same financial year or years, where their incomes fall in different years.
What specified evidence is required for a company director?
Appendix FM-SE sets a fixed evidence list for a director or employee of a specified limited company, at paragraph 9(b) to 9(e). It applies in place of the salaried-employment evidence in paragraph 2 and the dividend evidence in paragraph 10(b). All of the items that apply must be provided.
The core company documents, under paragraph 9(b), are:
- the Company Tax Return, the CT600, for the last full financial year, with evidence that it has been filed with HMRC, such as an electronic or written acknowledgment;
- evidence of the company’s registration with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House;
- the company’s accounts for the last full financial year, audited where the company must produce audited accounts, or unaudited accounts with an accountant’s certificate of confirmation where it does not; and
- corporate or business bank statements covering the same 12-month period as the CT600.
One further document is required, from this list:
- a certificate of VAT registration and the VAT return for the last full financial year, where the company’s turnover was above the VAT registration threshold;
- proof of ownership or lease of the business premises; or
- proof of registration with HMRC as an employer for PAYE and National Insurance, with the PAYE reference number and Accounts Office reference number.
Where the sponsor takes a salary, paragraph 9(c) applies. It requires payslips and a P60, if one was issued, for the same period as the CT600. Personal bank statements for that period must show the salary paid in.
Where the sponsor takes dividends, paragraph 9(d) applies. It requires a dividend voucher for every dividend declared in the sponsor’s favour during or for the CT600 period. Each voucher must show the company’s and the sponsor’s details and the net dividend. Personal bank statements must show the dividends paid in.
Paragraph 9(e) requires evidence that the income continues after the latest CT600 period. This can be payslips or dividend vouchers with personal bank statements for the period since. It can instead be evidence of ongoing business rates, business insurance or employer National Insurance for the company.
Any document covering a period that ends on the date of application must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the application is made.
Frequently asked questions
When does a director’s income go under Category F or Category G instead of a salary?
Where the company is a UK limited company owned by the sponsor or their family, under the paragraph 9(a) test. The salary and dividends are then assessed together using the company’s accounts, not as employment income or dividend income.
What if the sponsor is both self-employed and a company director?
The two cannot be combined. Paragraph 13(e) of Appendix FM-SE keeps a Self Assessment year and a company CT600 year separate. The application relies on one or the other, not both.
Does a company secretary count as a director?
Yes. Someone in a senior role who is not a formal director, such as a company secretary, is treated as a director. This applies for the paragraph 9(a) test.
Does the Company Tax Return have to be filed before applying?
Yes. The CT600 for the last full financial year must be filed with HMRC before the application is made. That can be earlier than the company’s normal filing deadline.
Can a company director use cash savings as well?
Not in combination with Category F or Category G. A director with enough cash savings can meet the requirement through savings alone under Category D.
What if the sponsor runs a company registered overseas?
Paragraph 9 does not apply. The salary is assessed as employment income under Category A or Category B, and the dividends as non-employment income under Category C.
How Whytecroft Ford can help
Whytecroft Ford’s IAA-regulated immigration team prepares partner visa applications for company directors. That includes sole directors, family companies with more than one shareholder, and directors combining company income with a salary from elsewhere. The team is experienced, approachable and used to assembling the company and tax evidence Appendix FM-SE requires.
To discuss a spouse visa financial requirement with our team, call 0208 757 5751 or use the contact form.
Disclaimer: The material in this article is provided for guidance and general information only and is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice upon which you should rely. In particular, the information should not be used as a substitute for a full and proper consultation with a suitably qualified professional. UK Immigration Rules are subject to change. Please do contact the Whytecroft Ford team if you require further advice.
