BritanniAmerica

This was created off of a template created by someone else. I did some tweaking and adjusting of the formulas when I did our budget sheet and thought it might be helpful for anyone who needs to include a budget in their application.

You can download it here: http://www.us2uk.net/files/samplebudgetsheet.xls

And I'll run down the basics -


This is for a monthly budget.

"Gross Income After Tax (sponsor's wages)" is pretty self-explanatory and you should have your sponsor's p60 and payslips to corroborate the amount. If your sponsor's wages can be variable from month-to-month, I would take the total on the p60 and divide by 12.

"Other Income After Taxes" - if your sponsor has any additional income or if you have any income you will be contributing (like if you already have a job offer, or plan on pulling £x out of your savings each month). I would edit the line to specify where that money comes from, or delete the line if it isn't applicable.

"Monthly expenses" are self-explanatory. Again, delete off lines you don't need and add (right click on the row below where you want the new row and click "add". The formula will automatically adjust itself) any additional line you need. These are your Utilities/important expenses ONLY. Tim has mortgage insurance which will pay off the mortgage in the event of his death before it is paid off, so I added that line, but most people can delete it off I immagine.

The number at the "Total income minus subtotal 1" should be greater than or at least £100.95/wk for a couple (please note, this figure is as of 12/2009 and if you have children the amount is higher)

The second half is optional and you can omit it if you'd like.

Again, all the lines are self explanatory. If you put something in "other expenses", just make sure you specify what it is, such as union dues, a charity contribution, money that gets transferred into a savings account each month, etc.

I did not include any of our savings in our budget because we met the requirements on salary alone, but we did mention savings on the application and included the most recent bank statement for any.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much, I need to be looking at all the stuff you sent me plus any other info in detail!

I'm wondering if anyone knows the answer to this here, otherwise I'm going to have to post on UK-Y...

When I first go back to the UK on the spousal visa, Scott and I will be living at his mum's place initially while we look for a flat of our own to rent and I start working. Is this going to be an issue when it comes to visa approval?

Also, what do we put on our budget - the amounts we'll be paying in "board contributions" to Scott's mum while we're with her (which will probably only be £200 pcm, maybe £250 at a push) as that's where we'll be living initially, or do we draw up a budget based the maximum price that we'd pay to rent somewhere? I'm a bit confused as to what to do, but the latter seems wrong, particularly as we won't be 100% sure as to how much the rent, bills, etc for a property will be until we've picked one.

Ugh, why can't anything just be straightforward for us? *sigh*

It shouldn't be a problem to stay with his mum--as long as she can provide the necessary paperwork (i.e. mortgage paperwork if she owns it, landlord/council's permission for you to stay there if applicable, and that there's sufficient room). As for how much to put on the budget, I wouldn't really sweat it since in reality, you don't even need to draw up a budget for the visa to be approved anyway. I'm pretty sure you're safe with putting down the £200-250 since they really can't expect you to predict expenses for a place you've not even seen yet--again, I'm not an immigration expert, it's all just speculation on my part, but I think that would be fine

That's made me feel so much better, thanks so much.

She owns her place (well, she has a mortgage), so it won't be a problem to get her mortgage paperwork, etc.

Since she's the owner, also have her write a letter that states she is permitting the two of you to live there, what your room(s) will be (dimensions), and how much you will be charged.

If you're putting in a budget, only budget what she is going to charge for rent, as all they care about is knowing you and Scott can support yourselves based on your current expenses.

So you're not aware of any problems people have run into when applying if they're going to be living with the in-laws? Great news, I've been stressing about it so much lately.

We'll definitely include those things Becca, cheers! Is your immigration lawyer friend still floating around the boards?

People do live with in-laws. I can honestly say that I personally haven't seen any problems with living with your in-laws when your in-laws own thier home. It's renting and having a council house where things get iffy.

She should be...I'll try to poke her on FB.

Thanks, my dear!