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Using savings for a spouse visa: the £16,000 rule

Under Appendix FM, cash savings can replace some or all of the £29,000 income requirement, but not pound for pound. The Rules ask for £16,000 plus 2.5 times the gap between your income and £29,000, held in cash for the 6 months before you apply.

People searching "spouse visa savings" usually want one number. The Rules do not give one. They give a formula, and the total depends on how much qualifying income the couple already has. The £16,000 figure that GOV.UK mentions is only the starting point.

This guide sets out the formula from Appendix FM, worked through with round numbers, then the evidence rules in Appendix FM-SE that decide whether money counts as "specified savings": what form it must take, how long it must have been held, whose name it must be in and what happens to money that has just arrived from a sale or a gift. It covers the first application (from outside or inside the UK) and the extension rules that use the same formula. Everything below was read on 9 October 2026. It explains how the rules work and does not say whether a particular couple meets them.

What GOV.UK says, and what the Rules add

GOV.UK's family visa page lists what can count as income for a partner application. One entry reads "cash savings above £16,000". The financial requirements page adds that you "may be able to use your savings instead of income to show you meet the requirement".

That wording invites a simple reading: with £29,000 in the bank you are done. The Rules are more precise. Paragraph E-ECP.3.1 of Appendix FM (entry clearance as a partner) lets the applicant meet the financial requirement in any of three ways:

(a) a specified gross annual income of at least £29,000; (b) specified savings of £16,000, plus "additional savings of an amount equivalent to 2.5 times the amount which is the difference between the gross annual income from the sources listed in paragraph E-ECP.3.2.(a)-(d) and the total amount required under paragraph E-ECP.3.1.(a)"; or (c) the disability or carer's benefit route in E-ECP.3.3, where the partner receives one of the listed benefits and the applicant shows the partner can maintain and accommodate the family without recourse to public funds.

So limb (b) is a combination. First, the £16,000 is a fixed floor. Second, every pound of income missing from £29,000 has to be made up by £2.50 of savings. The same wording appears for applications made from inside the UK in E-LTRP.3.1(b).

The arithmetic, step by step

Take the formula as written: savings needed = £16,000 + 2.5 × (£29,000 − qualifying income).

Four round-number illustrations, none of them a view on any real case:

  • Qualifying income £28,000. The gap is £1,000. 2.5 × £1,000 = £2,500. Savings needed: £16,000 + £2,500 = £18,500.
  • Qualifying income £25,000. The gap is £4,000. 2.5 × £4,000 = £10,000. Savings needed: £26,000.
  • Qualifying income £20,000. The gap is £9,000. 2.5 × £9,000 = £22,500. Savings needed: £38,500.
  • No qualifying income at all. The gap is the whole £29,000. 2.5 × £29,000 = £72,500. Savings needed: £88,500.

Two points follow from the text. The "2.5 times" is applied to an annual shortfall, not to the length of the visa. And income that does not meet the evidence rules is not "qualifying income", so it does not reduce the gap. If a couple's payslips are accepted but a side income is not, the shortfall is calculated as if the side income did not exist.

For a first entry clearance application, the income sources that reduce the gap are the ones in E-ECP.3.2(a) to (d): the partner's specified employment or self-employment income (including, for a partner returning to the UK with the applicant, specified work overseas and in the UK), specified pension income of the applicant and partner, any specified maternity allowance, bereavement benefit or HM Forces payment, and other specified income of the applicant and partner. Savings themselves sit in E-ECP.3.2(e), "specified savings of the applicant and partner", and may be held by either of them or both jointly.

What counts as savings

Appendix FM-SE paragraph 1 sets the general rules that apply to every financial source. For savings the key ones are these.

  • Cash. Paragraph 1(e): "Savings must be held in cash." Paragraph 11A(a) explains the practical meaning. The money may sit in "any form of bank/savings account (whether a current, deposit or investment account...)" with a financial institution regulated in the country where it operates, provided the account "allows the savings to be accessed immediately (with or without a penalty for withdrawing funds without notice)". It can include a pension savings account that can be withdrawn immediately.
  • Lawfully derived. Paragraph 1(d): "All income and savings must be lawfully derived."
  • In the right names. Paragraph 1(a)(iii) and paragraph 11(a): personal bank statements must be in the name of the applicant, the partner or both jointly. A parent's or friend's account does not qualify.
  • Foreign currency is converted. Paragraph 1(f): amounts held in another currency are converted to pounds using the exchange rate specified in FIN 1.1, FIN 1.2 or FIN 1.3 of Appendix Finance. Where there are several currencies, each is converted before they are added together (paragraph 1(g)).
  • Source declared. Paragraph 11(b) requires "a declaration by the account holder(s) of the source(s) of the cash savings".

Competition winnings and legacies that have actually been paid out can contribute (paragraph 11A(b)). Shares, bonds, a business or a property do not count as savings while they are held in that form. The Rules turn that into a timing question, covered below.

How long the money must have been there

The 6-month rule is the one that catches people who gather the money close to the application date. Paragraph 11(a) requires personal bank statements "showing that at least the level of cash savings relied upon in the application has been held in an account(s) in the name of the person or of the person and their partner jointly throughout the period of 6 months prior to the date of application."

Three practical consequences follow from that wording:

  1. It is the level relied upon that must be held throughout, not the opening balance. If the formula produces £26,000, statements must show at least £26,000 on every day of the six months. A balance that dips below the figure for a week is a gap in the evidence.
  2. The period is counted back from the date of application, so the date on which the application is submitted matters. Paragraph 1(l) adds that where evidence must cover a period ending with the date of application, the most recent document "must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the date of application".
  3. Statements must meet the format rules in paragraph 1(a): from an acceptable financial institution, in the right names, covering the specified period, and either on official bank stationery or electronic statements accompanied by a bank letter confirming they are authentic or bearing the bank's official stamp on every page.

Documents not in English or Welsh need the original plus a full translation that meets paragraph 1(j). GOV.UK's information page also says a certified translation is needed for any document that is not in English or Welsh.

Money that has just moved: sales, investments and gifts

The Rules have specific provisions for money that was not cash six months ago.

Investments turned into cash. Paragraph 11A(c) allows funds that come from investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds and were transferred into cash within the six months, if the applicant, partner or both owned and controlled them for at least the full six months, and a portfolio report or other documentation from a regulated financial institution shows ownership, the cash value at the start of the period and the transfer. The six-month cash-holding period is then reduced by the time the funds were held in investment form.

Sale of a home, building or land. Paragraph 11A(d) allows the net proceeds of a sale completed within the six months, if the property (or the relevant share) was owned at the start of the period and at the sale by the applicant, the partner or both. Only the share they owned counts, and only after any mortgage or loan has been repaid and taxes and professional fees paid. Paragraph 11A(d)(iv) lists the sort of documents that can show this: Land Registry entries or an overseas equivalent, a solicitor's letter, a lender's letter and proof that taxes and fees were paid. Paragraph 1(i) adds that profit from selling a business, investment, bond, shares or other asset is not accepted as income, but "the associated funds will be accepted as cash savings" subject to the savings rules.

Gifts. Paragraph 1(b) says promises of third party support "will not be accepted", with a short list of existing sources that are. One is a "gift of cash savings (whose source must be declared)". The cash must have been "held by the person or persons" whose names the statements are in, meaning the applicant, partner or both, "for at least 6 months prior to the date of application" and must be under their control. A relative who transfers money into the couple's account the week before applying has not created six months of holding.

Third-party support in other forms. A guarantee from a relative or an offer of future work is not part of the ordinary savings route. Paragraph 21A of FM-SE sets out when such sources are considered, which is only in the exceptional-circumstances route described below.

Extensions and the older, lower threshold

The same formula governs later applications. E-LTRP.3.1 is the version for people applying inside the UK for leave to remain whose first application on the partner route was made on or after 11 April 2024, and it uses the same £29,000 and £16,000 + 2.5× pattern.

A different paragraph applies to people who first applied as a fiancé(e), proposed civil partner or partner before 11 April 2024 and were granted five-year-route permission, if they are applying to stay with the same partner. E-LTRP.3.7 sets the income level at £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first dependent child and £2,400 for each additional child, "alone or in combination with" the same savings formula: £16,000 plus 2.5 times the gap between income and the £18,600-plus level. E-LTRP.3.8 caps the total at £29,000 where children would push it higher. For example, with £15,000 of qualifying income and no children the gap is £3,600, so the savings figure is £16,000 + £9,000 = £25,000.

GOV.UK says that partners usually need to prove combined income of at least £29,000 a year, and that different financial requirements apply if "you first applied as a partner before 11 April 2024 and you're extending that visa", which it says includes people who first applied as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner. Someone whose savings were used up during the first period of leave has to meet the requirement again at the extension from whatever they then hold.

For extensions made inside the UK, the income that reduces the gap is wider: E-LTRP.3.2 also counts the applicant's own lawful UK employment or self-employment income and a dependent adult child's income, and the savings of the applicant, partner and a dependent adult child.

Where savings cannot be added to income

Savings cannot be added to every income calculation. Two paragraphs of FM-SE close the door in specific situations:

  • Paragraph 13(f): where a person is self-employed, "they cannot combine their gross annual income at paragraph 13(e) with specified savings in order to meet the level of income required under Appendix FM."
  • Paragraph 15(b)(iv), which applies where employment income is calculated under paragraphs 13(b) or 13(d), the methods used for a job held for under six months and for some partners returning to a UK job: the person "cannot combine the gross annual income at paragraph 15(b)(i)-(iii) with specified savings in order to meet the level of income required."

These are narrow provisions that interact with the formula in E-ECP.3.1(b), and the self-employed and short-tenure cases are covered in our guide to spouse visas with self-employed income. The point for this guide is that "add my savings on top" is not a universal rule, and the paragraph that calculates the income decides it.

Savings are also not the only fallback. Paragraph GEN.3.1 of Appendix FM applies where the financial requirement is not met from the specified sources and "there are exceptional circumstances which could render refusal ... a breach of Article 8 ... because such refusal could result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner or a relevant child". The decision-maker then considers the wider sources in FM-SE paragraph 21A(2): a credible guarantee of third-party support, credible prospective earnings, or any other credible and reliable source of income or funds. A grant on that basis is made under D-ECP.1.2, which leads to settlement after 120 months, not 60. GOV.UK says the same: if you do not meet the financial requirements "the earliest you'll be able to apply to settle is after 10 years in the UK".

Worked examples (illustrative)

These show how the text applies; they are not predictions.

Example 1. A couple applying from outside the UK. The sponsor earns £27,000 a year in a salaried job that meets the evidence rules. The gap is £2,000, so the formula gives £16,000 + £5,000 = £21,000 in cash savings. The couple have £23,500 in a joint account, but £4,000 of it was transferred in from the sponsor's mother three months before the application. Under paragraph 1(b)(iii) a gift counts only if held in their account for six months, so the amount held for the full period is £19,500, below the £21,000 figure. The gap between what they hold and what the formula asks for is the question to examine, not the headline balance.

Example 2. A sponsor sold a flat in March and deposited the net proceeds of £80,000 in a savings account that allows immediate withdrawal. The couple apply in June. Paragraph 11A(d)(v) reduces the six-month cash-holding period by the time between the start of that period and the deposit, provided the ownership and sale documents in 11A(d)(iv) are supplied. The proceeds are net of the mortgage, tax and fees.

Example 3. A sponsor has no qualifying income for the period because they are returning from abroad with no UK job. The formula gives £88,500. Whether other parts of the Rules, such as the returning-worker provisions in E-ECP.3.2(a) and FM-SE paragraph 13, apply is a separate question from the savings arithmetic.

Finding a regulated adviser

The savings formula is simple to state and easy to get wrong in the details: the 6-month rule, whose name the account is in, how a gift or sale is documented. If you want someone regulated to check the evidence before you apply, GOV.UK explains how to find an immigration adviser, and only IAA-registered advisers, solicitors and barristers may give immigration advice in England and Wales.

The Migratio directory lists IAA-registered advisers (with their level) and SRA-regulated solicitors, each with their regulator and registration number. Migratio is not regulated by the IAA or the SRA and does not give immigration advice. This page explains how the rules work; it does not tell you what to do in your case.

Questions people ask

How much savings do I need for a spouse visa UK?

There is no single figure. Appendix FM asks for £16,000 plus 2.5 times the difference between your qualifying income and £29,000. With £25,000 of qualifying income that formula gives £26,000. With no qualifying income it gives £88,500.

Can I use savings instead of income for a UK spouse visa?

Yes, E-ECP.3.1(b) and E-LTRP.3.1(b) allow it, but the savings must cover the shortfall at 2.5 times the gap plus £16,000, must be cash, and must have been held for the 6 months before the application. Two FM-SE paragraphs (13(f) and 15(b)(iv)) stop savings being combined with certain income calculations.

How long must savings be in the bank for a spouse visa?

FM-SE paragraph 11(a) requires bank statements showing that at least the level of savings relied on was held in the applicant's, partner's or their joint account throughout the 6 months before the date of application. Statements must also be dated within 28 days of the application.

Can my parents give me money to meet the savings requirement?

A gift of cash savings is one of the few third-party sources the Rules accept, but the money must have been held by the applicant, partner or both for at least 6 months before the application and be under their control, with the source declared. A promise of support does not count.

Do savings in a bank account abroad count for a spouse visa?

The Rules allow accounts with a financial institution regulated in the country where it operates (FM-SE 11A(a)) and convert foreign currency using the exchange rate in Appendix Finance. Check paragraph 1(a)(i) and Appendix Finance for which institutions are acceptable before relying on an overseas account.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-09.

Related guides

  • Spouse visa financial requirement: how the £29,000 minimum income works — For a first partner application, the Immigration Rules require specified gross income of at least £29,000 a year, or cash savings of £16,000 plus 2.5 times any shortfall. A lower £18,600 figure applies only to people who first applied before 11 April 2024 and are extending with the same partner. Loans, benefits such as Universal Credit and property equity do not count.
  • Spouse visa with self-employed income: how the financial requirement is calculated and evidenced — Self-employed income is measured over the last full financial year, or the average of the last two, using tax returns and accounts, not recent bank balances. A self-employed person cannot top up a shortfall with savings, and company directors who own most of a small company follow a separate set of tests. Evidence rules are in Appendix FM-SE paragraphs 7, 9, 13 and 19.
  • Spouse visa documents: what UKVI asks for, and the rules on how to present them — A UK partner application needs your identity documents, your partner's details, proof of relationship, specified financial evidence (for example 6 months of payslips with bank statements and an employer letter), English evidence, a TB certificate if you are from a listed country, and certified translations. Missing or out-of-date documents are the commonest reason for avoidable refusals.
  • UK spouse visa cost in 2026: the application fee, the health surcharge and what else you pay — A partner or spouse visa costs £2,064 if you apply from outside the UK and £1,407 if you apply from inside it, plus the immigration health surcharge (£3,105 for the first 2 years 9 months from outside the UK, £2,587.50 for an extension). Settlement (ILR) is a separate £3,226. These are the 8 October 2026 fees and are per person.
  • Spouse visa extension after 2.5 years: how the FLR(M) application works — The partner visa is granted in two blocks of about 2.5 years. The extension (GOV.UK's FLR(M) online application) costs £1,407 plus £2,587.50 health surcharge per adult, and you can apply any time before your permission expires. Most people must meet the financial requirement again, show you still live together, and prove English at A2 if A1 was used last time.
  • Spouse visa refused: options and deadlines — A refused UK partner (spouse) application is not on the administrative review list. You can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal only if the decision refused a human rights claim, which your decision letter should say; the deadline is 14 days in the UK or 28 days outside it and the fee is £82 or £144. Otherwise the usual step is a new application at £2,064 (outside the UK) or £1,407 (inside), plus the healthcare surcharge.
  • How to check a UK immigration adviser is registered — In the UK only a "qualified person" may give immigration advice: an IAA-registered adviser, a solicitor, barrister or chartered legal executive, or someone working under their supervision. Ask for the regulator and registration number, then check it yourself on the IAA Adviser Register or the SRA Solicitors Register.
  • IAA adviser levels 1, 2 and 3: what each can do — The IAA registers immigration advisers at three levels. Level 1 covers straightforward applications, Level 2 adds casework such as complex applications and administrative review, and Level 3 adds representation at immigration tribunal appeals. Advisers must not work above their authorised level.