Reviewed 15 October 2026. The usual minimum income requirement for a new partner application is £29,000 a year. Transitional cases and sponsors receiving certain listed benefits need a different assessment; the income source and specified evidence matter as much as the headline figure.

The common mistake is to ask only, “Do we earn enough?” A better question has three parts: which financial test applies, what sources can be counted, and how those sources must be evidenced on the application date. A salary total taken from memory cannot answer all three. This guide helps you build the decision record before choosing a submission date.

Identify the applicable test

Use the official financial page to establish the starting point. Some applicants whose first relevant application was before 11 April 2024 and who continue with the same partner benefit from transitional provisions. Do not assume that the wedding date establishes protection. Record the earlier application date, decision and route, then check the actual conditions.

Certain disability and carer’s benefits lead to an adequate-maintenance assessment rather than the usual minimum income test. That is not a statement that no financial evidence is needed. Identify the exact benefit and current award, then use the applicable guidance. General family income, household affordability and the immigration calculation are related but different exercises.

Classify every source before adding it

List employment, self-employment, pension, permitted non-employment income and cash savings separately. A person’s turnover is not necessarily the income figure used for self-employment. A new job offer does not automatically replace the necessary history. The overseas applicant’s future UK earnings are not a general solution to an entry-clearance shortfall. Check permitted sources, combinations and periods against the guidance rather than creating a household total that the rules do not recognise.

Make the calculation reproducible

For each source, preserve the period, gross or net figure used, supporting document and calculation method. Someone reviewing the file should be able to rebuild the result from the documents. If the total changes because one payslip is irregular, do not hide the irregularity inside an average. Record the category question that needs resolving. A transparent calculation exposes the issue while there is still time to investigate it.

Question Record Avoid
Which test applies? Threshold or adequate-maintenance basis Assuming every household uses £29,000
Whose income can count? Person, location and lawful work status Adding prospective earnings without a rule
Which period applies? Start and end dates by category Choosing the most flattering months
What proves it? Specified document inventory Replacing required evidence with a summary

Use an evidence-first calculation review

Create a calculation sheet with one row for each source and a separate row for the rule determining how that source is treated. Record the owner, relevant period, figure used and supporting file reference. The source total should be reproducible from the evidence. If the figure changes when you inspect the documents, revise the plan before revising the explanation. A cover letter cannot transform an impermissible source into a permitted one.

Run a sensitivity check on real changes that could happen before application: a job change, variable hours, parental leave, a business year ending or savings being spent on fees. This is not an instruction to postpone automatically; it is a way to identify which category or period might need reassessing. Write the event and the question it creates. “Employer changes in November—check category and history” is a useful task. “Income probably fine” is not.

Finally, appoint one person to reconcile the figures and another to check the documents against the chosen category. The two passes have different purposes. The first checks arithmetic; the second checks whether the arithmetic is using the correct inputs and rule. If either remains unresolved, the decision record should say so clearly. Keep the verified threshold and guidance date at the top so that a future reader does not reuse the sheet after the rules or household facts change.

A practical example

A couple has a current salary above the usual threshold but changed employers recently. Their worksheet flags employment history, not just the present annual salary. They read the relevant category before deciding whether the chosen date works. Another couple receives a listed benefit: they set aside the standard threshold worksheet and assemble the maintenance assessment instead. Neither household gets a useful answer from a generic “salary above/below £29,000” tick box.

Put the plan into practice

Use the accompanying resource to turn the explanation into a file you can actually review. Work through these actions in order; where a point is uncertain, record the uncertainty rather than changing the facts to fit a preferred answer.

  1. Record the first relevant application date and any transitional basis before choosing a threshold.
  2. Name each intended source and check whether that source and combination are permitted.
  3. Draw the evidence period on a calendar and reconcile the documents to it.
  4. Leave a visible unresolved line where category, currency or income treatment needs professional review.

Questions to resolve before you act

Does the evidence establish the same figure you used in your calculation? Are any documents outside the required date window? Is an applicant’s income being counted because it is legally permitted or simply because it exists? A clear answer to those questions is more useful than a large folder.

Open the Financial Requirement Decision Sheet. Use it to record your own dates and evidence before spending money or submitting an application.

Official sources

Independent information and practical organisation, not individual legal advice. Where immigration history, exceptions or conflicting documents affect your case, check the current rules and consider a regulated adviser.

A useful next step

Use the Financial Requirement Decision Sheet to turn this guide into a working plan. Continue with Spouse visa payslips and bank statements: build a reconciliation file when you are ready to organise the next part of the file.