UK Family Visa Minimum Income £29,000, What Counts in 2026?

If you're sponsoring a partner or spouse to come to the UK, the single question that decides your application is: can you show £29,000 of qualifying income? In 2026 the rules around what counts, and what absolutely does not, are tighter than most guides explain. This article walks through every income source, the exact evidence needed and the six mistakes that sink applications every week.

Why £29,000 and not £41,700?

In April 2024 the Family visa minimum income threshold rose from £18,600 to £29,000 under the plan to raise it incrementally to match the Skilled Worker threshold. The increase to £34,500 and then £41,700 was paused in 2024 pending a Migration Advisory Committee review. As of April 2026 the threshold remains £29,000, but expect further rises; watch Home Office announcements if you're close to applying.

The £29,000 applies to:

• Partner/spouse applications (initial entry clearance and extensions)
• Fiancé(e) applications
• Unmarried partner applications after 2 years of cohabitation

It does not apply to:

• Parent of a British child (no income threshold, but adequate maintenance test instead)
• EU Settlement Scheme applications
• Adult Dependent Relative (different, harder test)
• Sponsors receiving certain disability benefits (see below)

The five income categories the Home Office accepts

Under Appendix FM-SE, income must fall into one of five categories:

1. Category A, Employment income from the same employer for 6+ months
2. Category B, Employment income from less than 6 months with a current employer, OR variable earnings
3. Category C, Non-employment income (rental, dividends, interest)
4. Category D, Cash savings of £88,500+ held for 6 months
5. Category E, Pension income
6. Category F/G, Self-employment (sole trader, limited company director)

Most applicants use a combination, typically Category A + Category D.

Category A, the simplest path

Requirement: Gross annual salary of £29,000 from a single UK employer you've been with for 6+ months.

Evidence:

• 6 months of payslips (originals or employer-stamped copies)
• 6 months of corresponding bank statements showing salary deposited
• Employer letter confirming start date, role, salary, contract type, hours
• Signed employment contract

Catches:

• Zero-hours contracts count only under Category B (variable earnings), not A.
• If salary increased within the 6 months, they use the lowest month × 12 as your annual figure.
• Probationary periods count as long as you're past them by the application date.

Category B, under 6 months or variable income

Harder test. You must show both:

1. Your current salary × 12 ≥ £29,000 (as evidenced by most recent payslip), and
2. Total gross income in the 12 months before application ≥ £29,000.

The 12-month look-back is the trap. If you've been unemployed, on reduced hours or between jobs in that year, you'll likely fail.

Category C, non-employment income

Includes:

• UK property rental (after agent fees, but gross of mortgage interest)
• Dividend income from shares (not your own limited company, that's Category F)
• Interest from savings accounts
• Maintenance payments received from ex-partners
• Academic stipends and maternity allowance

Evidence: 12 months of bank statements showing receipts, plus source documents (tenancy agreement, share certificate, SA302).

Category D, cash savings

Requirement: £88,500+ in cash savings held for 6+ months at time of application.

The formula is: £16,000 (Home Office buffer) + (£29,000 × 2.5) = £88,500.

Who holds it? Sponsor, applicant, or jointly. Cannot be held by parents, employers or "about to be transferred."

What counts as savings:

• UK or overseas bank current/savings accounts
• Stocks/shares (valued at lowest price in the 6-month period)
• Investment ISAs, pensions that are accessible without penalty

What does NOT count:

• Locked-in pensions
• Property equity (you'd need to sell first)
• Gifted money received in the last 6 months (gifts reset the 6-month clock)
• Cryptocurrency (explicitly excluded)

Mixing savings with income: You can combine. If you earn £20,000, the shortfall is £9,000. Required savings = £16,000 + (£9,000 × 2.5) = £38,500. Significantly lower than the pure-savings route.

Category F/G, self-employment

Two sub-categories:

• Category F, most recent full financial year's earnings meet threshold
• Category G, average of last two financial years' earnings meet threshold

Required evidence (sole trader):

• SA302s or tax year overviews from HMRC
• Self-assessment tax returns
• Business bank statements
• Proof of registration with HMRC and, if applicable, VAT and National Insurance
• Evidence of ongoing business activity (invoices, contracts)

Required evidence (limited company director, "Category F Director"):

• Full accounts (not abridged) for the financial year
• Corporation tax return (CT600)
• Personal self-assessment
• Company and personal bank statements
• Certificate of Incorporation
• Shareholder register

The limited-company route is the hardest Family visa evidence bundle. Directors also need to show that salary + dividends drawn personally total £29,000, retained profits in the company don't count toward your personal threshold.

The six mistakes that refuse applications every week

1. Mixing payslip months. Six consecutive payslips, not six cherry-picked ones. A gap disqualifies Category A.
2. Salary paid in cash. Doesn't count. Bank deposits are mandatory.
3. Overseas income without evidence of continuation in the UK. If your £40,000 salary is from a US employer and you can't show it will continue in the UK, it doesn't count post-entry.
4. Savings deposited within 6 months. Large lump sums that appeared 5 months ago require a source trail (inheritance, sale of property) and still don't count unless held for the full 6 months.
5. Dividends from your own limited company claimed under Category C. Wrong category. Must go under F/G with full company accounts.
6. Adding together two sources that don't combine. You can mix Category A + D, but you can't mix Category B + F. Read Appendix FM-SE paragraph 9 carefully.

Exemptions, when £29,000 doesn't apply

If the sponsor receives any of the following, the income threshold is replaced by an "adequate maintenance" test (currently around £9,000/year after housing costs):

• Carer's Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance (any rate)
• Personal Independence Payment (any rate)
• Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

If the sponsored applicant is a child and the other parent is already in the UK with status, adequate maintenance applies rather than £29,000.

What to do before you apply

1. Pick your category and stick to it. Don't try to hedge.
2. Pull bank statements early, many banks charge for more than 3 months' history.
3. If self-employed, file your self-assessment before applying, not after. The Home Office needs HMRC-stamped evidence.
4. Get your employer letter dated within 28 days of application submission.
5. If using savings, screenshot your balance the day after the 6-month window opens and again on application day.

See our Family visa guide for the full document list and application walkthrough. If you're unsure whether your income combination qualifies, the Home Office's own Family Life Appendix FM-SE is the definitive text, every refusal reason cites it by paragraph.

Worked examples, combining income sources

Example 1: Salaried + savings shortfall

Maria earns £24,000/year as a nurse and has been with her employer 8 months. She wants to sponsor her husband.

• Shortfall: £29,000 − £24,000 = £5,000
• Required savings: £16,000 + (£5,000 × 2.5) = £28,500 held for 6+ months
• Category A (salary) + Category D (savings), permitted combination

Example 2: Self-employed sponsor

Raj is a sole trader, filed SA302 showing £31,500 net profit for tax year 2024/25. He wants to sponsor his wife.

• Qualifies under Category F, last full financial year ≥ £29,000
• Must submit: SA302 for 2024/25, tax year overview, business bank statements, HMRC self-assessment registration
• If his profit was only £27,000 in 2024/25 but averaged £31,000 over 2023/24 and 2024/25, he could qualify under Category G instead

Example 3: Rental income only

Claire owns a buy-to-let generating £32,000/year gross rent (after agent fees but before mortgage). She sponsors her partner.

• Qualifies under Category C, £32,000 ≥ £29,000
• Must submit: 12 months of bank statements showing rental credits, tenancy agreement, evidence of ownership (Land Registry title or mortgage statement)
• The 12 months must show consistent receipts, not 11 months of data with projections

Overseas sponsors, does it work?

Technically, a sponsor does not need to be in the UK at the time of application. However:

• Their income must be received in the UK (a UK salary, UK rental, or UK pension)
• Or they must have the cash savings meeting the formula
• Overseas employment income from a foreign employer does not count unless the sponsor can show they will return to the UK and the income will continue here

In practice, sponsors who are overseas with no UK income source almost always fail this test. If you're outside the UK earning a foreign salary, plan to secure a UK job or use the savings route.

What the "adequate maintenance" alternative actually means

For sponsors exempt from the £29,000 threshold (disability benefit recipients), the test is whether you can maintain yourselves without recourse to public funds. UKVI calculates this as:

• £189.41/week (2026 Income Support rate for a couple) as the baseline
• Add your actual housing costs (rent or mortgage)
• If your total income after housing costs exceeds the combined figure, you pass

This is far easier to meet than £29,000, the typical figure needed is around £9,000 to £14,000 net, depending on rent.

Frequently asked questions

What happens when you change jobs before applying

Changing jobs in the months before a Family visa application is one of the riskiest moves an applicant can make. Here is what each scenario means for your evidence:

You've been in the new job less than 6 months at application date: You cannot use Category A. You must use Category B, which requires both: (a) current salary annualised to £29,000+, AND (b) total gross earnings in the preceding 12 months totalling £29,000+. If you had a gap between jobs, or if the combined total falls short, you will fail Category B.

You've resigned but haven't started the new role yet: Even one day between jobs creates a break in employment. At the time of application you have no salary to present. Use Category D (savings) to cover the entire threshold, or delay the application until you've been in the new role for 6 months.

You changed from employed to self-employed: Self-employment under Category F requires a full tax year's accounts. If you went self-employed in April 2025, you cannot use Category F until your 2025/26 tax return is filed (typically by January 2027). In the meantime, use category D savings if available.

The practical advice: if a Family visa application is in your plans, do not change jobs within 6 months of your intended application date unless you can meet Category B or cover the gap with savings.

Combining income from two jobs

Under Appendix FM-SE paragraph 12, you can combine income from two jobs, but only within the same income category. Two Category A jobs (both 6+ months with their respective employers) can be combined. The combined annual gross salary must total £29,000+.

Evidence needed for two Category A jobs:

• 6 months of payslips from Job A
• 6 months of bank statements showing Job A salary deposits
• Employer letter from Job A
• 6 months of payslips from Job B
• 6 months of bank statements showing Job B salary deposits
• Employer letter from Job B
• Proof both are current at date of application

What you cannot do: combine a Category A job earning £20,000 with Category C rental income of £10,000 to reach £30,000, different categories cannot be mixed in that way (though Category A + D savings is permitted).

How the Home Office counts pension and self-employed income

Pension income (Category E): If you receive a pension from a UK employer, the State Pension, or a private pension in payment, it counts at face value as declared income. Evidence:

• Pension award letter
• 12 months of bank statements showing pension payments
• Most recent P60 or P160 if applicable

If you have a pension but it is not yet in payment (deferred), it does not count. The pension must be actively paying out.

Self-employed directors, the Category F complexity: Many small business owners structure their income as a combination of salary (£12,570 to minimise NI) and dividends. Both components must total £29,000+ for the threshold to be met.

The Home Office scrutinises director applications heavily because of the scope for manipulation. Their assessors look for:

• Whether the salary and dividends shown in company accounts match personal tax returns
• Whether the company has genuine revenue (not just paper transactions)
• Whether the dividend payment date is consistent (not a one-off drawn specifically to meet the threshold)
• Company cash flow, can the company actually sustain the declared income level

If you're a director drawing a low salary and high dividends, ensure both your SA302 and your CT600 are fully consistent with each other. Inconsistencies between these two documents are a leading trigger for refusal under this category.

Relationship evidence, why financial evidence alone isn't enough

Meeting the income threshold is necessary but not sufficient. The Home Office also needs to be satisfied that the relationship is genuine and subsisting. For the financial application:

What genuine relationship evidence looks like:

• Consistent joint financial history (joint bank account, joint mortgage, joint bills going back years)
• Regular communication during periods of separation (message history, call logs)
• Photos with date stamps showing the couple together over time
• Evidence of mutual knowledge (knowing family members' names, important dates, shared history)
• Visit visa history showing the applicant came to the UK previously

Common evidence gaps:

• Short relationship (married within 6 months of meeting online, no in-person history)
• No overlap in countries of residence
• Very few photos together
• Sponsor has previously had a visa refusal on grounds of a non-genuine relationship

If any of these apply, the strength of your financial evidence becomes especially important, it does not compensate for weak relationship evidence, but it removes one area of doubt from the caseworker's mind.

Using the application timeline to your advantage

The Home Office publishes a 12-week service standard for Family visas from overseas, but in practice, applications from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ghana regularly take 14 to 22 weeks. From India, South Africa, and most European countries: 10 to 14 weeks.

When to apply:

• Not in the March, April period (threshold-change rush creates backlogs)
• Not in August, September (post-summer family reunion rush)
• Optimal: January, February or October, November

Documents to gather in advance: Bank statements are the most time-consuming to obtain. Many UK banks provide only 3 months of statements free of charge; older statements require a branch request or fee-based archive request, often taking 2 to 3 weeks. Begin pulling 6 months of statements 4 to 6 weeks before you plan to submit.

The employer letter must be dated within 28 days of submission. Do not collect it early. Get everything else ready, then request the letter in the final week before submission.

Rights while waiting for a decision

Once a Family visa application is submitted from outside the UK, the applicant remains outside. There is no "right" to enter the UK while the decision is pending, the current visa or entry clearance is the only route. Visiting on a visitor visa during this period is technically permitted but raises suspicion: the Home Office may question whether the visitor's intent was genuinely tourist and not to await a decision inside the UK.

Once inside the UK on the Family visa, the applicant must not work until the visa has been granted and documented. An eVisa share code confirming the right to work is required; a decision letter alone is not sufficient for most employers.

The accommodation requirement, what the Home Office checks

The accommodation requirement for Family visas is sometimes overlooked in the focus on financial evidence. The rules require that accommodation is:

• Owned or occupied exclusively by the sponsor (not shared with unrelated third parties in a way that would amount to overcrowding)
• Adequate for the family's needs, the Home Office applies the Bedroom Standard
• Available at the time of the application

The Bedroom Standard: Under Housing Act standards, each couple needs 1 bedroom. Each child under 10 can share with any other child. Children aged 10 to 15 can share with a same-sex sibling. Children 16+ need their own bedroom or shared with a partner if married.

A one-bedroom flat for a couple with no children is fine. The same flat for a couple with a child is borderline. For two children, a two-bedroom property is usually needed.

Evidence to submit:

• Tenancy agreement (your name on it, current address)
• Council tax bill confirming occupancy
• If the property is owned, Land Registry title or mortgage statement

If you're moving into accommodation with family (e.g. parents' house), you need their tenancy or ownership evidence plus a letter from them confirming you have permission to live there. The Home Office will also check that the property meets the bedroom standard with the family members already resident.

The financial threshold at extension, 2.5-year stage

The £29,000 income threshold must be met at both the initial application AND the 2.5-year extension (FLR-M). This is where some sponsors run into problems:

• If your salary has dropped below £29,000 between initial grant and extension
• If you changed jobs and are now in Category B (less than 6 months at new employer) rather than Category A
• If you went self-employed and don't have a full year's accounts

Planning: if you're approaching the 2.5-year extension date and your financial circumstances are uncertain, review your category eligibility 6 months before the extension date. Category changes (e.g. from employed to self-employed) have significant document implications.

The 2.5-year extension application also requires the English language evidence to have been upgraded from A1 to A2 CEFR. If the spouse/partner took an A1 test at initial application, they must now provide an A2 test result.