Category B: 12 Months Variable Income

When to Use Category B

The financial requirement guidance defines Category B by what Category A cannot cover. Category A needs 6 months with the same employer at the level of income relied upon. Category B is for someone in employment at the date of application who does not have that. It is also open to someone who does have 6 months with the same employer but is on a variable income and would rather be assessed this way.

One rule to note before you start: the guidance says that where the applicant relies on their own employment income as well as their partner's, both must be calculated under the same category. Categories A and B cannot be used in combination.

Common situations:

• Changed jobs within the last 6 months: You cannot use Category A because it requires 6 months with the same employer. Category B allows you to combine income from multiple employers.
• Variable income: Your monthly pay varies due to overtime, shift patterns, commission, tips, or seasonal work. Category B counts actual total earnings rather than just your base salary.
• Recently promoted or received a pay increase: If your salary increased within the last 6 months and was below the threshold before, Category A might not work but Category B might if your total earnings over 12 months exceed £29,000.
• Multiple part-time jobs: If you work multiple jobs that together total £29,000 or more, Category B allows you to combine them.

The Two Parts of the Financial Requirement Under Category B

The Home Office financial requirement guidance says the requirement must be met and evidenced in 2 parts. Both have to reach £29,000, and they are counted differently.

Part one: income at the date of application

For salaried employment, this is the gross annual salary as at the date of application. The guidance says there is no required minimum period for the current employment, provided the specified evidence under paragraph 2 of Appendix FM-SE can be met for it, and that the salary must be evidenced by the latest payslip or the signed contract of employment where a payslip does not give it.

For non-salaried employment, the figure can be no greater than the annual equivalent of the average gross monthly income from that employment. The guidance gives the calculation: total gross income from the non-salaried employment over the period it has been held, divided by the number of months, multiplied by 12. Where pay is weekly, divide by weeks and multiply by 52; where it is daily, divide by days and multiply by 365.

Non-salaried employment means work paid at an hourly or other rate, where the number or pattern of hours may vary, or paid an amount that varies according to the work done. Salaried employment is paid at a fixed minimum rate, usually annual, and usually with a contractual minimum number of hours.

If part one falls short, the guidance allows you to add non-employment income received in the previous 12 months, cash savings above £16,000 held for at least 6 months, and pension income. At the entry clearance and further permission stages, the amount above £16,000 is divided by 2.5 before it is added. At settlement, the whole amount above £16,000 counts.

Part two: income actually received over 12 months

In addition, the person must have received, in the 12 months before the date of application, the level of income needed to meet the requirement. That is counted from the gross amount of salaried or non-salaried employment income, whether earned in the UK or overseas; any specified non-employment income, provided the asset behind it is still owned at the date of application; and any state, occupational or private pension.

The important omission: cash savings cannot be used for part two. Savings can lift part one over the line, but they cannot fill a gap in what was actually received over the year.

What counts as employment income is set by Appendix FM-SE, which says overtime, payments to cover travel time, commission-based pay and bonuses, including tips and gratuities paid through a tronc scheme registered with HM Revenue and Customs, are counted where they were received in the relevant period.

Documents Required for Category B

Paragraph 2 of Appendix FM-SE sets the list, and it is short. What it asks for is precise, so it is worth reading against what you have gathered.

Payslips

Payslips covering any period of salaried employment in the 12 months before the date of application. That is the wording of paragraph 2(a)(ii), and it applies where the person has been with their current employer for less than 6 months, or has been there at least 6 months but is not relying on Category A. It covers the periods you were employed, not the whole year regardless of whether you were working.

Bank Statements

Personal bank statements corresponding to the same periods as those payslips, showing that the salary was paid into an account in your name, or in your name and your partner's jointly. If you changed bank accounts, include statements from each account for the relevant period.

Employer Letters

A letter from each of the employers who issued those payslips, confirming four things: the person's employment and gross annual salary; the length of their employment; the period over which they have been or were paid the level of salary relied upon in the application; and the type of employment, meaning permanent, fixed-term contract or agency. See our financial documents guide.

P60 and Contract of Employment

Both are optional additions rather than requirements. Paragraph 2A of Appendix FM-SE says you may submit the P60 for the relevant periods of employment, and a signed contract of employment, in addition to the documents above; and that if you do not, the decision-maker may still grant the application if otherwise satisfied the requirements are met. They may also request them under paragraph D.

Dealing with Multiple Employers

If you changed jobs during the 12-month period, you need to provide evidence from all employers:

• Payslips from each employer: covering each period of employment inside those 12 months.
• A letter from each of those employers: paragraph 2(b) of Appendix FM-SE requires a letter from the employer or employers who issued the payslips, so a letter from the current employer alone does not meet it.
• Bank statements for the same periods: showing the salary paid in.

Where a document is missing or in the wrong format, paragraph D of Appendix FM-SE lets the decision-maker write and ask for it, with a deadline. It does not oblige them to, and says they will not where the application will be refused for other reasons anyway.

A gap between jobs is not fatal in itself. What matters is whether part two still reaches £29,000 across the 12 months, and whether part one is met at the date of application.

Calculating Variable Income

For variable income, the calculation is straightforward in principle but requires careful documentation:

1. Work out whether the employment is salaried or non-salaried, since part one is calculated differently for each.
2. For salaried work, take the gross annual salary at the date of application. For non-salaried work, annualise the average: total gross income over the period the employment has been held, divided by the number of months, multiplied by 12.
3. Add the gross employment income actually received across the 12 months before the application, for part two.
4. Check both figures against £29,000, adding non-employment income or pension to either, and cash savings to part one only.

Example

The guidance works its own examples at the older £18,600 threshold, and says the same principles apply at £29,000. Take a case where someone starts a new job 3 months before the application on a gross annual salary above the threshold. Part one is met, because they are in salaried employment at the date of application at a qualifying salary, and the guidance says there is no minimum period for that current employment. Whether the application succeeds then turns entirely on part two: what was actually received across the whole 12 months, including from the previous job. In the guidance's own example, someone with no income at all in the 9 months before the new job meets part one and fails part two, and so cannot use Category B.

Where pay varies, the answer is not to have an employer describe overtime as salary. It is that variable pay is non-salaried employment, and part one is then the annualised average of what was actually earned, not a base rate.

Common Category B Mistakes

• Meeting one part and not the other: both parts have to reach the threshold on their own terms. Neither compensates for the other.
• Counting cash savings towards part two: the guidance allows savings against part one only. Part two is what was actually received.
• Missing a payslip from a period of employment: paragraph D of Appendix FM-SE names a missing document from a sequence as something the decision-maker may ask for, but it is not a promise.
• Only a letter from the current employer: paragraph 2(b) requires one from each employer who issued the payslips relied upon.
• Mixing the categories: the guidance says Categories A and B cannot be used in combination where both partners' income is relied upon.

Category A vs Category B: Quick Comparison

• When it applies: A needs 6 months with the same employer at the level of income relied upon. B is for everyone else in employment at the date of application, and is also open to someone with 6 months on a variable income who prefers it.
• Salaried calculation: A takes the lowest level of gross annual salary received during the 6 months. B takes the gross annual salary at the date of application.
• Non-salaried calculation: A takes gross earnings over the 6-month period, divided by 6 and multiplied by 12. B annualises the average over the period the employment has been held.
• Evidence period: A is 6 months of payslips and matching bank statements. B is any period of employment within 12 months, with statements for the same periods.
• Number of parts: A is one calculation. B is two, and both must be met.

If you qualify for Category A, it is simpler and requires less documentation. Also consider self-employment evidence if you are self-employed, or the savings route if your income falls short. See our spouse visa guide for the full picture, UK visa fees guide for costs, and relationship evidence guide for other key documentation. If you need help with your application, see our DIY vs solicitor guide. Use Category B when Category A is not available due to job changes, variable income, or needing to include non-contractual earnings. See the official UK family visa guidance for the latest rules.

Questions and answers