Category C Non-Employment Income for UK Spouse Visa

Where the Rule Lives

“Category C” is the Home Office’s working name, from its caseworker guidance on the minimum income requirement. The rule itself is Appendix FM-SE of the Immigration Rules: paragraph 10 lists the sources and the documents, paragraph 13 says how the total is worked out, paragraph 20 sets conditions on some sources, and paragraph 21 lists what is excluded.

The threshold this income has to reach is £29,000 a year for applications made on or after 11 April 2024. People who first applied under the family rules before that date meet a transitional figure of £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each further child. See our financial requirement guide.

The List, in Full

Paragraph 10 of Appendix FM-SE names these sources of non-employment income:

• property rental income
• dividends, or other income from investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds
• interest from savings
• maintenance payments from a former partner — either from the applicant’s former partner, to maintain the applicant or their shared children, or from the partner’s former partner, to maintain the partner
• a pension
• UK Maternity Allowance, Bereavement Allowance, Bereavement Payment and Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• payments under the War Pensions Scheme, the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the Armed Forces Attributable Benefits Scheme that are not treated as a pension
• a maintenance grant or stipend — not a loan — associated with undergraduate or postgraduate study or research
• ongoing insurance payments, for example under an income protection policy
• ongoing payments from a structured legal settlement, for example from a personal injury claim

Paragraph 21 then excludes: loans and credit facilities; the income-related benefits (Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit or Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance); the contributory benefits (contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit); Unemployability Allowance, Allowance for a Lowered Standard of Occupation and Invalidity Allowance under the War Pension Scheme; Child Benefit; Working Tax Credit; Child Tax Credit; Universal Credit; and “any other source of income not specified in this appendix”. That last line is the one that decides most arguments: if it is not on the list above, it does not count.

How the Total Is Calculated

Paragraph 13 splits non-employment income in two:

• Everything except a pension: the gross amount received by the person or their partner in the 12 months prior to the date of application. It is money that actually arrived, not an annualised rate.
• Pension: the gross annual income from a UK or foreign state pension or a private pension. Paragraph 20A adds that the gross annual amount may be counted where the pension became a source of income at least 28 days before the date of application.

If you are not relying on employment or self-employment at all, paragraph 13(g) makes your gross annual income simply those two figures added together.

The Documents, Source by Source

Paragraph 10 says “all the following evidence, in relation to the form of income relied upon, must be provided”. These are not suggestions.

Property rental income

• Confirmation of ownership by the person, or by them and their partner jointly: a copy of the title deeds or the title register from the Land Registry (or the overseas equivalent), or a mortgage statement
• Personal bank statements for or from the 12-month period before the application, showing the income was paid into an account in the name of the person, or of the person and their partner jointly
• A rental agreement or contract

Paragraph 20(c) adds the conditions: the property must be owned by the person; it must not be their main residence and must not become so if the application is granted; and where ownership is shared with a third party, only the income from their own share counts. Paragraph 20(cc) allows the rent to be counted before any management fee is deducted. Paragraph 20(d) says equity in a property cannot be used to meet the financial requirement.

There is a narrow exception at paragraph 20(e): where the applicant and their partner are living outside the UK at the date of application, rent from a UK property that will become their main residence if the application is granted can be counted, but only under the specific calculation routes for a partner returning to the UK.

Dividends and other investment income

• A certificate showing proof of ownership and the amount of the investment
• A portfolio report from a financial institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, or a dividend voucher showing the company and the person’s details and the net dividend amount
• Personal bank statements for or from the 12-month period before the application showing the income was paid in
• Where the person is a director of a UK limited company, evidence that the company is not the type described at paragraph 9(a) — the latest annual return filed at Companies House will do

That last document is the fork in the road. If the company is the paragraph 9(a) type — broadly a family or closely held company you are a director or employee of — then paragraph 9 applies instead of this one, and a much longer document list follows. See our guide to director salary and dividends.

Interest from savings

• Personal bank statements for or from the 12-month period before the application showing the amount of savings held and the interest paid into an account in the name of the person, or of the person and their partner jointly

Note paragraph 14: the same money cannot be counted twice. Savings used as cash savings and the interest they earn are two different things, but the capital itself is only counted once.

Maintenance payments from a former partner

• Evidence of a maintenance agreement: a court order, a written voluntary agreement, or Child Support Agency documentation
• Personal bank statements for or from the 12-month period before the application showing the payments were received

A pension

• Official documentation confirming the entitlement and amount: from the Department for Work and Pensions for the basic and additional or second state pension, from another government department or agency including the Veterans Agency, from an overseas pension authority, or from a pension company
• At least one personal bank statement from the 12-month period before the application showing the pension being paid in. This is the one source where a single statement is enough

A maintenance grant or stipend

• Documentation from the awarding body confirming that the person is receiving the grant or will be within 3 months of the date of application, that it will be paid for at least 12 months or one full academic year, and the annual amount. Where it is paid tax free, the gross equivalent may be counted
• Personal bank statements for any part of the previous 12 months during which it has been received

Insurance and structured settlement payments

• Documentation from the insurance company, or from a court or the person’s legal representative, confirming receipt in the previous 12 months, the amount and frequency, the reason and expected duration, and that the payments will continue for at least the 12 months after the date of application
• Personal bank statements for or from that 12-month period showing the payments arriving

Combining With Other Income

Non-employment income can be added to employment income and to cash savings to reach the threshold — see combining income and savings and which financial category to use. Two rules limit it:

• Paragraph 13(f): a self-employed person cannot combine their gross annual income with specified savings.
• Paragraph 14: where the requirement is met by the combined income or savings of more than one person, the same income or savings is counted only once.

The employment routes are covered in our guides to Category A and Category B.

Points People Get Wrong

• Assuming any regular money counts. Royalties, licence fees, casual payments from relatives, and anything else outside the paragraph 10 list are excluded by paragraph 21(g).
• Confusing capital with income. Selling a property produces capital, which belongs under cash savings and has its own rules. Equity that has not been realised cannot be used at all.
• Renting out the home you live in. Rental income from the property that is, or will become, your main residence does not count, outside the narrow overseas exception above.
• A pension started too recently. The 28-day rule at paragraph 20A is easy to miss when someone starts drawing a pension in order to make an application work.
• Foreign currency. Paragraph 1(f) says income or savings in a foreign currency are converted to pounds sterling using the rate specified in Appendix Finance — the spot rate on oanda.com for the date of the application, with a published alternative for a few currencies that site does not carry. Each currency is converted separately before the totals are added.

Next Steps

Work source by source through paragraph 10 and collect exactly what it lists for each one you are relying on, rather than a general bundle of financial paperwork. Check the 12-month bank statements actually show the money arriving in an account in the right name.

Related guides:

• Spouse Visa Financial Requirement
• Category A Income Evidence
• Category B Income Evidence
• Cash Savings for Spouse Visa
• Which Financial Category to Use

Questions and answers