How can UK migrants achieve financial stability?: There was a study done within the UK based on how ethnic groups within the UK have different savings. Now the findings from this study shocked me and this is the reason I created this post. Because if you are on my website reading this post, you are likely to be an immigrant in the UK. So that just means you might be a healthcare professional, another professional from it, or a student who is planning to live in the UK or work in the UK or is already doing that. And if that is you, you need to be aware that there are reasons why you are going to be financially poor in the UK, and today’s post is going to try and bring about a change in that outlook and hopefully give you some really good tips on how to not stay broke in the UK as a first-generation immigrant.

Let’s talk about the four reasons why you are going to be broke as a first-generation immigrant. And how can you change that.

The Cause 1 – Reliance on credit

The first reason why you are going to remain poor is too much reliance on credit. But when people come to the UK, you have seen Instagram influencers, you have seen YouTubers showing this glamorous life in the UK, but they are wearing Nike, Louis Vuitton, they're wearing so many other designer clothes. They have the latest iPhone, they have good cars, and they eat in brilliant restaurants. And then you're thinking, oh gosh, when I move to the UK, I want to do the same.

And that's what happens when you come to the UK, because then you try to apply for a credit card and you are given one, and then you try buying everything on credit. But what you don't realise is that those people are obviously having a very good lifestyle based on their circumstances, but when you have moved to the UK, you're obviously just starting to build your life and you cannot use up all the money that you have on credit because you have got to pay it back.

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Another option that a lot of people in the UK use quite frequently and again, I have seen this very commonly across my immigrant friends is the option of buy now, pay later. For example, you go to big stores like Marks and Spencers or even more expensive stores like Selfridges in London. And you really like a perfume, a dress, a bag. It's completely fine to say, yep, I like it and go ahead and buy it. But my understanding is if you do not have the cash to buy it outright, please don't go in with the option of buy now and pay later. Because what that does is that you end up spending more than what you originally estimated, and that can leave a big hole in your bank balance because again, that is a form of credit that does not help you.Obviously poor utilisation of credit is one of the reasons why people in the UK. Struggle to build financial independence.

Now, if you are a student financially, you are going to be really stretched and you want to find the best budget friendly accommodation for you that you can so that you can be stress free. And this is where dryankee.in/dd/ comes in because they have affordable, budget friendly options for you close to your university.

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The Cause 2 – Not building wealth in the UK

The second reason why you are staying poor is because you are not building wealth in the UK now. Right now in the UK, you’ve got to think about how you are going to make the money work hard for you. Because let’s be honest, as people coming into the UK, we are working really hard. We are taking on extra shifts, we are doing the best work that we can. We’re obviously looking for other jobs as well. If it is possible to gain more employment to boost our income, but what is the point of that income? Staying in your bank account and not making any extra money? Right now in the UK, there are two main options for you to think about making your money work harder.

The first is the high-yield savings accounts, where you are getting really good interest rates, so you are getting the rate of 4.5% or 5%, which is good. You’ve got to use them now.

But the second option you have is tax free saving options, which again, I knew nothing about. So let me introduce you to it. So tax free saving options include options such as AI such as your individual savings accounts. But whatever profits or whatever additional money you make through interest or through excess dividends on these particular accounts, they are tax free. So you do not have to pay any tax on the money that accumulates over the years.

The Cause 3 – Emergency fund

The third reason why a lot of people are staying poor in the UK is not having an emergency fund. Now let’s be honest, when we come to the UK, money is tight, our budgets are small because we are just earning single salaries, which is not a lot. But what you’ve got to think about is say for example, if I lose my job or if I need to pay deposit for a rental property in the next month because my landlord throws me out, do I have enough savings to put down that money? Or am I living paycheck to paycheck? If the answer is you are living paycheck to paycheck. Your approach to life needs to change.

What you need to do is have a bit of an emergency fund. An emergency fund is what I call a staging spot for a rainy day. Now, what this means is that, say, for example, if you are kicked out of your job, or if you do not have any money to pay your bills or to pay your credit card off, then this is where you can tap into your savings pot for a rainy day. You can use that money to get out of a tricky situation. What is usually recommended is that you should have nearly three months of emergency funds saved in that account. Now again, I am going to be honest. They usually recommend 3 to 6 months, but personally, for me, I have just about a month or slightly over a month of emergency money with me, but this is something I’m working towards. It is a goal that I see myself working towards actively.

And you know, even if you’re putting 10 or £20 towards it every single month. That still building up these funds. So I would say having an emergency fund is the next most important thing for you. And the more that money right out of your payment and your salary, because that is the money that’s going to help you when you are in a difficult or tricky situation.

The Cause 4 – Financial planning

Another bad money habit that is keeping you poor is not having any financial planning. Now, I am going to be honest, there are people who come to the UK and buy a property to live in within the first year, and then there are people who have lived there for ten years or more and are renting a property, and there is no harm in thinking about what it is that you find is best for you.

But think about what is it that you want your money to accomplish over the next few years? So for example, right now I live in a two bedroom house and that is costing me £1,000 a month, but that could have easily been mortgage payments for me to own a house. So do you see the difference? Right now I am paying somebody else’s mortgage, but if I Was able to buy a house, I would be paying my mortgage and maybe say 20 years down the line or 30 years down the line. I would have owned the house, which would have brought me so much joy. But that is not me right now, because I have demonstrated poor financial planning and that is not something I actively looked at. So again, if you are somebody who is just starting out or who is building your finances in the UK, think about how you can plan your finances in a better way.

One rule of thumb, or one strategy that a lot of people have used in the past, is using the 50, 30, 20 method, where 50% of your salary goes towards your needs, which which is your bills, your rent, your food, your groceries, your car expenses, fuel expenses, etc. 30% of it goes towards your loan. So things like a vacation fund or things like eating out expenses or a fun day expenses or things like hobbies and subscriptions and 20% of it goes towards savings. Now, what is important for you to remember is that you take out that 20% on payday and pay it into a savings account or an investment account, and don’t leave it be, because usually when we think about going on vacations, we dip into our savings, not realizing that we are putting our long term financial independence at a risk.

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STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION RULES: The many changes which was announced on 10th of September 2024 by the UK Home Office. However, for my readers, there are only three changes which are relevant which I’m going to cover, which is regarding the student visa, skill visa and carer’s dependant visa.

The official link in the bottom of this post. So there are two documents which is published. One is 15 page document and second is 78 page document.

1. UK Student Financial requirements

The first update is regarding the student financial requirement. What does it mean? It's about the proof of funds. As you know for student visa people who come here for student visa, they have to show some funds in their account so that they can support themselves while they're in the UK. And this does not include your tuition fee. It doesn't include your flight or accommodation. This is completely about the proof of funds that you have to show. There's increase in it.

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As you know, in the UK the inflation due to high cost of living. The UK government did not touch the financial requirement for students from 2020. They thought this is a good time to update it to reflect the current changes or the current inflation rate, and hence they have updated a little bit. For people who are planning to study in London, the new maintenance cost for you, which you have to show is £1,483, which equates to around £13347. So make sure you have that kind of fund in your account. If you're planning to apply for a student visa from second of Jan 2025, none of the students will be impacted. If you came here for the September 11th, it's only for the future. Students from Jan 2025 now, for students who are coming outside of London, your new maintenance cost per month is £1,136, which equates to 10224 for nine months and approx in Indian rupees.This is going to cost you around ₹1126000. If you're planning to come in Jan, make sure in December check the exchange rate. And it's always advisable to have a little bit more money rather than having a less money. So make sure you just check the exchange rate before you arrange that fund. Now this little known to it.

Appendix Student

5.26 There is a maintenance requirement for student applicants to demonstrate they have
funds to support themselves for each month of their course (up to nine months). This
level of funds for international students to demonstrate was originally matched with
the maintenance loans available for home students, but the maintenance requirement
for international students has not been updated since 2020.

5.27 This change increases the maintenance requirement for international students to match
the maintenance loans available for home students for the 2024-25 academic year. We
will ensure it aligns with home students’ maintenance loans in future.

5.28 We have also updated the maximum amount for the accommodation offset in line
with the changes to the maintenance requirement. The accommodation offset allows
students to demonstrate less maintenance funds if they have paid a deposit for their
accommodation in the UK.

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• -The financial requirement will be updated regularly. Maybe in October, this may be updated if the cost of living has gone up. So make sure if you are arranging this money you keep looking through the UK government website if that amount is the same or is it changing?
• Now the figures which I talked about now this can be offset for students who are already making their payment for the UK accommodation. So say from India you’re sitting and booking your accommodation for six months, then you don’t have to show the whole funds. You may reduce that fund if you are showing that booking for say nine months, again, the amount will be very less because you’re already saying that you’re already paying £800 or £900 per month, so that amount will be reduced. You don’t have to spend, you don’t have to show that money.
• If you have been in the UK on another route for at least 12 months, you do not need to show any maintenance parts. So those are the updates.

This is just a snippet from the UK government website. Again, I’ll provide the link so that you can read it. This is based on my understanding of the updates which are provided.

2. UK Skilled visa: job code and Going rate update

Now let’s move to update number two which is about the skilled skill visa. There’s one major update.

Appendix Skilled Worker, Appendix Skilled Occupations and Appendix Immigration
Salary list
5.40 The updates made in HC 590 to occupation codes and going salary rates contained a
number of data/drafting errors, which are being corrected.

You may think this is just one liner, but no, the impact is huge. The line says the updates made in 8592 occupation codes and going salary rates contain a number of data and drafting errors which are being corrected. So what does this mean? So first of all, we already know in the UK for anyone to be sponsored on skill visa, there’s a job code and there’s a going rate to it.It looks like the job code was also wrong and the going rate was also wrong for few of the jobs, which is now corrected. What did the UK Home Office did on 28th of August 2024? They send a message to all the licensed sponsors in the UK. They have a system which is called SMS system, which is used for sponsor licence management system. And this was the message which was sent by saying, hey, there were some errors on the job code and the going rate for the list of the job codes, and hence this is fixed now. So make sure you review this and whenever you issue a new visa, it needs to be with the correct us and with the correct going rate. Now I was trying to find out if there are more details around it.You can discuss with your sponsor if you are already on a skill visa. If your visa was rejected or any ground because of the error, you can still go back and work with the solicitor to put forward your case so that your visa doesn’t get rejected again.

Which Codes were affected by the error?

If you compare the going rates in the Appendix Skilled Worker Occupation Codes link in the Rules and the above guidance, it appears the following Occupation Codes are impacted:

Codes under the standard going rate:
1163 Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services;
1253 Hairdressing and beauty salon managers and proprietors;
1257 Hire services managers and proprietors;
2112 Biological scientists;
2462 Probation officers;
2464 Youth work professionals;
3411 Artists;
3413 Actors, entertainers and presenters;
3429 Design occupations not elsewhere classified;
3512 Ship and hovercraft officers;
5232 Vehicle body builders and repairers;
5243 Tv, video and audio servicers and repairers;
5314 Roofers, roof tilers and slaters; and
8232 Marine and waterways transport operatives.
Codes under the lower going rate:
1134 Purchasing managers and directors;
1135 Charitable organisation managers and directors;
1162 Senior police officers;
1163 Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services;
1212 Managers and proprietors in forestry, fishing and related services;
1253 Hairdressing and beauty salon managers and proprietors;
1257 Hire services managers and proprietors;
2112 Biological scientists;
2141 Web design professionals;
2142 Graphic and multimedia designers;
2317 Teachers of English as a foreign language;
2435 Professional/chartered company secretaries;
2471 Librarians;
3224 Counsellors;
3314 Prison service officers (below principal officer);
3411 Artists;
3413 Actors, entertainers and presenters;
3422 Clothing, fashion and accessories designers;
3429 Design occupations not elsewhere classified;
3531 Brokers;
3572 Careers advisers and vocational guidance specialists;
4113 Officers of non-governmental organisations;
5212 Metal plate workers, smiths, moulders and related occupations;
5221 Metal machining setters and setter-operators;
5232 Vehicle body builders and repairers;
5235 Boat and ship builders and repairers;
5243 Tv, video and audio servicers and repairers;
5245 Security system installers and repairers;
5314 Roofers, roof tilers and slaters;
5423 Print finishing and binding workers; and
8232 Marine and waterways transport operatives.

So these are the job codes. Either the job codes are fixed or the going rate is fixed, which is very important.

3. UK Carer – Dependent visa update

Last update, which is regarding the dependents of care workers. Now, till now, I see there are questions about the dependence of care workers, whether they allowed or not allowed some of the questions, which I have already picked from my last POST, which I published last week. People are saying, hey, I’m on a student visa now, I’m moving to PSW but I have got a job as a carer. Can I bring a dependant? Given that I’m already in the UK, the answer is no. For people who are already applied for a carer visa before March this year, then you can bring your dependents. Say you were not married in Jan, but you got married only say in July now because your visa was granted before March this year. You can bring your dependent not because you are already in the UK, say on a student visa or any other visa dependent visa.

But you do not have a carer or senior carer visa. You cannot bring your dependent. This is the biggest confusion. Now I know you are reading somewhere different information about children. There was a big confusion about children whether they are allowed or not allowed.

5.41 In order to avoid leaving children of care workers already in the UK in a position
where they are unable to make extension applications and to comply with
safeguarding objectives, two further allowances are being added to the immigration
rules for dependants of care workers under the Skilled Worker route. This does not
alter the overall position that these workers cannot bring dependants to the UK, nor
can their dependent children switch from other routes if there is another parent who
can reasonably care for them overseas.

Two rules they have said for children. Now, for people who are already in the UK, what are they saying? These rules will help ensure the children can stay longer if needed and meet the safety standards.If you’re already in the UK and you are a single parent. Yeah, whether you are a mom or a dad, you can keep your children. And the rule two says if the children have another parent who can take care of them in another country, they cannot switch to stay in the UK. You are a single mom and your partner has a father of the child is in India, and if your father of the child can take care of the kids, they cannot stay with you. They need to go back. So this is only for single parent, either mom, single mom or single dad who are on a carer visa. And if you have a children, they can stay with you only if nobody else can take care of them, especially the partner in a different country. This is what I have understood.

There is no other changes about care. Workers can bring their dependents. No, there’s no change. You cannot bring your family, basically your partner or your children or people who are getting a new visa after March 2024. So those are the three major updates.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION RULES

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM TO THE STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION RULES PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT ON 10 SEPTEMBER 2024 (HC 217) , can go and check this. Thanks

UK JOBS & IMMIGRATION NEWS UPDATES

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