Financial Requirement - Cash Savings - Premium Bonds & SIPP Pension Pot

I'm just wondering if I now have enough money to get my wife and children back to the UK...

I have some money in a SIPP Pension which I can now fully access - but with tax penalty if I do.

I also have some money in Premium Bonds...

My questions are:

Will the SIPP Pension now count as Cash Savings as it is - i.e. the current Investment Value or will I have to cash in the SIPP (suffering the tax penalty) and transfer the proceeds to a bank account?

Will the Premium Bonds count as Cash Savings or do I need to cash them in and transfer proceeds to a bank account?

Thanks for your help - by the way if you don't know the answer but know where I might be able to get some free advice please don't hesitate to reply

Cash Savings can be used under Category D on the application.
Just to let you know that this source can also be combined with income from a pension (Category E) in order to meet the financial requirement.

(a) The savings may be held in any form of bank/savings account, provided that the account allows the savings to be accessed immediately (with or without a penalty for withdrawing funds without notice). This can include, for those of retirement age, savings held in a pension savings account which can be immediately withdrawn.
(b) Paid out competition winnings or a legacy which has been paid can contribute to cash savings.

As I understand it, the savings have to be potentially cashable with immediate effect.

Thanks John... I guess that means both the premium bonds and my pension pot should be ok.

BUT what about the tax on the Pension Income ?

Or do they just look at the Gross Value of the investments before conversion to cash?

I think they probably do because if they didn't they'd have to start checking people's tax computations and that would make it even more complicated....

They look at gross income. Not after tax income.

With cashable investments my hunch is that it would be after tax. Not certain.

Just to give you an update... I spoke to the UK Immigration Help Line and they advised as follows:

1) I'll need to convert the Premium Bonds to Cash and put that in a bank account

2) The SIPP is ok where it is - doesn't have to be with a Bank or Building Society as long as its with a recognisable UK Financial Institution and they are able to confirm the money is mine and immediately available for withdrawal then it should be ok

but...

there are no guarantees therefore it might be better for me to transfer the SIPP to a Bank or Building Society to avoid any problems:

Cash Savings requirements per FM 1.7 are

Summary of all the requirements that must be met for funds to be considered as cash savings held in a deposit or investment account
1

The account is held within a bank or building society
2

The bank/building society is a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which that institution is operating
3

The bank/building society is not on the list of excluded institutions under the Immigration Rules
4

The account is a current account or a savings account
5

Regular bank statements are provided
6

The statements cover the necessary time period required in the Immigration Rules
7

The savings are held in cash
8

The savings can be immediately withdrawn (with or without penalty)
9

The funds are under the control of the person and/or their partner for the necessary time period required in the Immigration Rules
10

The source of the funds is legal
11

The source of the funds has been declared

Interesting, John. So the premium bonds have to be cashed. I see. How long does that take?

Nice to see you getting some benefit out of that helpline.

...and once transferred how long in the bank account?

Good point. I wonder if they have to sit there in the bank account, for 6 months, once cashed?

Well you'd of thought so. I mean that's the financials for a working sponsor. They have to show 6 months of payslips

Cannot understand why the Premium Bonds have to be cashed - isn't National Savings a recognised financial institution?

I don't think the income/savings regulations for visa sponsorship have yet caught up with the new pension regulations - I expect that there will be guidance on that to ECO's within weeks.

Like you Howerd I am a little surprised the Premium bonds could not be taken as cash without cashing them in, I was always told they are as good as money in the bank.

It may be that it takes time to cash them. Other than that I would have agreed.

Mind you, from their website:

How long will it take?

We’ll normally issue your payment within 8 working days of receiving your application, unless you ask us to defer the payment until after the next prize draw (see section 2).

Thanks for all the input everyone.

I'd just thought I'd update you on this as others may be in the same position- I phoned the UK helpline and the guy there advised me as follows:

Premium Bonds - yes they have to be cashed - probably because they could be opened of held in another name - I have mine online so it's easy to cash in and reinvest or change your numbers if you want to - as mentioned above only takes a week or so for the money to arrive in your bank account.

The Pension Pot - SIPP - should be ok where it is - doesn't have to be in a bank or building society (as long as it is in a recognised UK financial institution) - the guidelines probably say bank or building society because they're designed to cover all countries etc... guy on the phone did advise transferring to a bank or building society to be on the safe side but because of my personal situation it would be a lot of hassle to do that - so I'm going to leave it where it is and take a chance (it may be that I sell my UK property prior to the application anyway in which case I will have two sources of funds to cover my application)

Also the SIPP pension pot doesn't have to be cashed in (which would trigger a large tax bill) but you do need to have unencumbered immediate access to it - For simplicity I've sold my investments and transferred the proceeds to a "Deposit Account" that doesn't pay interest (not a big deal given rates at the moment) and asked my institution whether they will provide confirmatory evidence that I have immediate access to the funds.

Yes I have to wait 6 months for the Premium bonds.. interestingly I don't have to do that if the cash is from the sale or a property or investments as long as I can prove ownership of the assets prior to liquidation.

Thanks John Surrey.

And again, good to see you got some benefit from the helpline.

So, after Santander raised the interest rate on the 123 account to 2% earlier this year and then the jobsworth in Compliance threatened to close my account with them, I reluctantly transferred the few pesos I had left back into Premium Bonds:



I've had small and large amounts of PB's all my life but this is easily my best run ever

Santander is the pits, they keep blocking/closing my accounts. Tried using Wise to deposit some money, Santander blocked my online banking with them. After phoning them up (40 mins) they said they will unblock , still waiting after a week. I know the UK banks want to stop all expats from having accounts.

They were doing it to me too ... all the bloody time.... extremely annoying especially as I wasn't receiving or getting notified of their calls ... and then when they did catch up with me it was like a bloody interview for a job or something - where did this come from - when did you last work and all that bollox.

Anyway, long story short - I moved my money out of there - left about £100 and was going to close it... but since then nothing - no letters no calls nothing ... just hope it stays that way - probably under their radar now - which suits me fine

Premium Bonds is like 7 days notice account but there are banks in Isle of Mann (Jersey is better) that will give you a UK type account without UK residence requirement.