A planned rise in the minimum annual salary threshold for British citizens and permanent UK residents to be eligible to sponsor a spouse or partner on a Family Visa will take place in stages, according to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Last week, the government informed Parliament that the threshold will initially rise to £29,000 in early 2024 from the current level of £18,600 and then be followed by further increases. Sunak later told reporters that higher end of the increase to £38,700 will come in by early 2025 after the first threshold hike of £29,000 is enforced early in the New Year.
He said: "I think the principle here is absolutely right, that if people are bringing dependents into this country as part of their family, they must be able to support them.
"We're increasing the salary threshold significantly, and we're going exactly as we said we were doing it – we're just doing it in two stages."
Latest Home Office documents say that the intention remains to align the revised Skilled Worker Visa and Family Visa thresholds of £38,700 over time.
Home Office Minister Lord Andrew Sharpe said in a statement to the House of Lords: “The MIR [Minimum Income Requirement] will be increased in incremental stages to give predictability.
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“In Spring 2024, we will raise the threshold to £29,000, that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for Skilled Worker visas, moving to the 40th percentile (currently £34,500) and finally the 50th percentile (currently £38,700 and the level at which the general skilled worker threshold is set) in the final stage of implementation.”
He reiterated Home Secretary James Cleverly's statement in the House of Commons earlier in December that the MIR had not been increased for over a decade and therefore no longer reflected the level of income required by a family to ensure they are self-sufficient and do not need to rely on public funds.
“Family life must not be established here at the taxpayer’s expense and family migrants must be able to integrate if they are to play a full part in British life… It is intended that this change will contribute to reducing net migration when it is introduced in spring 2024,” he noted.
According to the latest Home Office statistics, 5,870 Indians were granted a Family Visa in the past year – making up one of the largest groups in a category dominated by South Asians.
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Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, who had warned of rushed weddings between now and spring 2024 by those desperate to circumvent the new rules, accused the government of failing to properly assess the impact of the changes.
"It's no surprise they are now rowing back in a rush," she said.
Lord Sharpe’s statement came as the Home Office issued a factsheet highlighting the visa policy changes to curb immigration set to take effect from the New Year, including most students and overseas care workers being banned from bringing dependants.
The factsheet confirms that the Home Office will formally commission the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in January 2024 to review the Graduate Route, or the post-study work visa, and expects that work to continue until late next year.
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Diaspora organisations have expressed widespread concerns over this proposed review of the route, which allows for post-study work experience and is the topmost factor behind students from India choosing UK universities.
*Info: Home Office
