The migratory advisors of the government have given reasons for the United Kingdom Government (United Kingdom) to review their income threshold for family visas, saying that the ministers are under pressure to justify the high -income threshold required so that British citizens bring a partner to the United Kingdom in a family visa.
In a report published on Tuesday, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) criticized the current minimum income requirement of £ 29,000 for spouse and partner visas, introduced by the previous conservative government, which based on the salary levels for visas of qualified workers.
The income requirement, which mainly affects British citizens and established residents who seek to meet a couple, is among the highest in advanced economies. Among the countries that evaluated the MAC, only Norway had a comparable threshold.
The conservative government had planned to increase the threshold even more to £ 38,700, a measure that would have disqualified the majority of British citizens to sponsor a foreign partner. The proposal caused a significant controversy as part of a broader offensive against legal migration.
“Given the family route we are reviewing, it has a completely different objective and purpose for the work route, we do not understand the justification of the threshold that is established using this method,” said the MAC in its report.
The Committee also warned that income barriers run the risk of serious damage to families, particularly through forced separations.
The family separations caused by the income requirements had “the ability to inflict serious and durable damage to the families of British and established people,” he added, citing evidence of mental health problems among children separated from a father and difficulties that form significant parental relationships.
While the MAC recognized the government's interest in ensuring that families are self -sufficient, it suggested that a more reasonable income threshold, between £ 24,000 and £ 28,000, could still meet that goal.
However, he pointed out that even with such thresholds, some foreign partners may not gain enough during their lives to compensate for their use of public services. However, the Committee emphasized that this is also true for many British families:
“Who would be considered to have a good standard of living and is perfectly capable of staying with its income,” added the MAC.
After coming to power last year, the Labor Government arrested the proposals of the previous administration and commissioned the MAC to review how income requirements should be established. The objective was to balance economic sustainability with the right to family life as part of the next reforms for the family migration system.
The White Immigration Paper published last month describes the plans for a new system that:
“Make sure the family unit has enough money” to avoid calls to taxpayers, while protecting against forced marriage, and ensure that newcomers will speak English enough to integrate.
The ministers have also expressed their intention to reduce arrivals through family visa routes, along with humanitarian work and roads. They argue that the courts too often grant immigration cases with the argument that they are “exceptional” to normal rules. “
Despite this approach, family visas represent only a small portion of general net migration. In 2024, just over 86,000 family visas were awarded, approximately two thirds of which were for partners.
The MAC estimated that reducing the income threshold to around £ 24,000 could lead to an increase in net migration by up to 8,000 people, a modest increase from 1 to 3% at projected future levels. Official statistics show that general net migration fell significantly, from 860,000 in 2023 to 421,000 in 2024.
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