Home Office appears to backtrack plans to hike family visa threshold to £38,000
The visa allows British citizens to bring foreign family members to the UK if they earn enough money, ITV News Political Correspondent Harry Horton reports
The Home Office appears to have made a U-turn on its decision to hike the earnings threshold for a family visa to £38,700, and will instead increase it to £29,000 in the spring.
The new level is still a substantial increase on the current threshold of £18,600, and appeared to be confirmed in the answer to a parliamentary question.
The visa allows British citizens to bring foreign family members to the UK if they earn enough money.
The Home Office announced a threshold hike to £38,700 in early December, and it had come as a tough blow to couples and families whose plans to move to the UK were suddenly thrown into disarray.
Around 75% of the working population currently meet the minimum income level, Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom said in answer to a parliamentary question, while only 30% of the population would be eligible for the visa if it were to increase to £38,700.
“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," Lord Epsom said.
The earnings threshold would be increased incrementally after that, he said, suggesting that a figure around the £38,700 mark was the eventual aim.
No date for when the threshold would increase beyond £29,000 was given.
But the information has not brought enough clarity to those it affects, Caroline Coombs, executive director of charity Reunite Families UK, said.
“It is incredibly upsetting and outright disrespectful that the government has released these details 4 days before Christmas, nearly three weeks since they were first announced," she said, adding that £29,000 is still "very high" for a lot of families.
“The little details released on the transitional arrangements for those already in the UK does not bring the clarity needed on such a sensitive and personal issue to so many families across the country or currently divided as a result of these rules," Ms Coombs said.
Initial reaction from the Tory right to the change did not appear positive.
Jonathan Gullis, a Conservative former minister and supporter of tighter migration controls, wrote on X: “Legal migration to the UK is too high and unsustainable.
“That is why the Government was right to introduce tough and necessary new measures to get numbers down, and demonstrate control of our borders. This decision is deeply disappointing and undermines our efforts.”
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