Rules on the minimum income needed for foreign spouses and partners of British citizens and settled residents to live in the UK are already leading to lengthy and permanent separations, damaging family life and causing acute distress, experts have warned.
A higher threshold would lead to more applications under exceptional circumstances and human rights appeals, increasing Home Office and judicial workload. This would lead to further backlog and waiting times, further extending family separation. It would also lead to the likely departure of skilled but modestly paid professionals from the UK.
In evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee review on minimum income rules, Professor Helena Wray, from the University of Exeter, and Professor Katharine Charsley, from the University of Bristol, have said the current and proposed requirements are unfair and too high. They have called for a new, more flexible approach.
Their response says the current approach, which excludes the non-UK partner's prospective earnings or third-party contributions in cash or kind, provides a distorted assessment of the family's future financial trajectory. It is inflexible and excludes families unlikely to need public funds. It also discriminates, without adequate justification, against women and many minority groups.
The response says the recent increase to £29,000 does not seem to be based on an assessment of relevant issues and the fiscal benefits are unproven. It is likely to lead to unforeseen economic consequences such as enforced single parenthood creating poverty, dependence on benefits, and a 'Catch 22' for UK parents unable to earn the minimum income without a co-parent to share care. A more flexible approach is needed, including expanding the availability an alternative adequate maintenance test.
The response notes that, while there are some human rights-based exceptions are available, but says: "Our experience is that, without legal advice, initial refusals are common, and many applicants with a good case lack the resources or resilience to purse an appeal. Rather than facilitate family life, the exceptional circumstances route therefore prolongs stress and separation and fails to address issues of discrimination."
Professor Wray and Professor Charsley's current research on UK-EU couples after Brexit shows that the minimum income requirement leads to UK-EU couples leaving or remaining outside the UK. It also shows the "severe" mental distress caused by the rules.
Couples have reported feeling unable to start a family, undertake further education or change career due to the pressures of meeting the MIR. Some sponsors work excessive hours to reach the MIR, and suffer social isolation, missing their partner and finding that friends and family do not understand their predicament.
Families in the UK cannot benefit from the care, education and/or earnings of non-UK partners even when they are highly skilled. People may have to abandon studies or careers to meet the income requirements or sell property or long-term investments to meet the savings route, compromising future financial security.
