New Financial Requirement for UK Spouse and Partner Visas in 2024
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In a previous article, we covered the Home Office's new visa rules which will be introduced this year.
The new rules mostly apply to (new) family and work visa applications, with a significant change to the financial requirement.
Here's a recap on what these changes are:
- Care workers will not be allowed to bring any dependents (partners and/or children) to the UK, and care firms will be required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission to sponsor visas.
- The minimum salary for foreign skilled workers will be raised from £26,200 to £38,700 and raise the individual occupation 'going rate' thresholds in line with the median full-time wage for equivalent jobs. (The health and care sector will be exempt from this, however).
- The minimum income requirement for a spouse or family visa will be raised from £18,600 to £29,000, and then incrementally, in stages, to eventually around £38,700 (in line with the new salary threshold for Skilled Workers). - Another thing to note is that there will also no longer be a separate child element to the minimum income requirement for a family visa. This is to ensure that British nationals are treated equally to skilled worker migrants, who are only required to meet the General Skilled Worker threshold at a flat rate, regardless of any children being sponsored.
- The Shortage Occupation List will be reformed into an Immigration Salary List (ISL), and the current 20% going rate salary discount for shortage occupations will be abolished.
- The Migration Advisory Committee will be commissioned to carry out a full review of the Graduate visa route.
On 30 January 2024, the the Home Office announced a timeline for each rule change as follows:
- Banning newly arriving care workers from bringing immediate family will happen on 11 March 2024.
- The Skilled Worker minimum salary increase will happen on 4 April 2024.
- The spouse/partner visa minimum income threshold will first increase to £29,000 on 11 April 2024; to around £34,500 at an unspecified time later in 2024; and finally to around £38,700 "by early 2025".
- Initial changes to the shortage occupation list will also happen in April 2024 (very likely 4 April); the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is working on its recommendation for the new list.
- The Home Office was supposed to commission the Migration Advisory Committee to begin work on the Graduate visa review in January 2024. This has still not happened to date, but the committee is expected to report in late 2024.
How will the new Income Threshold effect UK Partner visa extensions or applications to switch to the Partner route from another visa inside the UK?
On 21 December 2023, the UK government published a follow-up to their original five-point plan for new immigration which also provided further clarity for those currently in the UK on the partner route or looking to switch to the route from another visa category:
- Those who already have a family visa within the five-year partner route, or who apply to switch before the minimum income threshold is raised, will continue to have their applications assessed against the current income requirement of £18,600 and will not be required to meet the new threshold of £29,000. This will also be the case for children seeking to join or accompany their parent(s).
- Anyone granted a fiancé(e) visa before the minimum income threshold is raised will also be assessed against the current income requirement of £18,600 when they apply to convert to a spouse or civil partner visa.
- Those already in the UK on a different route who apply to switch to the five-year partner route, once the new minimum income requirement of £29,000 has been introduced, will be subject to the new income requirement.
What is the previous Financial Requirement?
For UK partner visa applications, the *applicant and/or sponsor must meet a minimum income threshold of £18,600 gross per annum (for a single applicant).
*depending on whether the applicant is applying for entry clearance or is already in the UK with valid leave
If there is also a dependant child who will be applying, the threshold increases to £22,400, and for each additional child, this increases by a further £2,400.
Income sources that qualify to meet the minimum income threshold are:
- Salary from Employment;
- Self-employment income;
- Income as a Director of a UK Limited company
- Non-employment income e.g. rental income from property;
- Cash savings (*A minimum of £62,500 for a single applicant is required if relying on this source alone);
- Pension Income;
Note that some of these sources can also be combined to meet the minimum income threshold, however, this will be subject to further criteria depending on which sources will be included in the application.
There are also exemptions to the financial requirement. For instance, if the sponsor is in receipt of certain welfare benefits, such as Carer’s Allowance, then they will be exempted from meeting the financial requirement. They do, however, need to satisfy that the maintenance and the accommodation will be adequate for both the sponsor and partner and any other dependants, without further recourse to public finds.
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