The Children’s Commissioner and the JCWI Highlight the Effects of the Controversial Financial Requirement for Families

Research by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Middlesex University, shows that thousands of British families have been affected by a Home Office minimum income threshold of £18,600 a year for sponsoring a foreign spouse to live in the UK. 

This rule was controversially introduced in 2012 and the report entitled ‘Family Friendly?’ claims this has directly led to separation for thousands of British families in which one parent is not entitled to live in the UK. Whilst the financial requirement rules do allow savings to be used to prove that the spouse will not be a burden on the state, in most cases regular income must be evidenced. We regularly advise clients on meeting these financial requirements and in some cases have seen first hand the effects referred to in the report.

The full report can be viewed on the JCWI website.

The BBC’s story, comment and the Home Office’s response can be viewed here.