Wednesday 13 December 2023

Individuals applying for UK immigration permission as the partner of a British citizen or person who is settled in the UK are required to meet a significantly increased financial requirement following changes announced by the Home Office on 4 December 2023. Presently, the financial requirement can be met by evidencing a gross guaranteed annual salary of at least £18,600.

The minimum income requirement shall be increased from the current level of £18,600 to £38,700 – increasing by more than double, thereby matching the Skilled Worker increased financial requirement. The minimum cash savings amount is also understood to increase, from its current level of £62,500, however, the exact figure has not yet been announced.

On 4 December 2023, the government introduced their five-point plan to reduce legal migration, including stricter measures on UK nationals and individuals settled in the UK seeking to sponsor dependants under Appendix Family Members (FM). This forms part of a larger effort to lower the number of dependants, the majority of which the government claim “don’t work, but still make use of public services”. The government is also planning to stop migrants under the health and care route from bringing dependants to the UK.

Presently this minimum income requirement only applies to applications under Appendix FM, and partners wishing to apply as a dependant of a Skilled Worker are subject to separate requirements (although Skilled Workers themselves will face a minimum salary threshold of £38,700 from Spring 2024).

Scenario One: Partner is currently outside the UK and wishes to enter as dependant

Under the current Immigration Rules, for partners wishing to come to the UK to join their British or settled partner, it is the British partner’s salary that must meet the financial requirements. This means that even if the partner intending to come to the UK earns higher than the £38,700 minimum, they cannot rely on their own income to meet the requirement. We understand that this shall continue to be the case once the financial threshold has changed, however, this is yet to be confirmed.

Dependent children

There is already an additional minimum income threshold for each child a partner wishes to bring as their dependant (the threshold increases by £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 per child for any subsequent children). It has yet to be confirmed whether the additional requirements will be raised but it is assumed that this will likely increase.

Dates

No confirmed date has been announced yet, although Home Secretary James Cleverly has stated that the measures will take place from Spring 2024, and there are some suggestions that the dates could be brought forward.

Scenario Two: Partner currently has UK permission as family dependant and wishes to extend

While the government announcement on 4 December focused on partners wishing to enter the UK, it remains to be seen how this will impact extension applications for those already in the UK. Transport Secretary Mark Harper has suggested today that permission to stay applications under this route may not be subject to the new minimum income requirement, and the government may be primarily focusing on families who have yet to bring their families from abroad. If the government does decide that the increased threshold will apply for those seeking to renew their dependant permissions, this could cause numerous cases of litigation on human rights bases.

Applications for permission to stay in the UK as a dependant partner differ in that both the salary of the sponsoring and dependent partner can be considered when meeting the financial requirement.

Dates

Again, no date has been confirmed although this is likely to be implemented at the same time as entry applications.

Relying on alternative financial requirements

Savings

Although not yet confirmed, the financial requirement for relying upon cash savings is also expected to increase alongside the income threshold. Currently, the applicant/sponsoring partner needs to have at least £62,500 in cash savings if they wish to rely on cash savings alone (this is higher if they wish to bring their children). This could be expected to increase to over £100,000.

Maternity and living allowances

The government have yet to confirm whether maternity and other living allowances will still be taken into account when meeting the financial requirement under the new changes in 2024.

What this means

Once the measures are put in place, it is expected that three-quarters of British citizens will not meet the requirements to be able to bring over their family members from abroad under the Appendix FM route. The new financial requirement will sit above the national average of £34,963 recorded in April 2023, with the aim of reducing the annual net migration by 300,000.

Different demographics will also be affected more by these changes – nearly 80% of women currently earn less than the new income requirement compared to 60% of men, meaning female sponsoring partners are on average less likely to be able to bring their family to the UK. This salary increase will also heavily impact public sector jobs, with average salaries for teachers starting at £30,000 in the UK, while the average junior doctor starting salary sits at £29,384. This will also disproportionately affect British citizens/settled individuals living outside London, as London is the only region in the UK with an average salary over the £38,700 threshold.

Those who are unable to apply before these changes come into effect and are unlikely to satisfy these requirements may still rely on third-party support or exceptions. Given the complicated nature of these cases they may wish to seek legal advice.

Future updates

Ultimately, whilst the government has announced the threshold increase, they have offered little more information about what this means for partners already in the UK under the family route and potential increases in other requirements. The government is required to publish a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, which are laid before Parliament. We would typically see a few weeks between publication of a Statement of Changes and the new rules coming into force, therefore we would expect to have further detail early next year.

In the meantime, families who might be affected by this threshold and who are looking to join their partner in the UK or extend their current permission soon should consider applying before these new regulations come into effect.

Please contact your assigned LDI lawyer to discuss how these changes may impact you, alternatively please contact enquiries@lauradevine.com.

We shall update as more information regarding these changes becomes available.