The United Kingdom’s plan to increase the family visa threshold from £29,000 to £38,700 has been paused by the new government, as announced by the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The initiative, set to become effective in 2025, was introduced earlier this year by the then-UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reduce the record immigration figures, VisaGuide.World reports.
However, the new government will request a family visa policy review by the Migration Advisory Committee, and until then, the £29,000 threshold will be effective.
Cooper, as cited by the Evening Standard, confirmed that no further changes will be made until the independent public body launches its review.
The Minimum Income Requirement is currently set at £29,000 and there will be no further changes until the MAC review is complete.
As further reported, the government will ask MAC to analyze the effect of stopping migrant workers from bringing family members to the UK and raising wage thresholds.
The Family Immigration Rules, including the Minimum Income Requirement, need to balance a respect for family life whilst also ensuring the economic wellbeing of the UK is maintained.
New Government to Take a New Approach to Legal Migration
According to Cooper, the new government would take a new approach to legal migration, aiming to increase the skills of the local workforce before recruiting foreign workers.
The new Home Secretary further said that the increasing levels of legal migration over the past few years reflect a “failure” in addressing the labour shortages and other issues within the country’s labor market.
Regarding this, Cooper noted the increase in non-EU long term migration from 277,000 in the year to December 2022 to 423,000 in the year to December 2023.
This is why we are setting out a different approach – one that links migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies – so immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems here at home.
Visa Applications in UK Decreased by 25% Following Tightened Rules
The number of visa applications across key routes in the UK decreased by 25 percent during the first quarter of 2024.
The drop in visa applications is closely related to the stricter immigration regulations introduced by the previous government over the past few months to reduce record immigration figures.
In addition to increasing the minimum income requirement, other measures introduced earlier this year include stricter student visa rules and other policies related to foreign healthcare workers.