Migrants in the UK Face Tough Immigration Rules Over Threshold Income

Andrew Bean, a 28-year-old American citizen, is currently pursuing a prestigious doctorate in artificial intelligence in the UK. However, due to changes in Britain’s migration system, he may have to consider returning to the US. Bean, along with his wife Stephanie, who is British and works at a church in Oxfordshire, are among the many individuals living in Britain who would no longer be eligible for a family visa under the new immigration rules.

The Home Secretary, James Cleverly, recently announced reforms to the UK’s points-based migration system, including an increase in the minimum salary threshold for family visas. The threshold, now set at £38,700, is more than double the previous amount. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is aiming to reduce net migration by 300,000 and is specifically targeting individuals who come to the UK on low salaries or as dependants.

The government’s family immigration rules do offer an allowance for “exceptional circumstances,” but it is unclear how this will be applied for individuals like Andrew and Stephanie Bean. Unpublished estimates suggest that the reduction in net migration due to the changes will be in the “low tens of thousands.”

The decision to double the earnings threshold has raised concerns among individuals like Elinor Dodgson, a British-born 27-year-old who is struggling to meet the salary requirement to bring her partner from abroad. She fears her plans have been disrupted and is desperately trying to find better employment before the changes are implemented in the spring.

Additionally, individuals looking to qualify for the family visa will now have to demonstrate they have £62,500 in savings for six months. This requirement poses a significant challenge for individuals like 32-year-old Zac Hill and his wife Pham from Vietnam, currently living in Yorkshire.

Pham, who has a master’s degree in hotel management, is unable to take her potential earnings into account. This means that they are facing the tough realization that Pham will need to leave the UK when her tourist visa expires in January, with no viable route to return to Britain under the current rules.

The stringent requirements of the new immigration threshold have also left Zac and Pham heartbroken and feeling as though everything they have planned and worked towards has been shattered. They, and many others, are being punished for loving someone from a different country.