Do you think the new £38K income visa threshold for UK spouse visas is fair?

[zendeveloper]

It is set at the same level as for work visas.

Feels completely crazy to me, but then, I am also an immigrant (although the changes don't affect me), so probably too sensitive to the topic. Would be interesting to hear MN opinion.

I think it's fair.

They are exempt if they come by themselves, but not exempt if they want to bring their child or spouse.

No, it won't be different for Canadians.
Hope he has a British-born grandparent.

No he doesn’t. So that’s it then. They can’t get married. 🤷‍♀️

I wonder how many international couples who were intending on living long term in the U.K. are now looking at the other partner’s country of origin as a more realistic home now.

No, it's too high. This government is a stupid mess.

Just to provide context to this.. The income of £38,700 can be pooled between both partners, but only if both people have the right to work here already. So someone on a work visa already who then moved into the spousal category can pool their income with their partner to meet the threshold, but someone making an application outside of the UK will not be able to do so.

It’s high , no be 2 ways about it

It's outrageous that people earning undera certain arbitrary (and high) amount are effectively second class citizens. Together with the screwed up housing market, it's why I'll never be able to come back to the UK. Not that I would want to at the moment.

@CormorantStrikesBack How old is the boyfriend? Can he still qualify for the Youth Mobility Visa?

It could be lower if neither were entitled to public funds, but that won't happen. It's a tricky one.

Not and settle here, no.

Can’t the live in canada?

@dreamersdown I think you're confused. Health care migrant workers would enter on a different visa- a work visa. This update is for spousal visas (often dependants and may never work in the uk), so basically if you marry someone from abroad you need to earn 38k before being allowed to bring them over. Seems fair to me

Sadly Dd has health conditions. I’m not 100% sure of the Canadian health system set up. Seems to be a combination of Medicare and insurance. I’m not sure she will get insurance with pre existing conditions?

I think it's very fair. I also think spousal visas should be restricted and be cancelled if they divorced within 10 years

I've seen too many people burned

People are conflating two different proposals. One is for the income threshold for workers to come to work (and the restrictions of their ability to bring family even though the route leads to settlement).

The other (and the subject of this OP) is the minimum income requirement for British citizens to earn before they can apply for their spouses to join them. Those saying that £18,600 is not enough does not account for the fact that once in the UK, the non British spouse can work (and pay taxes). They are also not allowed to claim public funds so are not an additional expense on the tax payer as things stand. This proposal just means that the only people who can bring in their spouses will be those that earn substantially above the average wage. One rule for us and another for the rich...

From Spring 2024, the same threshold of £38K is applied to work visas and spouse visas.

My friend used to work for the home office processing all the visas. The government decided only 'skilled' workers who earnt above £25000 should be allowed their spouse in the UK. My friend and her colleagues were on about £24000. As you can imagine, that went down rather badly considering they were the ones making the important decisions day in day out. If I recall, many nurses were under the threshold as well. Think the government made a booboo with that wording...

Yes, totally agree. I can't imagine how shit it must be for so many uk citizens who are trapped in poverty brought about by rubbish schooling and zero social mobility.

I understood from today's updates from Cleverly that the same threshold will be used for both routes, work and spousal visas.

Can she go to Canada instead? And she can manage the health conditions in whatever way Canadian nationals would. Or her fiancé could get a job?

Agreed.
Wages for some of these jobs need to be higher anyway.

We'll struggle to recruit nurses from abroad if they can't bring their families.

Err... why? Most marriages I know did not last 10 years (including mine), for reasons that had nothing to do with immigration.