The UK has paused the increase of the family visa threshold to N80m. Read about the reasons behind the decision and its impact on applicants.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, made an announcement stating that the United Kingdom has delayed its proposal to increase the minimum income requirement for family visas from £29,000 to approximately N80 million (£38.700).
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introduced the policy to control high immigration levels, planning it for implementation in 2025. Nevertheless, the new government has postponed this increment until a thorough review of family visa policies by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) takes place.
“The Minimum Income Requirement will remain unchanged at £29,000 until the MAC review is concluded,” said Yvette Cooper.
Cooper stressed the need to strike a balance between prioritizing family life and ensuring the economic prosperity of the UK.
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She revealed that, based on government orders, MAC has been tasked with evaluating how limiting migrant workers from bringing their families into the country would affect things and what increasing wage requirements might lead to.
It is anticipated that the review conducted by MAC will assess how local labor market is impacted by these constraints and confronts persistent problems like scarcity of workers.
Cooper pointed out that there has been a surge in non-EU long-term migration, from 277,000 individuals in December 2022 to 423,000 people by December of the following year. This escalation was attributed to the previous administration’s inability to effectively deal with labor market challenges.
The new government plans to address these challenges by closely connecting migration policy and visa regulations with skills and labor market policies. The goal is to improve the abilities of the domestic workforce prior to resorting to foreign workers.
In the initial three months of 2024, there was a decrease of 25 percent in visa applications along vital pathways in the United Kingdom.
The primary cause for this slump is mainly attributed to more rigorous immigration regulations that were implemented by the past government which included enforcing tougher income thresholds, stricter prerequisites for student visas and strict policies concerning foreign healthcare workers.
To sum up, the UK government has chosen to keep the current family visa requirement of £29,000 until a comprehensive examination by MAC is carried out. This guarantees that immigration strategies correspond with the economic demands and employment requirements in the nation.
