Migrant rights groups say visa change puts love in limbo this Valentine’s Day
An increase in the minimum income requirement for family visas is due to be introduced in stages.
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Your support makes all the difference.Hiking the minimum income requirement for family visas by thousands of pounds will put “love in limbo”, a coalition of migrant rights organisations has said as part of a Valentine’s Day campaign.
A day of action is being held to highlight the plight of people they say will be unable to celebrate love as a result of new “draconian rules”.
An increase in the minimum income requirement for family visas is due to be introduced in stages.
The first increase, to £29,000, comes into effect from April 11 – but is set to rise to £38,700 by early 2025, the Home Office has said.
The delay in introducing the total increase has been criticised by right-wing Tory MPs in favour of tighter migration controls.
The measure aims to ensure only dependants that can be supported financially are brought to the UK, the Government has said.
Love shouldn’t be a prerogative for rich people and we hope that the Government will see some senseand reverse these changes
It is part of a wider bid to cut the number of people legally arriving in Britain.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously vowed to “do what is necessary” to bring net migration down as he sought to blame the “very large numbers” on his predecessors.
But organisations including Reunite Families UK, Praxis, Migrant Voice, IMIX, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and British in Europe have come together to warn of the potential impact on families if they have to separate, through their #LoveInLimbo campaign.
The coalition said some representatives handed in a number of petitions to Downing Street on Wednesday against the increase, adding they had so far been signed by more than 250,000 people.
The groups also launched the Pledge for Families, which urges MPs and elected representatives to support “family-friendly migration policies that alleviate the mental health impacts and the unaffordable financial burden of its immigration system”.
Caroline Coombs, executive director of Reunite Families UK, described the policy change as a “horrendously cruel move by the Government”.
She said: “Love shouldn’t be a prerogative for rich people and we hope that the Government will see some sense and reverse these changes.”
The Minimum Income Requirement ensures that families are self-sufficient instead of relying on public funds, with the ability to integrate if they are to play a full part in British life
Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, policy and public affairs manager at Praxis, said: “This Government needs to take the price tag off love. There should be no minimum income requirement at all, because wherever it is set, it will exclude some families and prevent British citizens from exercising their right to a family life.”
London’s deputy mayor for communities and social justice, and chair of the Praxis board of trustees, Debbie Weekes-Bernard, described the increase as an “unfair and inhumane policy”.
She called on the Government to take a “compassionate and humane approach, so that no more Londoners suffer the heartache of being separated from their loved ones”.
The Home Office has said the rules will not be applied retrospectively, and regarding visa renewals it said more details on the specifics will be confirmed “in due course”.
A spokesperson for the department said: “We have a longstanding principle that anyone bringing dependants to live in the UK must be able to financially support them.
“The Minimum Income Requirement ensures that families are self-sufficient instead of relying on public funds, with the ability to integrate if they are to play a full part in British life.”