UK immigration rules leave families in anguish

15 April 2015

There have been renewed complaints against financial rules put in place last year for migrants from outside the EU, with a group of MPs and peers stating that the rules are tearing UK families apart and causing unnecessary anguish.

Under rules that came into force in July 2012, the minimum earnings requirements state that only British citizens who can show they earn at least £18,600 per annum can sponsor their non-EU spouse's visa, with this figure rising to £22,400 for families with a child.

The Home Office said the rules were designed to ease the burden of migration on the tax payer, but the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration is calling for an independent review of the minimum income requirement. According to an article on the BBC, 45 out of 175 cases look at by the All-Party group claimed their inability to meet the income threshold had led to the separation of children. In one case a woman from outside Europe was separated from her British husband and five month old baby which she had been nurturing.

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