UK government delays increase in wage threshold for migrant spouses

London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – PM Sir Keir Starmer is regarding putting the brakes on the Tory-backed strategy to increase the wage threshold for migrant partners.

What Are the Implications of the £29,000 Threshold on Migrant Spouses?

The income threshold required to bring a foreign partner to the UK was increased from £18,600 to £29,000 earlier this year as a component of a package of measures to lower net migration by around 300,000. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has halted plans to further increase the threshold to £38,700 next year and requested the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to check the level at which it should be set.

In a notification to the Commons, she told MPs that the Government is required to “balance a respect for family life whilst also ensuring the economic wellbeing of the UK is maintained”.

She said: “The Minimum Income Requirement [for the family visa] is currently set at £29,000 and there will be no further changes until the MAC review is complete.”

How Did the Proposal to Raise the Threshold to £38,700 Face Backlash?

The plans to increase the threshold to £38,700 provoked a significant backlash when they were announced last December by James Cleverly, the ex-Home Secretary. Migration experts cautioned weddings would be cancelled and thousands of connections affected. The government also moved against advice from Home Office officials not to increase the threshold to £38,700. They cautioned that the move would probably be overthrown in the courts based on family rights consecrated in the Human Rights Act and equality laws.

What Concerns Did Experts and Officials Raise About the Higher Threshold?

Brian Bell, the present chair of the MAC, had also increased concerns over the policy, pointing out that the difference would only have a “quite small” impact on net migration and was likely to be overshadowed by the negative effect on Britons seeking to bring their partners to the UK.

He stated in a briefing: “You should think about the usefulness in terms of the welfare of people in Britain. These are British nationals who want to bring their spouses with them to live in Britain. There’s a social benefit and a welfare advantage of doing that, which I don’t think should be ignored.”  He also stated he could not see any logical reason for increasing it to £38,700, which puts it on par with the new pay threshold required by foreign skilled employees seeking to come to the UK. It is above the median average pay for full-time workers in the UK in 2023, which stands at  £34,963.

Why Was the Original Threshold Set at £18,600, and How Has It Changed?

He declared the MAC had originally announced that the threshold for bringing in a foreign partner should be placed at the level of earnings required for a citizen to not be qualified for benefits. This was why it was originally selected at £18,600 in 2011 but had not been uprated in line with inflation.

Ms Cooper also authorised the MAC to investigate methods in which the IT and engineering sectors could be weaned off their dependence on foreign workers by training and compelling more domestic British staff. “Whilst we will always benefit from international skills and talent, including to keep us globally competitive, immigration must not be used as an alternative to tackling skills shortages and labour market failures here in the UK. For that reason, we are setting out a new approach,” she stated.