Immigration minister says in Parliamentary answer that Government will set out more details on increase next month
Tom Pursglove, the Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery, said yesterday that details of any transitional provisions associated with the forthcoming increase in the minimum income requirement for a spouse or family visa will be announced by the Government next month.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe Home Office announced last week that the minimum income requirement is being raised from £18,600 to £38,700 in the spring of 2024, leading to considerable confusion as to how, or if, this would apply to visa renewals.
As we reported on EIN earlier this week, the Home Office said that specifics of the policy are being established and more details will be announced in due course.
Tom Pursglove said in a Parliamentary answer yesterday that an announcement with more details will be made next month, though there was no indication as to when in January it will be announced.
Pursglove stated: "The revised minimum income requirement will be implemented in spring 2024. The Government will set out any transitional provisions associated with this increase in January. Any applications already submitted will be considered in line with the existing policy."
Home Secretary James Cleverly told LBC on Wednesday that people in the UK renewing a family visa should be 'okay' as the Government's proposed increase in the minimum income requirement was "forward looking not backward looking".
Cleverly added that he was committed to providing clarity and would make sure that people would have a clear explainer as to the implications of the increase.
At Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Prime Minister was asked whether families already in the UK would need to comply with the new rules or if there would be any transitional help.
The Prime Minister responded: "We have a long-standing principle that anyone bringing dependants to the UK must be able to support them financially. We should not expect this to be done at the taxpayer's expense. The threshold has not been raised in over a decade and it is right that we have now brought it in line with the median salary. The family immigration route does contain provision for exceptional circumstances, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, but more generally it is also right to look at transitional arrangements to ensure that they are fair, and I can tell him that the Home Office is actively looking at this and will set out further information shortly."