UK Puts on Hold Proposal Requiring N80m Income for Family Visas

The UK government has postponed the plan introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to raise the family visa income threshold to £38,700 [about N80 million] from £29,000, which was originally scheduled to take effect in 2025 to tackle high immigration numbers.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed the suspension of the proposed policy change. The government will await an evaluation by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) before implementing any adjustments.

The review will focus on the impact of restricting migrant workers from bringing family members to the UK and the consequences of increasing income thresholds for visas. During this period, the current threshold of £29,000 will remain in force.

Cooper emphasized that no further alterations to the policy will be made until the completion of the independent review. The government aims to refine its legal migration strategy under Cooper’s leadership by prioritizing the development of local workforce skills before resorting to international recruitment.

Cooper expressed concerns about the recent surge in legal migration levels, attributing it to inadequacies in addressing labor shortages. Non-EU long-term migration rose from 277,000 in the year ending December 2022 to 423,000 in the year ending December 2023.

“This is why we are setting out a different approach – one that links migration policy and visa controls to skills and labor market policies – so immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems here at home,” Cooper outlined.