Immigration: government U-turns on £38,700 earnings threshold for family and spousal visa

The government has announced a U-turn on plans to increase the earnings threshold required for Britons to bring loved ones to the UK to £38,700 in the spring.

Earlier in the month, Home Secretary James Cleverly revealed that the salary requirement for a family and spousal visa would rise from £18,600 to £38,700 in April as part of a crackdown to reduce legal migration. At the time, the government said this would also apply to families living in the UK and renewing their visas, leading to accusations that Rishi Sunak was going to tear families apart.

However after a softening of the tone in recent weeks, days before Christmas the Home Office published a release rowing back on the original policy. The threshold will rise to £29,000 in the spring, and eventually increase to £38,700 at an unspecified future date.

The government also clarified that those who apply for a family visa before the changes will be assessed against the current salary requirement. And anyone who has been granted a fianc(é)e visa before the threshold is raised will also be assessed on the £18,600 figure when they go on to apply for a family visa.

Sunak had previously said that the Home Office was looking at “transitional arrangements” for changes to family visa earnings thresholds to make sure they are “fair”. The government documents also revealed that the policy would only reduce immigration by between 10,000 and 30,000 people, while the latest net migration is at 672,000.

The Home Office’s key immigration adviser previously said that raising the income threshold for family visas would have a minimal impact on immigration numbers. These rule changes will not be a “major player in reducing net migration”, according to Professor Brian Bell, chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).

Prof Bell said the number of visas in question is “not that big” and is “dwarfed” by student and skilled worker visas, adding: “So I don’t think in the overall package it will be a major player in reducing net migration.”

The government also clarified the rules around social care workers renewing their visas. As part of the legal migration package, care workers will be banned from bringing dependents - such as partners and children - into the country.

Unison, the union covering the care sector, and the National Care Forum had written to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins about the limbo staff members had been left in. "Migrant care workers face Christmas in limbo, worrying about what will happen to their families when they renew their visas or change employers," they said. "Many are already expressing regret about coming to the UK and making plans to move to more welcoming parts of the world."

The government said that care workers currently working in the UK would be able to keep their dependents, or bring family here if they hadn't already. Cleverly the plans would still reduce net legal migration by 300,000 people a year.

He commented: “Today, I have provided further detail about how these measures will be applied and when they will be introduced. This plan will deliver the biggest ever reduction in net migration, with around 300,000 fewer people coming to the UK compared to last year, delivering on our promise to bring the numbers down.”

In a letter to MPs on Thursday, Legal Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove said the changes would be introduced in a “stepped fashion throughout early 2024”. He said: “We believe that this strikes the right balance between the immediate need to start reducing net migration and giving those affected adequate time to prepare for upcoming changes.”

But the change has angered the Tory right. European Research Group deputy chairman David Jones told the PA news agency: “The latest net migration figures very starkly showed the extent of the crisis we face. Increasing the threshold was absolutely necessary to address that crisis.

“The government should have stuck to its guns. Yesterday’s decision was a regrettable sign of weakness, made worse by the fact that Parliament was not sitting and therefore was unable to interrogate ministers on the reasons for the decision.”

Jonathan Gullis, a Conservative former minister and supporter of tighter migration controls, wrote on X: “This decision is deeply disappointing and undermines our efforts.” Former minister Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said the earnings threshold should rise to £38,700 “quickly” to give people “certainty”.

“If we’re going to £38,700, which seems to be very sensible, then that needs to be done with speed so that people know where they stand,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Liberal Democrats suggested the planned £38,700 threshold had always been “unworkable”. The party’s home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael added: “This was yet another half-thought through idea to placate the hardliners on their own back benches.

“James Cleverly needs to put down the spade and stop digging. Decisions like this should be made by experts and politicians working together. He should also publish the advice from the Treasury and OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) about the impact that his package of changes will have on the economy.”

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper meanwhile said the change was “more evidence of Tory government chaos on immigration and the economy”.

She added: “On their watch, net migration has trebled as skills shortages have got worse and worse – and they still have no proper plan to link the immigration system to training or workforce planning. They failed to consult anyone on their new proposals and took no account of the impact of steep spousal visa changes on families next year, so it’s no surprise they are now rowing back in a rush.”

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.