James Spencer Cleverly, Home Secretary of United Kingdom, attends a joint announcement for press after UK – Japan Foreign and Defense Minister meeting at foreign ministry in Tokyo on November 7, 2023.( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images ) The Home Office has rowed back on plans to increase the salary threshold for Britons wishing to bring a family member to the UK following a backlash. Home Secretary James Cleverly told the Commons earlier this month that the threshold for a family visa would rise from £18,600 to £38,700 “next spring” in a bid to reduce the number of people coming to the UK. But documents released by the Home Office state that the earning threshold Britons need to bring foreign family members will now only increase to £29,000 in the spring – while no timeline has been set out for when the higher threshold of £38,700 will be introduced. Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom confirmed the change in answer to a written parliamentary question on Thursday. Lord Sharpe said the current threshold of £18,600 allows 75% of the UK working population to bring their foreign family members to join them but that increasing the threshold to £38,700 would reduce that figure to 30% of the working population. Politics latest: Vladimir Putin poses ‘constant threat’, Sir Keir Starmer warns The minister said: “In spring 2024, we will raise the threshold to £29,000, that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for skilled worker visas, moving to the 40th percentile (currently £34,500) and finally the 50th percentile (currently £38,700 and the level at which the general skilled worker threshold is set) in the final stage of implementation.” More on James Cleverly James Cleverly’s climbdown over family visas looks like a hasty, panic retreat Still […]
See also ‘Completely alienated’: British Muslims on Labour, Tory stance on Gaza war
Powered by Inline Related Posts