The Home Office has scaled back plans to raise the required salary for bringing family members to the UK to £38,700 next spring, retracting the increase from the current £18,600 announced

earlier this month as part of migration reduction efforts.

However, the revised threshold will initially stand at £29,000, with further increases at unspecified dates thereafter, indicating a more gradual implementation of the new rules.

Criticism from the Labour Party highlighted government disarray, with Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper emphasizing the lack of proper consultation on the revised threshold, stating that the abrupt reversal was expected given the rushed decision-making process.

Pressure had been mounting on ministers over the past weeks, with concerns raised that the proposed visa rules could lead to families being separated, prompting reconsideration of the immediate changes.

The government's initial measures to curb legal migration, following record high figures reported last year, intended to enforce a £38,700 salary threshold for most foreign workers by next spring, extending this criterion to family visa routes for British, Irish citizens, or those settled in the UK.

However, in response to a parliamentary inquiry, Home Office Minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom confirmed the altered plan, indicating a phased approach with incremental rises towards the eventual £38,700 threshold, though without specifying dates.

In a letter to MPs, Minister Tom Pursglove highlighted the intention to implement changes progressively through early 2024, aiming to balance the urgency to reduce net migration while allowing affected parties sufficient time for adjustment.

Amid these revisions, the Home Office assured that renewing a family visa would not require meeting the new earnings threshold. Those with existing family visas under the partner route or applications submitted before the threshold hike will continue to be assessed against the current income level.

While the government estimates a potential decrease of "low tens of thousands" in family-related visas due to the £29,000 threshold, critics like Madeleine Sumption from the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory deem it still restrictive compared to other European standards.

The Conservative Party remains divided over the changes, with some MPs acknowledging the initial legislation as necessary, yet expressing disappointment over the rollback. The Liberal Democrats criticized the proposed £38,700 threshold as "unworkable," emphasizing the need for informed decision-making and collaboration between experts and policymakers.

Campaign groups, including Reunite Families UK, have deemed the £29,000 threshold still too high for most families and criticized the government's gradual approach, finding the process unnecessarily complex." Photo by Steve Cadman, Wikimedia commons.