South African families who are relying on a single family member’s British or European history are set to benefit from a number of new changes made to the UK’s\u00a0minimum\u00a0income threshold.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0UK’s\u00a0Supreme Court has confirmed it will make amendments to the threshold by 10 August, after it received a\u00a0number of reports of families being torn apart by the current rates.<\/p>\n
In 2012, then-home secretary Theresa May introduced the minimum income threshold which a ‘sponsor’ (UK citizen or resident) needs to meet so that their non-UK spouse can qualify for the spousal visa, which allows them to stay in the country for 33 months.<\/p>\n
The threshold currently stands at \u00a318,600 (R325,558) for partners only; \u00a322,400 (R393,274) for a partner and a child; and an additional \u00a32,400 (R42,136) for each additional child.<\/p>\n
According to a statement released by the\u00a0Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(JCWI), an estimated 15,000 children, most of whom are British citizens, are currently separated from one parent because of this punitive threshold.<\/p>\n The UK Supreme Court has now noted that, while\u00a0the threshold does not breach any human rights, the implementation of the rules require review and amendment.<\/p>\n In this case, the Supreme Court highlighted that the best interest of affected children need to be given primary consideration in decisions made.<\/p>\n It was also suggested that alternative sources of income should be taken into account to make up the financial requirement.<\/p>\n The JCWI reported that 5,000 family migration applications have been put on hold in the five months since the Supreme Court case in February.<\/p>\nThe new rules<\/h3>\n