British citizen living abroad? Non-EEA spouse? This may affect you!
 

I posted this on the UK Yankee forum but felt it should be posted here.


May take effect this June

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...crackdown.html

The letter from Mrs May to Nick Clegg, which has been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, proposes a tough new minimum income of £25,700 a year for anyone seeking to bring a spouse, partner or dependant to the UK from outside the European Union from June - almost double the current threshold of £13,700.

The minimum income would rise dramatically - up to £62,600 - if children are also brought in.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Wow!!! :eek:

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Thats well and good if they are living in a high income area, i.e. London and the South, but those kinds of wages for average earners don't happen in many areas. I wonder if co sponsors will be allowed, like when people move to US.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Why should the UK or any other country let people in if they can not support themselves,so i do not see a problem with it.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

I think the point is whether the amounts in question are really necessary to demonstrate that you can support yourself, not the general principle of demonstrating a minimum income. Is £50k really necessary to support a wife and two children, for example?

Plus, we are talking about UK citizens wishing to repatriate, not random foreigners.

The UK seems quite willing to support millions of current citizens/residents who have no desire to work, for a lifetime, who AFAIK could marry a European spouse without needing permission.

These things aren't always as simple as they first appear.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

I agree with bigals sentiment to a degree.

What I don't understand is how the amount is attributed to a couple who are coming without jobs (like we did). Do you have to demonstrate one year's worth of these savings to qualify? Is income and savings the same thing in that case?

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Nothing is simple in these politically correct times,what they really want to say is we need to stem the flow of partners from India ,Pakistan etc but would be crucified for saying so,and yes the Uk and many other countries have a problem with those who have no desire to work,they should be made to work but in comes the PC brigade to fight their corner .
I would like to add I am moving back with a spouse if she gets her visa:fingerscrossed:and have secured a job for 32 k a year and I think it may be tight

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

I'd hope they would also consider home ownership. If you own a house, there's £6k to £12k a year you won't be needing for rent or mortgage.

There should be a clearer, more common sense method of means testing than simple salary bands.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Nothing like an inflamatory article in the Telegraph to stir interest and get pulses racing before Sunday dinner. And, to add more spice to the mix, it is based upon 'a leaked cabinet letter'.
The Telegraph is getting even better at this type of journalism than The Daily Mail.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

To be fair, though, there are previous threads here that have discussed this so it's not exactly come out of the blue.

What's interesting is that the minimum amount of money the government says is needed is far more than it pays most of its civil servants. :confused:

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

As someone hoping to return to the UK as a retiree, I can see several complications. As you mention, dunroving, hopefully homeownership will be factored in. Then, what about guaranteed income in the future. For instance, I could say now, I'll start taking my US Social Security; that's $12,000 per annum on the credit side of my income calculation. But what if I prudently decide to defer my SS for three years, so I have a future income stream, starting in 3 years time, of (say) $15,000 each year... but my wife & I want to return to the UK next year, so hopefully their income/assets algorithm will allow for that, and credit the future income somehow...

Then what about assets? $500,000 yields $17,000 per year? $25,000 per year? what assumptions are they going to make?

Boy with hindsight I wish we'd got my wife her citizenship before we left England in 1991!

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

This article was also posted on the UK Spouse Visa Information thread.

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Aussie husband is playing this down to me... says it won't apply to us as he'll be earning enough to support himself (I'm the British citizen, but not working, so wouldn't meet the income requirement to bring him back.) I hope he's right. (And hope he can get a job. Auditing.)

As for the children aspect, I'm assuming this extra income is only meant to be required of people bringing non-UK citizen children into the UK?

My child (will be an adult by then) is Aussie born but has a UK passport, so as a British citizen, the extra income required shouldn't be a concern, should it?

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

I am unsure legally how this will work in practice. I would have thought a United Kingdom citizen has the right to marry and bring into the country a person of their choice as long as the relationship can be proved not to be one of convenience. In other words a bonafide marriage. As I understand it is a Human Right. If came into law surely could be contested in European Court?

Re: Theresa May wants minimum income of £25,700; £49,000 if you have 2 kids
 

Yes, I've made that same point on the other threads.

One human right that the UK has signed up to is the right to family life. I don't think for one minute that this means you can have a family life just naff off and do it somewhere else.:(

I imagine someone will challenge it at some point and there will be a huge loss in costs to the UK taxpayer.