U.K. immigration rules to change

[Stillearly]

Not to get political, but for information purposes ... anyone with a foreign partner , who wants them to move to the U.K. , will have to earn a minimum of £38,700 

"Family visas: The minimum threshold for a family visa will also be raised to £38,700 to "ensure people only bring dependants whom they can support financially". Currently, it stands at the 2012 rate of £18,600."

Not sure if it will effect anyone on this forum , as I think all with partners already have them in U.K. 

[Horizondave]

54 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

Not to get political, but for information purposes ... anyone with a foreign partner , who wants them to move to the U.K. , will have to earn a minimum of £38,700 

"Family visas: The minimum threshold for a family visa will also be raised to £38,700 to "ensure people only bring dependants whom they can support financially". Currently, it stands at the 2012 rate of £18,600."

Not sure if it will effect anyone on this forum , as I think all with partners already have them in U.K. 

If this applies only to those who wish to get a spouse visa in another country then I might be OK. My wife needs to get a new visa in Aug '24, so is this new amount applicable to those who are renewing visas in the UK or just new applicants overseas..

What I think is so wrong, is that this does nothing to stop illegal migration, in fact it might make it worse.

When I first brought my wife to the UK to live (April 2019), the IHS (International Health Surcharge) had just gone from £200 a year to £400. On her last visa it had gone up from £400 to £624 a year and now for her next visa it will go up to £1035 a year.

Now she can apply for the ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) but that is over £2800. That is a lot of money to find especially when it will probably be me who has to fund it. Personally, if it wasn't for my daughter's education, I would be on a rubber dinghy plane back to Thailand. 

You try and do things legally and you get completely screwed by this government.

Just for info:

Visa fee in UK £1048

IHS charge £1035 a year.

You basically pay for 2.5 years visa so the total cost of a visa would be £3636 and that doesn't include travel to the Application Centre and additional costs for that appointment with biometrics, language tests etc. This will add on at least another £150.

 

[Krapow]

One of the few benefits of being born in the land that time forgot, Northern Ireland, i didn't have to go through this costly rigmarole, then or now.

[Phantom51red]

f**k it ,I'm flying the Mrs to Africa and arranging  a dingy,once she's crossed the Channel,put up in the nice hotel ill fly down from Scotland to join her.

[coxyhog]

The Home Office has not been fit for purpose since Bliar's day.

[KhunDon]

So glad we don’t have to go through all that visa crap now. We were lucky enough to get her into UK back in 2003 and she got her British Citizenship in 2005. 
I don’t remember paying anything, although I suppose I must have done for various things, but nowhere near those figures.

As for money to support herself, she had more than enough money in her bank to do that at the time.

 
Forgive me for asking @Horizondave, but why after 4 years are you still having to apply for ILR visas? My wife only had an ILR visa for a year if I remember correctly, but I could be wrong after 18+ years.

I don’t mean to be nosy, as I’m not up with the requirements for visa applications for Thai wives to the UK these days, but we do get 6 monthly visas for her family to visit most years. 👍
 

Edited December 6, 2023 by KhunDon

[Horizondave]

2 hours ago, KhunDon said:

So glad we don’t have to go through all that visa crap now. We were lucky enough to get her into UK back in 2003 and she got her British Citizenship in 2005. 
I don’t remember paying anything, although I suppose I must have done for various things, but nowhere near those figures.

As for money to support herself, she had more than enough money in her bank to do that at the time.

 
Forgive me for asking @Horizondave, but why after 4 years are you still having to apply for ILR visas? My wife only had an ILR visa for a year if I remember correctly, but I could be wrong after 18+ years.

I don’t mean to be nosy, as I’m not up with the requirements for visa applications for Thai wives to the UK these days, but we do get 6 monthly visas for her family to visit most years. 👍
 

Under UK immigration law, you now apply for a spouse visa which is valid for 2 years 8 months. You must then apply again for a visa extension for another 2 years 8 months.

Once the visa applicant has spent 5 years in the country they can apply for the ILR. Obviously you can wait till the end of validity of both visa (5 years 4 months). 

That is the deal.

It does grieve me to know my mate Alan and Andy both got their wives in years ago and both got British Citizenship with little cost in a few months.

It has become a burden for sure, to find £3500 for visas. 

The ILR costs over £2800 and you then don't need to pay the IHS payment.

Maybe getting the ILR is the point some Thais will move on to pastures new lol

For info the IHS payment has to be paid before you can apply for the visa. The fact that Porn works for the NHS means that the person paying (me), can get a refund of the charge after every confirmed 6 month work period (about 24 copies of her pay slips), so I will get that charge reimbursed.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Horizondave

[KhunDon]

Thanks for that Dave. 👍
So feckin complicated now and I feel for you and Porn for the hoops you have to jump through, even though you’re married. 
If it’s complicated, you can be sure that some government asshole took delight in drawing up the regulations. 😡

 

[Painter]

All change...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67794032

Now £29k, with future increases at unstipulated dates.