A planned 'incremental' hike in the minimum income threshold for British nationals and permanent residents applying to bring family members to join them in the United Kingdom (UK), a move impacting several Indian families, has been shelved by the new Labour Party government, stated a PTI report

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons in a written statement this week that there will be no further hike on the current Great Britain Pound (GBP) 29,000 annual income requirement until the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) completes a review into the impact of the hikes on families.

Importance of international recruitment
The MAC has also been tasked to review the reliance of a few key sectors on international recruitment, in particular Information Technology (IT) and engineering, which rely on 'significant levels' of international recruitment, including from India.

Analysts had flagged that this steep hike will have a wide-ranging impact on the family plans of those on lower incomes.

Indians made up the second-highest cohort under the Family Visa category in 2023 (5,248), after Pakistanis (14,330) and ahead of Bangladeshis (3,534) as the top three nationalities sponsoring such visas, as per UK Home Office statistics from earlier this year.

Gov’t set their migration strategy
Setting out her migration strategy, newly appointed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has set out plans to strengthen the MAC so that it can highlight key sectors where labour market failures mean that there is an "over-reliance on international recruitment".

Cooper noted, "This government strongly values the economic and academic contribution that international students make to this country, including those here on the graduate visa, and that is why it is important to ensure that the system is effective and not open to abuse."

She further stated, "Therefore, we will continue with the previously announced measures to ensure that international students, the institutions they are coming to study at and the immigration system as a whole are protected from those who wish to exploit it by working closely with DfE (Department for Education) to ensure that the measures are effective."

Previous announcement

As part of a package of measures to curb migration in December last year, the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led Conservative government had announced that from April this year, the minimum salary or income required by British nationals to sponsor long-term Family Visas for spouses or parents will rise from GBP 18,600 to GBP 29,000 and then be followed by further increases to GBP 38,700 in line with the minimum income requirement for the Skilled Worker Visa route.