The United Kingdom has implemented a major hike in the minimum salary threshold for British nationals and permanent residents applying to bring family members to join them in the UK, a move expected to impact several Indian families, a report by PTI stated.
The move will especially affect lower-income individuals with British citizenship, students and young professionals.
The Family Visa category, under which long-term UK residents can bring their spouses and partners to join them until now required the applicant to be earning at least GBP (Great British Pound) 18,600 annually.
From March/April next year, this threshold will jump to GBP 38,700, inevitably set to have a significant impact on applicants from the Indian subcontinent, with Indians making up the second-highest cohort under the Family Visa in the past year (5,870) after Pakistanis (15,038), as per official Home Office statistics.
"We will ensure that people bring only dependants whom they can support financially, by raising the minimum income for Family Visas to the same threshold as the minimum salary threshold for skilled workers, which is GBP 38,700," UK Home Secretary James Cleverly told Parliament earlier this week.
The minimum income requirement is currently GBP 18,600 and has not been increased since 2012. This package of measures will take effect from next spring, added PTI.
Indian industry and student groups have warned the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak-led government of, "unintended consequences" of the new measures aimed at curbing migration figures, which would lead to skilled Indians choosing alternate economies.
This move comes as a part of the UK’s latest visa crackdowns to cut immigration figures.
