Home Office rows back on plans to hike family visa salary threshold to £38,700

The Home Office has rowed back on plans to increase the salary threshold for Britons wishing to bring a family member to the UK following a backlash.

Home Secretary James Cleverly told the Commons earlier this month that the threshold for a family visa would rise from £18,600 to £38,700 by “next spring” in a bid to reduce the number of people coming to the UK.

But documents released by the Home Office state that the earning threshold Britons need to bring foreign family members will now only increase to £29,000 in the spring – while no timeline has been set out for when the higher threshold of £38,700 will be introduced.

Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom confirmed the change in answer to a written parliamentary question on Thursday.

Lord Sharpe said the current threshold of £18,600 allows 75% of the UK working population to bring their foreign family members to join them but that increasing the threshold to £38,700 would reduce that figure to 30% of the working population.

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The minister said: “In spring 2024, we will raise the threshold to £29,000, that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for skilled worker visas, moving to the 40th percentile (currently £34,500) and finally the 50th percentile (currently £38,700 and the level at which the general skilled worker threshold is set) in the final stage of implementation.”

He said the minimum income requirement would be increased in “incremental stages to give predictability” and that in spring 2024, it would be raised to £29,000.

No date for when the threshold would rise beyond £29,000 was given in Lord Sharpe’s answer.

When later asked by Sky News if a timeframe had been set for the threshold’s rise to £38,700, a Home Office spokeswoman confirmed that it had not but added dates would be announced in due course.

Mr Cleverly said following the update that he still believed the government’s plans would reduce net migration by 300,000 people a year.

“I have been clear that current levels of migration to the UK are far too high,” he said.

“The British people are, rightly, frustrated and want to see action.

“This is why the government announced a plan to decisively cut net migration and ensure the system is fair and works for the people of this country.

“It is vital that British workers are not undercut and that we ease the strain on our public services. The measures I have announced prioritise those who will contribute significantly to our economy, whilst cracking down on those who seek to take advantage of our kindness.

“Today, I have provided further detail about how these measures will be applied and when they will be introduced.

“This plan will deliver the biggest ever reduction in net migration, with around 300,000 fewer people coming to the UK compared to last year, delivering on our promise to bring the numbers down.”

But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “You have to wonder who is in charge at the Home Office, or if anyone is.

“It was clear to everyone else that the raising of the earnings threshold was unworkable.

“This was yet another half thought through idea to placate the hardliners on their own back benches.

“James Cleverly needs to put down the spade and stop digging. Decisions like this should be made by experts and politicians working together.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the climbdown was “more evidence of Tory government chaos on immigration and the economy”.

Mr Cleverly unveiled the salary change as part of a five-point plan to reduce legal migration after net migration hit a record-breaking 745,000 in the year to December 2022.

Other measures announced in the plan include a ban on care workers bringing over their families and raising the minimum salary for a skilled worker visa from £26,200 to £38,700.

Leading immigration researchers at The Migration Observatory at Oxford University warned the new family visa rules could leave British citizens with a foreign partner facing greater restrictions on who they can live with than migrant workers.

It said the plan to hike the family visa salary threshold to £38,700 could mean that “in some circumstances, British workers would face more restrictive rules on family than migrant workers in the same job”.

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During Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Labour MP Sir Stephen Timms warned that the marriage plans of “thousands of couples” had been “dashed” by Mr Cleverly’s announcement.