Brits: sign this petition (foreign spouse related)

[KyushuWoozy]

This is bloody travesty. At least sign this so it gets debated in parliament:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petition ... GItwJZwVEw

Here's the summary:

Currently the financial requirements to bring your spouse to the UK is £18,600 per year and now the Government wants to more than double it.

Most English teachers (and many others) in Japan don’t make £38,700 per year and now may face the choice of a lifetime without their partner or never returning home because they fell in love and can’t meet the financial requirement for the family visa.

If this goes through many here will have to choose: elderly parents in UK in their twilight years or spouse here?

My take: It's all just politics to get headline immigration numbers down without thinking it through or even giving a toss about the details or how it affects real people's lives.

[RetireJapan]

It's even worse because it only counts UK income, and only the income of the UK spouse. Awful policy.

[Deep Blue]

With the old scheme, you could use savings instead of a salary to demonstrate financial soundness. I am not sure if this is still in the new scheme though.

[RetireJapan]

With the old scheme, you could use savings instead of a salary to demonstrate financial soundness. I am not sure if this is still in the new scheme though.

I assume you can, but if they doubled the income requirement I assume they also doubled the saving one (and they only count cash in a bank if I recall correctly, not other investments)

[goodandbadjapan]

With the old scheme, you could use savings instead of a salary to demonstrate financial soundness. I am not sure if this is still in the new scheme though.

I assume you can, but if they doubled the income requirement I assume they also doubled the saving one (and they only count cash in a bank if I recall correctly, not other investments)

And I think before it was having about 60k in a bank account for at least three months or something. Not sure what happened if you let the cash amount in the bank drop after that. But just an awful policy.

[kuma]

The figure for the cash savings route is linked to the figure for the minimum earnings.

Required savings = (2.5 x earnings threshold) + £16k

£18.6k earnings threshold -> £62.5k required savings
£38.7k earnings threshold -> £112.75k required savings

(Hefty visa fees + healthcare surcharge also required.)

The 2.5 multiplier in the formula relates to the duration of the visa (2yr6mo for applicants in UK already; 2yr9mo for applicants outside the UK, but multiplier unchanged). Basically, you need proof of savings equivalent to the earnings threshold for the entire duration of the visa and an additional £16k savings cushion.

Note that the £16k in the formula may also be revised one day; I have not seen an official explanation of the derivation of this amount but believe it represents the threshold below which people may receive means-tested benefits.

May post more on this topic at some stage as a UK move is something my family are considering.

[RetireJapan]

The required savings figure is linked to the salary threshold.

Required savings = (2.5 x earnings threshold) + £16k

£18,600 -> £62.5k
£38,700 -> £112.75k

And this needs to be in cash, right? No stock market or real estate investments count towards the total?

[kuma]

There’s ordinarily a 6-month rule for ‘cash savings’; cash must be in suitable account for 6 months prior to the application.

The money must be held in an account in the name of the applicant, the sponsor, or both jointly. The account must be a current, deposit or investment account, provided by a financial institution regulated by the appropriate regulatory body in the UK or overseas. Funds must be readily accessible and immediately withdrawable. If there is a penalty for withdrawal, any deductions must not bring the level of funds below the minimum income requirement.

https://freemovement.org.uk/appendix-fm ... Category_D

However, investments/property that are liquidated within the 6-month period CAN count. Eg sell property/encash investments 2 months prior to application; provide suitable evidence (rules are quite lenthy) of the assets’ history; can count.

At a later date I can update the wiki on this topic.

[RetireJapan]

Only 21 million yen then

Presumably it's more if you have non-British kids too.

[kuma]

Only 21 million yen then :lol

Presumably it's more if you have non-British kids too.

Under the old rules it’s +£3,800 for the first child and +£2,400 per child for additional children.

Under the new rules there will be no extra child element:

There will no longer be a separate child element to the minimum income requirement, to ensure that British nationals are not treated less favourably than migrants who are required to meet the General Skilled Worker threshold as a flat rate, regardless of any children being sponsored.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fact ... her-detail

[Post edited to reflect new policy on the child element of the minimum income requirement]