Migration Advice Committee – Review into UK spouse visa financial requirements
On 30 July 2024, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that she was instructing the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to conduct a review into the financial requirement for UK spouse visas (including partners, fiancés).
In the meantime, the minimum income requirement has remained frozen at £29,000 per annum for new applicants, and £18,600 for those already holding spouse visas from before April 2024.
In this article we will take a look at how the review has been undertaken and outline some key dates ahead in 2025.
After the Home Secretary’s announcement, she did not formally write to the MAC until 10 September 2024, where she stated;
“I would like you to review the financial requirements, and in particular, regarding the level of the Minimum Income Requirement, the previous Government’s proposals to increase it and any other related considerations that you believe are relevant.
Following your report, I will consider your recommendations and decide whether to implement any of those recommendations.
I would be grateful if the MAC could report on this by 9 months from now”
On 17 September 2024, the MAC launched a call for evidence to allow it to conduct its review. The call for evidence asked for views on both the minimum income requirement and the adequate maintenance test. Respondents were invited to give their views on a wide range of issues such as whether there should be a financial requirement and at what level such a requirement should be set. Overall, the review seemed to be taking a broad rather than a narrow focus, especially when it actually asked if a financial requirement should even exist in the first place. It also seemed to want to fully understand the practical consequences of a financial requirement, for instance asking;
“Do you have any comments about how the MIR and/or AM test work in practice (for example, any unintended consequences)”
The review also allowed for respondents to provide their own direct feedback rather than just answering a series of set questions.
The call for evidence remained open until 11 December 2024.
Over 2,000 responses were received during this period – a record number for any MAC review to date.
Since then, many participants have been contacted on behalf of the MAC to complete a survey;
“to hear about your experience of meeting the financial requirement at the time of your application, whether your application was successful or unsuccessful”.
Again, this indicates that the MAC review is certainly a comprehensive one.
In January 2025, the Minister for Migration and Citizenship Seema Malhotra provided an update on the steps ahead and some of her comments are very insightful.
Firstly, she stated that the MAC is expected to issue its report in the summer and once received then a further equalities impact assessment will be completed. Crucially, she also stated that a financial requirement (or at least some form of test) will likely remain in place, stating that this was a long-established principle and had been upheld by the Supreme Court in 2017. She also explained that in some cases “exceptional circumstances” can be considered allowing applicants to be put on the 10-year route to settlement.
This seems to indicate that perhaps the recommendations of the MAC report will not be the sole determinant in what changes (if any) that the government will introduce.
So, where do we go from here?
The MAC report is due to be presented to the government in June 2025. Then an “equalities impact assessment” will need to be completed before any proposed changes can be drawn up.
These steps may certainly extend beyond the summer. Then new Immigration Rules will then need to be drawn up and laid before parliament.
Parliament is on its “summer break” from 22 July 2025 to 1 September 2025. Then parliament is on its “conference break” from 16 September 2025 to 13 October 2025.
The normal procedure is that any Statement of Changes in the Immigration Rules needs to be laid before parliament for 40 days.
Its very difficult to predict the pace of any changes but based on the above timeline its very difficult to see any new Immigration Rules in place until the autumn. It may even drift into 2026.
However, we always advise applicants to consider applying now if they meet the requirements. It does appear that once approved on a certain salary threshold then you stay at that level for further extension applications including Indefinite Leave to Remain.
In other words, an increase in the financial requirement should not be extended to those who have already successfully applied at a lower level.
Please feel free to email us if you have any queries about applying for a UK spouse / partner visa.
info@commonwealthimmigration.com