Family visa rule change faces legal hurdle

Rishi Sunak government's move to hike minimum income for family visas to bring down migration is being challenged in the high court.

An application for judicial review has been filed by Reunite Families UK (RFUK) on the grounds that it is separating children from their parents and discriminates against women and minorities.

The pressure group said the measure is contrary to the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. The claim will question whether there was a sound legal basis for the increase and whether the decision was taken in line with official Whitehall advice.

Home Office had this April increased the minimum income for family visas from £18,600 to £29,000, and it will be raised to £38,700 next year. The minimum income requirement has not been changed for over a decade.

The measures are part of the Sunak government's move to address 'unsustainable' levels of legal migration to the UK.

The income requirement increase is being blamed for splitting couples of different nationalities and forcing families to separate, as many of them earn less than the new income threshold.

RFUK claims the new income requirement breaches the Equality Act because it will have a disproportionately adverse effect on women, members of ethnic minority groups, and young people.

The development comes after Sunak and Keir Starmer clashed over the net migration levels in Tuesday’s ITV debate. Both parties are promising to enact even tougher measures to cut legal migration, which stood at 685,000 in 2023.

Caroline Coombs, from RFUK, points out that the increase comes at a time when people all over the UK have been struggling with a relentless cost of living crisis.

She hoped that through her case the ministers would pursue a better, more humane family migration policy.