If you wish to bring a non-European Economic Area spouse to live with you in the UK, you need to be earning a minimum of £18,600.
Earlier this week, supreme court justices backed this threshold, introduced by then home secretary Theresa May in 2012.
But the court also agreed that the income rule had “a particularly harsh effect” on British citizens who have lived and worked abroad, have married or formed stable relationships there and now cannot return home to Britain.
We heard from readers who have been personally impacted by the policy.
‘’Can anyone explain how this is fair?’
‘I am at a total loss’
I recently married my South African husband. We have been together 18 years. I earn 14000 annually and so we cannot be together. The odd thing is he is an engineer capable of earning much more than I ever could. The idea of claiming benefits is also alien to many South Africans. Our only alternative for now is to move to another EU country. But Brexit has thrown this into a state of insecurity too. I am at a total loss.
‘The policy only creates hardship’
I am one of those people affected by this ruling. I currently live in the US but would like to bring my American husband back to the UK as my children and friends are there. The government's policy is hypocritical and discriminatory in a number of ways. First of all it discriminates against women who, because they earn 24% less than men, will find it more difficult to reach the threshold. Additionally, in an economic climate where two incomes have become a necessity for the vast majority of households, the immigrant spouse is prohibited from working, therefore placing the burden completely on the UK partner. For those of us living overseas there is the added hurdle of the UK spouse having to first give up their life in their current country, move back to the UK, find a job and a place to reside and only then can their partner apply for a visa - which may or may not be granted - but by which time they have severed themselves from their previous life, leaving the husband or wife behind. If the government's position is that they don't want “immigrant families” (which in my case means me, a UK citizen, and an American husband with multiple skills and talents) to be a burden on the state, then they could (but won’t) allow both spouses to work, pay taxes and contribute to the economy. We are also in a double bind - we had considered moving elsewhere in Europe as there are countries which do allow non-EU passport holding spouses of EU residents to work, but since Brexit this is also in doubt as it appears I may lose the right of residence in countries outside the UK. While the High Court may have sided with the government on this, the policy is flawed and ill-considered, denies the rights of citizens to reside in their own country while maintaining the integrity of the family, and only creates hardship for those caught up in it.
‘Whichever I choose, the family is split’
Just to comment as another with a foreign spouse who is a non-EU citizen.
I work in education, my wife is a technical translator, in an area likely to become more important after Brexit. We are both professionals, but my wife probably has more earning potential in the UK than I do.
My parents are both elderly but infirm, and live in a rural area. I would like to be able to return to be closer to them, but that is, at present impossible, and the court's decision presents me with an unpleasant choice. Do I stay where I am, with my wife and children, or do I return to be closer to my parents in their old age? I can't do both, and whichever I choose, the family is split.
‘We can’t come back to my home’
My wife is Canadian. We met nearly 20 years ago in Britain when she was on holiday. Shortly afterwards I came to Canada, we got married and have lived happily ever after! She wanted to live in Britain and I wanted to live here in Canada so we decided to stay here until we had both retired and then perhaps move back to Blighty to be nearr to my family. I became a Canadian citizen a few years ago so now hold two passports as a dual national. Now that we are nearing our retirement age, we find that we can't come back to my home; we cannot earn the amount required and we do not have the amount required in savings. Of course, I can leave her here and go back on my own.........duh!
Sad eh?
‘I can’t move home at the moment’
This law effectively prevents me from being able to move home at the moment, as my wife is Vietnamese. It's also a barrier to having children, as if we did so the goalposts for settling in the UK would be shifted further into the distance.
‘We’re afraid to have kids’
I left beautiful California to marry a Brit and live on a dismal island. I grew up with shows like "Rumpole" so I expected a nice letter saying, like, "Welcome to England." Instead you go to this building in Croydon where they treat you like you are awaiting a shoplifting trial. The guy with the scary eyes behind the counter makes it clear that one wrong move and you'll be booted out of the country. Then they misspell your name.
The income rules are so harsh, we're afraid to have kids, or else my wife's income as a charity worker might dip below the threshold. I guess I should have married someone who works at a hedge fund?
From what I gather, the the bigger purpose has to do with this obsession with stopping people like me from deviously going on public funds...even though I have no interest in going on public funds and every government document I hold is stamped with the words "NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS" in huge letters, so it all seems redundant?
‘I have been exiled because May wanted to win votes’
I am too in this situation.
I have a wife who is a non eu national and we have two children who are by my citizenship also British.
Luckily we can live in my wife's country of birth, but I and my children have been exiled from the UK because I fell in love with a non British woman and my children because their mother is non British.
I have been exiled because Theresa May wanted to win votes.
I am a British citizen with a non-EU spouse and a small daughter with British citizenship. We live outside the EU. I work as a freelancer; last year I earned substantially more than the £18,000 minimum. In addition, I have a PhD from Oxford and a degree from LSE.
If we wanted to come to live in the UK (which we have considered), my wife (who is also an educated professional with over 15 years' experience) would apparently be unable to obtain leave to remain. The authorities would not consider my past earnings or my education or my earning potential, and would not consider the fact that I have a flat in London where we could live.
Can anyone explain to me how they think this is fair?