Putting Families at the heart of Family Visa Policy

Consultation

Should there be a minimum income/financial requirement to bring a partner or family member to the UK?

1. Scotland has distinct demographic challenges and all of our population growth comes from migration, either from the rest of the UK or internationally. We want people to come to Scotland to make their homes here and make a positive contribution to our economy, communities, and public services. We know that people who come to the UK on a family visa route are more likely to stay than those who arrive on work and study visas. However, the minimum income requirement represents a significant barrier to family reunification.

2. The Scottish Government considers that the minimum income threshold requirement fails five key tests:

• They do not place the best interests of the child as the paramount issue and instead risk significant negative consequences for children facing separation from a parent. The House of Lords inquiry into family migration^[9] for example received detailed evidence about the impact on children of family separation. In some instances, it may be a number of years before migrants are able to bring their families to the UK. Research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has demonstrated that this can adversely impact children’s language learning, school attainment and longer-term educational and labour market performance in the host country (OECD 2017^[10]);
• They raise significant equalities issues. The minimum income threshold disproportionately impacts women, black people; younger people and people from outside London and the south-east of England.^[11]
• The proposals take too narrow an interpretation of the economic wellbeing of the UK. The UK Government’s focus appears to be solely on the salary level that a sponsor needs to earn but takes no account of the wider fiscal impact of family migration or family separation. There has been analysis undertaken of the fiscal impacts of migration but not of family migration. The minimum income thresholds may actually be having a negative impact on economic wellbeing as family separation can make it more difficult for family members to work. In their review the House of Lords Committee concluded that: “Family migration has only a minor impact on public finances. Whether this impact is positive or negative is unclear but it is likely that the net fiscal impact of family migration is worsened by current policies. Allowing families to live together enables members of the family to work, or work more, and to be self-sustaining.”^[12]
• There is limited evidence for the financial threshold itself which appears to be mainly focused on reducing the numbers of people eligible for the Family Visa route. In the impact assessment for the minimum income requirement it is stated that the £29,000 was selected to align to the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for skilled worker visas. Yet the original rationale for a financial threshold was not to align to other thresholds within the immigration system but rather to be set at “a reasonable level that helps to ensure that they [the individual] do not become a burden on the taxpayer and allows sufficient participation in everyday life to facilitate integration". This rationale for the financial threshold appears to have shifted without any significant debate. “If the policy aimed to ensure that family visa sponsors can support their families, setting the threshold at £29,000 would imply that around half of the UK population is currently unable to support themselves financially without relying on state assistance.”^[13]
• The financial threshold rules do not align with Scotland’s interests. Scotland has distinct demographic challenges particularly, but not exclusively, in our rural and island communities. The imposition of a financial threshold prevents people who are eligible to live in Scotland from moving here and disproportionately impacts our island and rural communities.