2024 Election Manifestos On UK Family and General Migration

As the 4th of July 2024 UK General Election approaches, people are keen to know what changes to UK Immigration the parties will bring, especially to spouse/partner visa requirements, which impact families where one partner is from outside the UK. The minimum income requirement (MIR) for British citizens or residents to bring their non-British partner to the UK has recently been increased to £29,000, with the Conservative Party planning to raise it further to £38,700 by Spring 2025. This has implications for a significant number of British workers. Additionally, visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) have substantially increased.

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AA (Nigeria) v. Secretary of State (2017) – Extending the Surinder Singh Requirements – “Genuine and Effective” Residence

Background

Since 2012, the UK government has put strict conditions, such as financial requirements, on spouses of British Nationals who wish to move to the UK. However, Surinder Singh (see previous blog posts here and here) has effectively opened up an alternative route for those British Nationals and their spouses who do not meet the strict requirements for a Spouse Visa but are willing to relocate to live in another EEA country, with the option of coming back to the UK in the future.

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UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement – Savings Calculator

 UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement and Supplement Savings Calculator 

As most of you may know by now, the government has introduced a new income requirement for British and settled people wishing to sponsor their non-EU spouse/partner since 2012. This brought the requirement for the British national (sponsor) up to an earning of at least £18,600 per annum, with no third-party sponsorship allowed (you can’t get your rich uncle to stand in for you like old times).

These rules have had a disastrous effect on Brits who are not earning a high income but never less play very important roles contributing to this nation; people such as teaching assistants, care workers, etc., who would not be able to meet this threshold, in fact it is reported that up to 40% of the UK population do not earn this level of money. Continue Reading →

10 Common Mistakes You Should Avoid When Applying For Your UK Visa

For many, a key step in deciding to visit or move to the UK is to obtain a visa. Unfortunately however, people frequently fail in this quest. Being a knowledgeable and experienced UK immigration solicitor, I have good knowledge of the most common errors that many people make when filing their visa application with the UK immigration authority (UKBA), especially when they decide not to choose reliable assistance (which includes suitability qualified Immigration Lawyers in the UK, or a specialist Human Rights Solicitors). Continue Reading →

Are Family Migration Rules About Change?

Several people have asked me the following questions

“Do you think there will be changes to the rules[Family Immigration Rules on financial Threshold] following the court case. If so, what will happen?”

Well this is my honest opinion. Simple answer is YES! and NO!

Yes! the secretary of state will have to responds, they already have by saying you can still apply even if you don’t meet the finical threshold (see home office website) if the secretary of state failed to consider this courts recommendation then they risk having most of they refusals overturned on appeal on the bases of Article 8 European Conventions on Human Rights . Continue Reading →