£18,600 to be increased to £38,700 ! new migration policy from April 2024

[@dnydeltoro]

UK is a joke. I lived next to a Hungarian couple who could stay as long as they wanted. Meanwhile my ex fiancée couldn’t come here without jumping through a tonne of hoops and it ultimately killed the relationship with the stress. Meanwhile boaties come daily ILLEGALLY and without assimilating. She spoke perfect English and was an upstanding citizen.

[@poppypicanto]

You've raised really good point there about the stress that 'killed the relationship ' because of the endless hoops you've got to jump through. Sadly the average Joe public who just sees all non white people as ' foreigners ' and don't say this aspect. Not only do you pay tax and national insurance. AND the NHS surcharge. But the repeated pressure of multiple English tests. A1 A2 and B1... And of course the life in the UK test. ..and the visa fees. And the share volume of evidence you need to submit with EACH application. So yep... It does completely strangle the relationship sometimes. A world they will never see... Because they're just looking at the news headlines of "all these foreigners"

[@TheLuminousOne]

Correct. UK is a joke and the rulers of the UK hold their people in contempt.

[@adhesivecookie]

Perfectly spot on.

[@robertrossiter346]

So they are trying to lower Legal migration, while doing nothing about illegal migration ?

[@missc4079]

Yep. Basically stopping people that want to help and contribute to society and willing to work and come in the correct legal way..... But prefer those that come in illegal route and don't want to contribute.... Make it make sense.

[@gurglejug627]

Unchecked men of fighting age en masse and illegally is fine, but find a woman who wants to enter legally, with one to one support in her new country and... UK is a joke

[@Jack251190]

Its an attack on British citizens rights is what it is. How dare the government decide who we can and cannot love and spend our lives with. If my wife cant come here, i leave the UK end of. I spent 15 years paying tax into the system only for it to turn around and say "you are not earning enough, sorry you cant live with your wife"

[@mountainsandmagic645]

Explain British .

[@poppypicanto]

@jack251190 exactly. Whether people like it or not you speak the truth. Especially when you have spent 15 years paying into a tax system. And your wife will equally be doing the same. Most of the people I know with foreign wives are in the UK as carers and nurses. And they're really good careers and nurses to. Going above & beyond. They work...they pay...they contribute. 👍

[@GordonHouston-Smith]

@@boostar155 The "swamping" isn't down to legals in the main, it's down to the boats etc. Stop the illegals that cross the channel. Clamp down on visa abuse. This measure does neither.

[@jbrblake]

@@boostar155 wow! a serious distaste for foreigners and a serious lack of understanding. Typically blaming them for all the issues in this country. So as a British citizen should you have the right to marry whoever you want? (very simple question) Please explain your thought process here. I'm genuinely interested.

[@kdog3908]

One (minor) reason might be because £18600 is technically below minimum wage for someone working 35 hours a week. I think that equates to ~ £19000 a year at current minimum wage levels. Doesn't explain why the jump is so big though! Best of luck with this crazy situation. I hope you can resolve it.

[@embalmertrick1420]

Put her in a dinghy in calais and pick her up later. She's going to be housed and have an allowance

[@progressivepath1995]

This doesn’t impact me one bit, married 15 years ago with a local girl living within a five mile radius. But for some reason this policy has got under my skin. That’s because since social media it’s a harder dating market especially for working class men in the UK. The option of going abroad was one open door that’s now been closed off.

[@missc4079]

The reason why they are doing this rather than tackling the boat problems is that the people who are on visas are easier to track and trace. The government already know who the people are. Dealing with the boat people is the harder option as they dont have numbers, dont have names ect and the people themselves are going to kick back and cause problems.

[@jimmyl7511]

Terrible news Rob... My wife is Russian and the amount of hoops, hurdles and finances that go into just bringing my soon to be daughter over to see her grandparents are just shocking, she works at a theatre in stage management, is earning a decent salary for Russian standards yet can't seem to tick that box despite the fact that I've got a few quid in my back pocket it just seems like the bar is being set higher and higher... Can jump on a dinghy from Calais and get free accommodation and money yet when you want to do it properly, by the book, when you've paid into the system your whole life you're met with complete and utter rejection. At this point we're thinking of giving up and just meeting the family in a third country, which is a strain on my mother since she's not in the best of health at the moment, but what else can we do?

[@poppypicanto]

Totally agree. It's shocking. I feel your pain. The bar constantly being raised higher and higher. I know so many people who genuinely just want to bring family over for a visit ( on a tourist visit) just to spend time with family, yet are constantly rejected despite reems of solid evidence, support, money.....all rejected because the home office doesnt feel that they have enough back home to actually leave after their trip. So it's all declined on perception & negative probability of over staying. But how do you evidence being utterly genuine. Tricky I feel sorry for a lot of genuine people in relationships hoping to be together permanently, and I think they will be doing what you will have to do and meet in a different country....and rethink their plans.😪

[@gurglejug627]

Move to Russia mate - it's a really good place to be, and on the way up, women can walk alone in safety, family values are prized, your children will get a proper education and not be indoctrinated with social experimentation - unlike in the UK - though I note we are building walls on borders to prevent families from meeting and travel is getting harder from the EUSSR and UKSSR.

[@jimmyl7511]

@@gurglejug627 Ah sorry I didn’t clarify that, I do live in Russia with my wife, we love it here and wouldn’t move back to the UK because we have far more opportunities and a higher standard of living here, I am a Brit though and I want to introduce my Child to her Grandparents, my parents won’t come here due to health and other reasons, so we’re at a bit of a stalemate with my child being able to see her grandparents.

[@Electrowave]

That kind of salary may be normal in London but where I live, out in a very rural area, £26K is considered a very good salary.

[@Professorvapes]

it is great they are now doing what the rest of europe are doing if i want to go and live in Spain i would have to pay more. lets face it no country can afford the social care if they come out of work.

[@AR-dn6kh]

Its amazing how i never hear abojt brits who marry foreigners, that never move to their spouse nation . Do they exist ?? As long as someone comes here and works and doesmt commit crimes i have o issue with that . We must stop illegal immigrants

[@GordonHouston-Smith]

Quite a few do move abroad, normally working here and moving abroad to retire.

[@GordonHouston-Smith]

Quite a few do move abroad, normally working here and moving abroad to retire.

[@Aspartame69]

You have the right to fall in love with whoever you want, but that doesnt grant the right to ignore borders. If you really were in love, you would go through the process.

[@progressivepath1995]

I would say a right within citizenship itself would be to marry and then that person have that dual nationality.

[@datingdave1310]

Hi Rob/Mel - I thought this new earnings 'threshold' was for Work Visa applicants, not Fiance(e)/Spouse Visas? That's not to say they WON'T do something similar for the likes of 'us' at some point...! This comes on the heels of the recent (waaaaay) above inflation price rises to Fiance(e)/Spouse/ILR Visa fees, of course! The current/recent top level within the Con-servative Party - Fishi Rishi/Ugly Patel/James (not so) Cleverly - all of whom are descendants of immigrants, really don't like immigrants, legal or otherwise...!

[@peaches906]

Sadly the changes include the spouse visa - commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9920/ horrible.... horrible they couldnt even consider the new amount to be the average annual salary they have to make it suitable to high earners in London but not ordinary people!

[@clionamoore8365]

You can always move to your loved ones country

[@kb4777]

This isn't going to be a popular comment. But I'll say it. To be a contributor to UK society you have to earn over 44k a year. If you don't earn over 44k you take out more from the system in services than you put in. That's a fact. If you took the City of London (Not London as a city) and the suburbs & home counties out, the rest of the country couldn't keep itself. The tax burden on working people has got heavier an heavier over the last 25 years and we have reached a tipping point. The government know they are taxing all of the growth out of the economy. Something has to change.

[@adhesivecookie]

Not necessarily true. It depends on how much of public services you actually use. Once you earn minimum wage at 37.5+ hours per week, you are liable for all expenses, bar NHS.

[@kb4777]

@@adhesivecookie It's an average, not hard and fast rule, obviously depending on circumstances some people will take more out of the system than others.

[@adhesivecookie]

I can understand where the government is coming from but they are still out of touch with reality. It is extremely challenging to find "British" staff to do minimum wage or manual jobs these days and the turnover is unsustainable for small-medium businesses. There's a reason why so many non-British residents are doing all these jobs. The entitlement attitude by natives is astounding.

[@eightsprites]

Me and wifey are in simular situation. But flipped on the head. I been earning to much and would be punished severly for moving country. Even though both countries allow dual citizenship. We talking getting taxed like crazy and loosing access to banking in my home country. Its not as severe for my wife, but shes getting trouble with pension savings that needs to be taxed again. Cause difference of rules in both countries. And yeah, if someone dies. It can be a 40% tax of estate thrown on top.. cause why F not.

[@darkstatehk]

The average cost based on these new rates to get to ILR is around £10,100 per adult person. The other issue is for people already following the correct legal process. If they are say, 2.5 years into their UK residency, these new fees are going to make it impossible for some families to renew their visas. The system in the UK is wrong. It's stacked heavily against people who follow the rules, whereas those who ignore the rules get given a warm place to stay, food and pocket money. It truly is an awful, racist system. EDIT 1: If you are married and have a child with your wife, even if the child is born outside the UK, said child can inherit British Citizenship from the father - I assume you are British? Then your wife could be able to come to UK on an FM visa (as she has a child dependant who is a British Citizen) under the Right to a Family Life in the UK, thus mitigating the salary threshold. It's a bit more complicated and requires a lot more documentation / evidence and one would typically have an immigration solicitor do that for you. Edit 2: I strongly suggest Brits paying voluntary National Insurance contributions if the country they reside in does not have a double taxation treaty in place. It ensures that you will get your full state pension when you retire as long as you have more than 35 years of contributions.

[@Professorvapes]

good ther are some of us brits who have lost their jobs to migrants because they work for less or we cannot compete with them in busineses. i have no sympathy

[@darkstatehk]

@@Professorvapes Would you kindly mind to elaborate further on your point? I am interested to understand your personal experiences. To which group are you unsympathetic to?

[@oliveoyl6076]

I am a migrant to Australia (which I had to jump through hoops to achieve). I continued to pay my NI to UK for many years until I had reached the full contribution. However once I actually claimed my state pension it was frozen at the rate at that time. This applies to Australia, Canada, NZ, South Africa. Had I moved to the US or EU I would be receiving the annual increase. How fair is that?

[@jamestower4473]

5p a week