The Migration Advisory Committee (“MAC”) published their 96 page review of the financial requirements for family visa applications under Appendix FM on 10 June 2025.
The minimum income requirement (“MIR”) was initially set in 2012 when Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules was introduced. It was set at £18,600 for a partner, with an additional £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child. This threshold remained in place for over 12 years. On 11 April 2024, a first increase was applied, changing the threshold from £18,600 to £29,000 for a partner and additional threshold for children removed.
Before 2012, the route to settlement for a partner of a settled or British person was two years. The introduction of Appendix FM changed this to five years for those who met the rules, including the minimum income threshold. Those who could not were placed on a 10 year route to settlement.
Further increases
The government intended to apply two further increases, firstly to £34,000 and then to £38,700 to bring it in line with the new minimum salary requirement for skilled workers. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, put this on hold in September 2024 and commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee to review the policy and provide their input as to how to set the minimum income requirement.
In the commissioning letter, the Home Secretary states the government’s commitment to “bringing down net migration and creating a fair and coherent system – including on family migration.” The letter says that the financial requirements for family visas are “intended to maintain the economic wellbeing of the UK whilst respecting family life.”
The MAC’s response to the proposed increases
The MAC has recommended against a further increase, stating “this question does not have a simple technical answer. It requires the government to balance ethical, social and economic concerns against each other. The MAC cannot tell the government how much weight it should put on each factor. However, we can lay out evidence on the impacts of financial requirements for families and for economic wellbeing and highlight the considerations the government should take into account. That is what this report seeks to do.”
Statistics
The Home Office’s immigration statistics highlight the popularity of the spousal route and the impact of the minimum income requirement. This data shows not only which visas are most frequently used, but also an increase in both in country and out-of-country partner applications, despite the government’s tightening of the rules:
| Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Partner out of country application | 39,700 | 39,500 | 27,800 | 35,600 | 45,100 | 54,200 | 55,900 |
| Partner in country applications | 7,500 | 7,800 | 9,400 | 8,000 | 7,000 | 9,800 | 12,700 |
| Other family out of country applications | 16,400 | 18,900 | 12,300 | 19,300 | 21,000 | 25,100 | 36,000 |
| Total | 63,600 | 66,200 | 49,500 | 62,900 | 73,100 | 89,100 | 104,600 |
It also shows that the majority of the applicants are women under the age of 44. In terms of nationality, Pakistan accounted for 21% of out of country applications with India being the second largest nationality at 7%.
When comparing to other countries, four (France, Ireland, US and Netherlands) had set the financial threshold to be lower than us and four (Australia, Canada, Germany and Japan) had no set income requirement. Norway matched out income requirement at £29,018.
The MAC’s assessment of the proposed increases
The MAC looked into a number of aspects before determining not to introduce a further increase:
- Trends in the use of the family route
- Impacts on economic wellbeing and family life
- Options to calculate the MIR
- Any practicalities that should be considered
- Exceptions to the financial requirements including the adequate maintenance test
It found it difficult to navigate competing values and complex trade-offs. While setting the threshold higher may reduce net migration and lower any potential cost of taxpayers, doing so would increase the number of families affected by separation and hardships, causing significant impact. They do not recommend “the approach based on the Skilled Worker salary threshold as it is unrelated to the family route and is most likely to conflict with international law and obligations (e.g. Article 8)”.
Recommendations
It concludes “the decision about where the threshold should sit on this spectrum is ultimately a political and ethical decision the government must make. To assist the government however, it provided four alternative approaches to increasing the MIR: assessing standards of living, alignment with the welfare system, overall fiscal impact on public services, and comparisons to average earnings.
While the MAC did not recommend a definitive set threshold, it identified a reasonable range for the sponsor's income between £19,000 and £28,000 per year. This range considered various methodologies, including full-time employment at the National Living Wage, which yields thresholds between £23,000 and £25,000. This threshold would “allow most British workers in full-time minimum-wage jobs to qualify”. It also recommended that additional threshold for children not to be re-introduced following the positive change in April 2024.
Summary
The report marks a positive move in the family migration sphere, discouraging the government from a further increase and hopefully bringing some stability to the lives of those involved. If the recommendations are followed, impacted families will certainly welcome the threshold to remain at the present level or lowered in line with the recommended ranges.
In this area of law where the impact of failure is of serious detriment to families, early advice and preparation is key to getting the desired outcome the first-time round. If you wish to discuss your circumstances, please contact our Immigration Team or Head of Family Migration, Amna Ashraf.
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