A mother-of-three has warned “the right to fall in love with a foreigner is something that only rich people can have” as incoming Home Office visa changes threaten to split her family up.
Families which face uncertainty over the “draconian” measures are presenting petitions, which have garnered more than 250,000 signatures, to Downing Street on Valentine’s Day.
Italy-based Scot Sarah Douglas, 42, fears having to live 1,400 miles away from her children as the Home Office more than doubles the minimum salary requirement for British expats hoping to move home to the UK with their foreign spouses.
Home Secretary James Cleverly announced the minimum annual income that must be earned by British citizens to bring their foreign spouses to the UK will more than double from £18,600 to £38,700 by Spring 2025.
The first salary increase, from £18,600 to £29,000, will be effective from April 11.
That’s despite analysis showing around half of British workers earn under £29,000 and 70 per cent of workers earn below £38,700.
Mrs Douglas had planned to relocate to be close to her family in Harwick, Scotland, with her Italian husband Matteo Ricci, 39, and their children Alba, 12, Mirryn, eight, and Arthur, four, before new rules were announced in December.
But she told the Standard it would be impossible for her family to move under the new measures because she does not earn enough as a part-time English teacher.
She would either have to move back alone or take her children with her and look after them without her husband, while trying to earn new salary at the same time.
The mother added: “If my husband was the British citizen he would be able to go and work while I took care of the children and it would be much, much easier.
“It seems like they haven’t really considered the real situations that people are in and how difficult it will be for people to meet this requirement or the impact it has on families that need to be separated.
“It’s really an impossible situation.”
Mrs Douglas said that earning the £38,700 salary in the south of Scotland would be “extremely difficult” and that the Home Office policy discriminates against people from areas of the country where wages are lower.
When asked what her message is to the Home Secretary, she said: “I would ask him if he believes that the right to fall in love with a foreigner is something that only rich people can have.
“If it is fair to separate families - to prevent British citizens from returning home - and ask him if he has really thought about the impact this policy has had on families.”
The family decided to delay moving back to the UK until Brexit was finalised so they could have a clearer idea of what position they were in.
Mrs Douglas moved to Italy in 2007 and expected to stay for a year before she met her husband and has now settled in Perugia.
She explained it is “a really heartbreaking thing to be told you can’t go home” and that Britons living abroad are scared they have lost the right to return to the UK with their partners.
Mrs Douglas said: “My children need their mum. They are used to having me as their main caregiver. It would be traumatic for them.”
Petition presented to Downing Street
Petition site Change.org told the Standard there have been 47 separate petitions on its site opposing the Government's visa plans since they were announced in early December.
The petitions, which have more than 250,000 signatures combined, are being presented to Downing Street at 4pm on Wednesday.
Migrants’ rights organisations including Reunite Families UK, Praxis, Migrant Voice, IMIX, and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants have organised a day of action on Valentine’s Day against the minimum income requirement.
Campaigners have accused the Government of continuing “to destroy family life under the radar”, with one calling for the Government to “take the price tag off love”.
The groups said they are using a day normally used to celebrate love to “highlight the plight of those who are unable to do so as a result of the draconian rules which denies British citizens and settled residents the possibility of being together here in the UK”.
Organisers, affected families and supporters will also ask MPs to pledge to support family-friendly migration policies.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan previously labelled the new visa rules as an “economic own goal” and said that migrants were “critical” to the capital’s public services and Britain's economy.
London’s Deputy Mayor for Communities & Social Justice, and Chair of the Praxis Board of Trustees, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard said: “There have always been huge barriers put in the way for those who fall in love with someone from another country, but the forthcoming increase in the minimum income requirement for spouse visas is an unfair and inhumane policy.
“The current requirements have already seen couples kept apart and children separated from a parent, and this Valentine’s Day countless more will be worried about being affected when this policy comes into force in April.
“As the Mayor and I continue to work to build a better London for everyone, we are calling upon the Government to take a compassionate and humane approach, so that no more Londoners suffer the heartache of being separated from their loved ones.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
