Britons living apart from their partners and children fear further hardship under new Home Office proposals that could make it tougher to bring foreign spouses to the UK.
Currently, citizens applying to bring a non-EU spouse or child to the UK need to have an income of at least £18,600 and this increases to £22,400 if you want to bring over a step-child.
But families struggling to meet the minimum income threshold could be even harder hit under plans reportedly drawn up by home secretary Suella Braverman to increase the required figure. The apparent plans have prompted a significant backlash, with 44 MPs and nearly 100 family members signing a letter to Downing Street calling on the government to stop the changes.
Families who are separated as a result of the policy have spoken to The Independent about the agony they face and what they fear might happen if the threshold is raised.
Among those speaking out is Raquel Roberts Dos Santos, who lives in Portsmouth, who said one of her sons had to have pastoral care at school because he was “grieving” for his father, who lives in Brazil. Ms Roberts Dos Santos and her two sons, who are aged five and six, have not seen her husband Manoel for three and a half years.
Another is Wayne Johnson who is living in Manchester while his wife Lan Anh and his two children, who are aged one and three, are in Vietnam. He came back to the UK in October 2021 to try to earn enough money to meet the income threshold but the pain of living away from his family for almost a year forced him to temporarily return to Vietnam.
He’s now come back to the UK and found a job that earns £24,000 a year, which will hopefully allow him to get past the £22,400 income requirement needed to bring his wife, children and stepson over.
However, if the threshold is increased even slightly, Mr Johnson won’t be able to meet it.
Reem Elfarra, meanwhile, has been engaged to her British fiancé Karl Aimson for five years but has not been able to join him in Doncaster because of the income requirements. Mr Aimson still doesn’t meet the threshold and so is travelling back and forth to Turkey, where Ms Elfarra lives, when he can.
Caroline Lucas MP, a signatory to the letter to No 10, said: “Increasing the minimum income requirement for spousal visas would push even more families into debt, rip even more families apart, and make family reunification here in the UK almost impossible.
“This cruel and callous minimum income requirement must be scrapped altogether.”
Caroline Coombs, CEO of campaign group Reunite Families UK, who coordinated the letter, said: “Instead of targeting innocent loving families and separating them, the home secretary should be focusing on the many benefits non-British spouses bring to the UK, especially with a labour market crying out for people.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our immigration system is tailored to work in the UK’s national interests.
“We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the country and reflect the public’s priorities.”
‘I’m saving money to get my daddy back’
When Ms Roberts Dos Santos asked her six-year-old son Jaime why he enjoys working as a child model, he had an unusual answer. “He’ll tell you ‘I’m doing it so I can save money to get my daddy back’”, she said.
Jaime hasn’t seen his Brazilian father for three-and-a-half years because of the government policy.
Ms Roberts Dos Santos, who lives in Portsmouth, is trying to reach the higher target of £22,400 required to bring over her husband Manoel and her 15-year-old stepdaughter. She’s also got to save up £8,000 for visa application fees. But, as a single mother of two boys a good chunk of her income goes on childcare.
She told The Independent: “How do you save £8,000 as a single mum? I used to teach English as a foreign language but during the pandemic, the bottom fell out of the market. I’ve looked at teaching assistant jobs but a TA salary won’t help me save £8,000.
“I would also love to be a call handler for the police, which earns a decent salary, but it’s all shift work and I’ve got no other childcare options. At the moment I’m self-employed, teaching kids’ screen acting classes in the evening. I’m hoping if the business grows I will be able to meet the income requirements.”
Three years without their father has taken its toll on her boys, Jaime and Emanoel. “One of my boys has had to have pastoral care at school. The school told me he was grieving because he’s lost his daddy,” Ms Roberts Dos Santos said.
“We’ve thought about bringing Manoel to the UK for a visit. But the cost of it would take away from the savings for the visa application process. Also, I’m worried what it would do to my boys if they are forced to say goodbye to their father again.”
‘I missed out on a crucial year of my children’s lives’
Mr Johnson, a maintenance technician living in Manchester, had to endure almost a year away from his two young children.
His wife Lan Anh is living in Vietnam with their three-year-old and one-year-old, as well as Wayne’s nine-year-old stepson. During the pandemic, Mr Johnson decided life would be better for his family back in the UK and in October 2021 made the move back home after six years of living in Vietnam. He did agency work to try to reach the government’s income requirement but felt the separation from his family was too hard and returned to Vietnam.
“I had a complete mental breakdown. I hadn’t seen my family for almost a year and I missed out on a crucial time in my children’s lives,” he said.
He’s now come back to the UK and has a job that earns £24,000 a year. “The minimum income requirement is £22,400 for us because I’ve got a stepson. I clear it by just under £2,000 so if they increase it slightly I won’t be able to make it.”
‘I don’t know how we’re going to meet the income requirement’
Michelle Ben Kani moved back to the UK with her Tunisian husband in July 2021 and is worried about how they will meet the government’s requirements. She made the move back to the Wirral so she could get her teenage son back into education.
The couple managed to get a spousal visa for Ms Ben Kani’s husband Mohammed Ali, who works as a recruitment manager, but they will have to apply again for renewal at the beginning of next year.
“It’s a constant worry,” she said. “We have six months to try and reach the income requirements before the visa process.” Ms Ben Kani has been off work due to illness and she fears an increase in the income threshold.
She said of the proposals: “It’s really inappropriate at this time – we’re going through a cost of living crisis. The government is constantly talking about illegal immigration, but these people are following the right route.”
‘My wedding has been on hold for five years’
Reem Elfarra, who lives in Istanbul, Turkey, has been engaged to her British fiancé for five years but is unable to come to the UK.
Her fiancé Karl Aimson doesn’t yet earn enough to meet the income requirement and so he travels back and forth to Turkey from Doncaster to see her for short stays. The couple cannot get married in Turkey because of the difference in their religions.
“It feels very exhausting because all of my life is on hold,” Ms Elfarra said. “Every day is a battle to fight for our relationship to stay as it is and it does take its toll over time. I’m currently on a work permit here but I’m Palestinian and I can’t go back to Gaza. If my employer decides not to renew my permit I would be stuck here.
“I am a maritime operation worker and I would like to do the same in the UK. We just feel like five years of our lives have been wasted and we have not been able to achieve anything.”
If the income requirement is increased “it will possibly bar us completely from being able to apply”, she said.
