Migration Advisory Committee Publishes Review of Family Visa Income Threshold

Government Review on Family Visa Minimum Income Threshold Released

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) have published their much-anticipated review on the Family visa minimum income threshold (MIR) today (10 June 2025).

The review is a comprehensive investigation into the practicalities and impacts of the minimum income threshold requirement for Family visas, with several recommendations for the current UK government on where the threshold should be set and how the Family visa financial requirement can be assessed.

The requirement has come under scrutiny since recent plans by the previous Conservative government to raise it from to £18,600 to £38,700, in line with the Skilled Worker visa minimum salary threshold.

The review was commissioned by the current Labour government in 2024 after the threshold was halted at £29,000, where it stands today.

The review can be read in full on the Home Office website. However, due to the review’s significant length and complexity, we have summarised its most important points below.

What Does the MAC Review State About the Minimum Income Threshold?

The MAC review on the minimum income requirement for Family visas states that the threshold should not be raised to £38,700 as this may be inconsistent with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Article 8 of the ECHR refers to the right to an individual’s private and family life in the UK.

The review also argues that the Skilled Worker minimum salary threshold (which is also set at £38,700) has a “a completely different objective and purpose” to the Family visa route, and there is subsequently no recommendation for the Family visa threshold to match that of the Skilled Worker visa.

Furthermore, the review suggests that “having no requirement would fail to balance economic wellbeing and family life, as this would not take into consideration any impact of family migration on economic wellbeing”.

Therefore, the review suggests a broad range of either £23,000-£25,000 or £24,000-£28,000 for the Family visa minimum income threshold.

The review ultimately states that a lower threshold of £23,000-£25,000 would favour ease of family life at a potential higher fiscal cost to the taxpayer, while a higher threshold of £24,000-£28,000 may favour economic wellbeing at the cost of “financial pressures, prolonged separation, relationships, adults’ mental health and children’s mental health and education” for families.

Where the threshold should ultimately land is, as the review concludes, up to the current government to make an appropriate “a political and ethical decision”.

Further Suggested Changes and Amendments to Financial Requirements

In addition to the above recommendations, the MAC also put forward some additional suggestions for the government to consider in regards to Family visa financial requirements.

These include the following, which have been summarised for brevity and clarity:

• Conducting a government review to help minimise cases where British children are separated from their parents in order to reduce negative impacts on families
• Keeping the threshold the same across all UK regions, but setting the threshold at the “UK excluding London value”, making it easier to meet for London residents but fairer for the rest of the UK
• Greater flexibility in how the financial requirement may be met, including:
  • Job offers counting towards the MIR
  • Allowing remote workers moving to the UK and fulfil the financial requirement
  • Allowing consideration of the main applicant’s income from the initial entry clearance stage
  • Allowing combining cash savings with all earnings from employment and self-employment
  • Simplifying the rules around self-employed income and how it can be used to fulfil the MIR
  • Simplifying the rules for calculating income from employment over a 6 month period
• Not requiring additional funds required for child dependents in order to minimise cases of separation between parents and children. In addition, the review suggests a review of the Parent visa route “to consider making parents of British children eligible for the Parent route regardless of their relationship status.”
• Reviewing the adequate maintenance requirement to ensure parity and allowing applicants to choose whether they can qualify via the minimum income requirement route or adequate maintenance route
• Announcing any potential future increases to the MIR “at least one year” in advance in order to give applicants proper time to prepare

What is the Future of the Family Visa Minimum Income Threshold?

Given the MAC’s findings and evaluation of the MIR, it is highly unlikely that the MIR for Family visas will rise to £38,700 as set out by the Conservatives.

It is instead more likely that the income threshold will be slightly lowered to a figure around the mid-£20,000 mark, or potentially remain at £29,000.

Although the UK government are under no strict obligation to put the MAC’s recommendations into practice, their reviews do typically have a degree of influence over policy decisions. The most recent example of this was the review into the Graduate visa in 2024, where the MAC recommended that the visa be kept in place due to no significant evidence of “abuse” within the system, despite then-immigration minister Robert Jenrick claiming otherwise.

The Graduate visa was subsequently able to operate as normal instead of being scrapped.

The Home Office have stated that the current government are considering the MAC review will respond to it “in due course”, although there is no indication of when exactly an official response may be expected.

There is also uncertainty in regards to how many of the MAC’s recommendations the government will choose to action, given that many of the suggested changes will require fairly significant overhauls to how the Family visa financial requirement operates.

Finally, there is also no official confirmation on how any future changes to the MIR may affect current Family visa holders, such as if a lower threshold may be applied retroactively to those already in the UK on a Family visa.

Despite this, many will no doubt be relieved to hear that the Family visa minimum income requirement will likely not be raised any further beyond the current figure of £29,000.

How Can IAS Help?

If you’re looking to come to the UK on a Family visa and are unsure of how best to navigate future changes, IAS can help.

We are a team of expert and compassionate immigration lawyers who can work with you to explore all of your options to enable you to reunite with your partner in the UK. We can help advise and assist you to navigate the UK immigration rules to help reunite you and your partner in the UK, or help with any other immigration issue you may have.

We can also provide expert advice if you or your partner are concerned that you will not meet future changes to the requirements, providing a complete assessment of your situation and offering tailored advice to help your case.

To arrange an advice session with one of our advisers, reach out to us on +44 (0)333 414 9244 or contact us via our online form.