What To Do If You Don’t Meet the Spouse Visa Minimum Income Requirement

Overview of the Spouse Visa Minimum Income Requirement

In April 2024, the minimum income for Spouse and Partner visas rose from £18,600 to £29,000, with further increases announced. However, the Labour government have halted any further increases to this requirement, rendering the future of the minimum income threshold for Spouse visas uncertain.

This increase has caused concern for many couples both inside and outside the UK, as the new thresholds may have rendered them ineligible for a visa in order to settle as a couple in the UK.

However, there are still provisions available for those who do not immediately meet the Spouse visa financial requirement; as well as alternative ways to meet the criteria, there are also provisions in place to allow couples to settle in the UK due to exceptional or special circumstances, which may afford some the opportunity to bypass the financial requirement and settle in the UK after all.

1. Combining Income With Savings or Other Funds

The “income” requirement for the Spouse and Partner visas does not just include income from employment as the only eligible form of income. Instead, you can use a combination of all of the following to meet the minimum requirement:

• Income earned from self-employment or as a director of a limited company in the UK – this will be on a Self Assessment tax return
• Cash savings above £16,000
• Money from a pension
• Non-work income, such as from property rentals or dividends

In particular, couples may be able to use any cash savings that they each or jointly own in conjunction with any employment-based income to help make up the shortfall.

Note that there are complex rules and guidelines regarding how cash savings can be used to make up for employment income that is below the threshold, including certain cases where savings cannot be combined with employment income. Additionally, the cash must have been held for at least 6 months in order to be viably used to meet the requirement.

2. Being in Receipt of Benefits

You will be completely exempt from having to meet the Spouse visa financial requirements if you or your partner is in receipt of any of the following benefits in the UK:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
• Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supplement or War Disablement Pension under the War Pensions Scheme
• Police Injury Pension
• Child Disability Payment
• Adult Disability Payment

If this applies to you, you will instead have to prove that you and your family have enough money to accommodate and support yourselves without relying on public funds. This is known as the “adequate maintenance” test.

There is no formal minimum you must meet to meet the adequate maintenance test; the Home Office will individually review your case in order to confirm that you have enough money for your situation.

3. Having a Child in the UK

You may be exempt from the minimum income requirement for a Spouse visa if you have a child already in the UK.

However, the child must meet all three of the following criteria:

• They must be a British or Irish citizen
• They must have lived in the UK for at least 7 years
• It must be unreasonable for them to leave the UK

The situations where it would be “unreasonable” for a child to leave the UK are complex and are ultimately made at the discretion of the Home Office. However, potential factors that may be considered may include the following:

• If the child is also a citizen of another country and they could reasonably live there instead of the UK
• The personal links to another country the child might have, or links to relatives in that country who could look after them
• If the child has specific mental, physical or other health needs that could not be easily met outside the UK
• Differences in care, education or other services outside of the UK that may significantly negatively affect the child, their wellbeing or development

Note that this is not an exhaustive list. Concrete documentary proof must also be provided to establish the child’s eligibility for this criteria.

4. Exceptional Circumstances and Insurmountable Obstacles

Broadly speaking, there are accommodations in place to exempt couples from the financial requirement if they are facing “insurmountable obstacles” or “exceptional circumstances” that may necessitate their having to be accepted into the UK.

Appendix FM defines “insurmountable obstacles” as “means the “very significant difficulties which would be faced by the applicant or their partner in continuing their family life together outside the UK and which could not be overcome or would entail very serious hardship for the applicant or their partner.”

The situations where this may apply may be uncommon for most couples, but may generally include situations where it would not be reasonable to expect the couple to live in the partner’s country, such as if they were at risk of persecution or serious harm due to their sexuality or cultural barriers. Other instances also include if there are serious medical or care reasons as to why the couple cannot live anywhere else except for the UK, or if the same applies to a partner’s family member.

The Home Office takes numerous factors are taken into account when considering applications on this basis and assessments can be strict in order to determine if insurmountable obstacles are genuinely present; for this reason, it is unlikely that most couples will find themselves in a situation where they will need to apply under this consideration.

5. Alternative Visas

If you have considered all of the above routes and are still ineligible to apply for a Spouse or Partner visa, you may instead wish to consider an alternative UK visa to allow the non-British partner to immigrate to the UK.

There may be a number of UK visas that may be suitable for the partner, but this is generally entirely dependent on the individual’s own situation, skillsets and background. For instance, there are numerous UK visas and schemes such as the Ancestry visa, B(NO) visa or the EU Settlement Scheme that are only exclusively available to those from certain countries or backgrounds, which means that people cannot normally work to become eligible for them.

Similarly, there are numerous occupation-based work visas that may be suitable such as the Health and Care Worker visa, International Sportsperson visa or Minister of Religion visa, if the individual happens to work in one of those occupations.

It is worth noting that the Skilled Worker visa, the UK’s general work visa, has a minimum salary requirement of £38,700 (or £30,960 in some cases), which means that an applicant is likely not to be eligible for a Skilled Worker visa if they do not meet the Spouse visa income requirement.

It is worth exploring what UK visas are available, and if a visa that allows for long-term permanent settlement may be a viable option for the foreign partner if the couple are absolutely intent on settling in the UK.

How Can IAS Help?

Not meeting the eligibility requirements for the Spouse visa can be a stressful experience, especially if you can’t identify any other viable pathways to being together with your partner in the UK.

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. If you’ve read this article and are still unsure about how to move forward with your partner to settle in the UK, speak to one of our advisers.

We will work with you to assess your case and advise you on the best pathway forwards, as well as offering tailored advice and support for your unique circumstances. We will do everything we can to help you.

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.