UKBA Letter to Andy - Settlement Visa Changes

[Terpe]

Andy received a letter from the UKBA in response to his e-mail
correspondence relating to settlement visa changes.

Andy asked me to post the response here as it was sent in PDF format and he was unable to convert it to text.

The UKBA response is typically guarded but nevertheless provides some good 'first hand' information about the current and potential future settlement visa issues regarding maintenance.

So with Andy's kind permission (thank you Andy) here is the UKBA letter in full:-

March 2012

Dear Mr xxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your email correspondence of 2 February to the Immigration Minister
about your partner, who wishes to apply for entry clearance to come to the UK. Your correspondence has been forwarded to Visa Customer Services for reply, as this unit responds to enquiries about entry clearance matters arising overseas.

We propose to introduce a new minimum income threshold for sponsors of spouses
and partners, to bring greater clarity to maintenance requirements and to ensure
family migrants are supported at a reasonable level that ensures they do not become
a burden on the taxpayer and allows sufficient participation in everyday life to
facilitate integration. We have asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee
to advise on what the threshold should be.

Those wishing to bring a non-EEA national spouse or partner (and dependants) to
the UK already have to show they can maintain and accommodate them, However, it
can be difficult for us to apply this requirement consistently, and for sponsors to
assess whether they meet it. The threshold is set at Income Support level, and there
are two possible thresholds for those wishing to sponsor dependents: one based on
the pre-September 2005 benefits system and one based on the post-September
2005 benefits system of child tax credits.

The current maintenance threshold is set at Income support level following a court
ruling in 2006 in which the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal suggested that it would
not be appropriate to have migrant families existing on resources that would be less
than Income Support level for a British family of that size. The joint income of the
couple is currently taken into consideration when assessing the adequacy of the
funds available. To satisfy caseworkers that the couple will be able to maintain
themselves without recourse to public funds, they have to provide evidence of the
following:

- Sufficient independent means
- Employment for one or both of the parties
- Sufficient prospects of employment for one or both parties

A couple who are unable to produce sufficient evidence to meet the maintenance
requirement may provide an undertaking from members of their families that they will
support the couple until they can support themselves from their own resources.
If the dependants to the applicant are going to accompany them to the UK, resources
must be available for the whole family.

Each applicant for entry clearance to come to the UK must demonstrate that they
meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules at the time of their
application

Yours sincerely


Tracy Horlock

Visa Customer Services

[lastlid]

Cheers Andy, for the effort. So its just a question of exactly when and how much.....

[stevie c]

Cheers Andy, for the effort. So its just a question of exactly when and how much.....

Yes lastlid & if it will affect those already here waiting for ilr before these new rules are introduced.

[andy222]

Yes laslid we will just have to wait. Thanks goes to our Mod who got it on here. Thanks Terpe.

[lastlid]

Yes lastlid & if it will affect those already here waiting for ilr before these new rules are introduced.

Yep. I am looking out for that one Steve.....

[andy222]

You should be ok lads. If your wives are already here I cant see any problem.

[stevie c]

I hope so Andy but that said these rules should never be allowed to be brought in.....splitting up & destroying families lifes because of if you are on a high income or not

[Moy]

my worries are now developing.ILR on april and cnt do anything until then.

[Terpe]

my worries are now developing.ILR on april and cnt do anything until then.

Please don't be worried Moy. I cannot see anything that will impact to your situation.
Stay positive, prepare for your ILR application and get it submitted 28 days early.
God Bless and good luck.

[sars_notd_virus]

if it will affect those already here waiting for ilr before these new rules are introduced.

I hope we will not be affected by the new rules,...I feel bad for those honest people who wants to come here to be with their partners , I am also paying tax working hard , but the more i work hard the more i pay for those people who cant be bother to work

[grahamw48]

I hope we will not be affected by the new rules,...I feel bad for those honest people who wants to come here to be with their partners , I am also paying tax working hard , but the more i work hard the more i pay for those people who cant be bother to work

.
meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules at the time of their
application

[sars_notd_virus]

.
meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules at the time of their
application

hmmm we'll see, they can change the law as often as they want apparently