British citizens who marry foreigners will have to earn at least £20,000 a year if they want to set up their family home in the UK under the new immigration rules by the Conservative government.
Under the proposed changes, lower-paid Britons would be forced to emigrate if they wanted to live with a loved one from overseas.
Similarly, if the foreign-born spouse had children, their British partner would have to earn £30,000 or more, depending on how many children they had. They will also have to pass a strict new “combined attachment test” to prove they share a genuine loyalty to Britain, not another country, and they will remain on probation for five years instead of the current two. The rules of Home Secretary Theresa May are expected to cut immigration, currently standing at 250,000 a year, by 25,000. They are designed primarily to combat claims that some foreigners are marrying Britons to take advantage of the UK’s generous welfare system, Home office sources told Pakistan Today on Sunday.
Government MPs welcomed the move, but Labour spokesman Chris Bryant said, “These new measures have more to do with Theresa May’s abject failure to live up to her promise to cut immigration than fairness.” May is also expected to confirm stringent English-speaking test for husbands, wives or partners of UK citizens applying to come to live in Britain on a family visa. The new guidelines will not apply to partners from within the European Union, as they will continue to have the right to settle here.
According to government officials the welfare system “has been abused for years under Labour by people who marry Britons and within a short period are living off benefits”.
May said it was obvious that British citizens and those settled here should be able to marry or enter into a civil partnership with whomever they choose. But she added, “If they want to establish their family life in the UK rather than overseas, then their spouse or partner must have a genuine attachment to the UK, be able to speak English, and integrate into our society, and must not be a burden on the taxpayer. Families should be able to manage their own lives. If a British citizen or a person settled here cannot support their foreign spouse or partner, they cannot expect the taxpayer to do it for them.”
She also plans to make it easier to deport illegal migrants or convicted foreign nationals. At present they can use the European Convention on Human Rights to avoid being thrown out, claiming they have a “right to a family life” here. But in future, if they want to continue their family life they will have to take their British-based partner overseas.
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants says an extension of the probationary period for foreign spouses could trap more women in violent marriages because of the fear of being deported if they complain.