Home Office increases Spouse, Partner, and Family Visa income requirement to £29,000

Dec 22 2023

The partner and family visa minimum income will rise from £18,600 to £29,000, not £38,700. A child element to the minimum income criterion will be eliminated.

Revisions to £29,000 Minimum Income Requirement for Families

When policy specifics are published next year, transitional arrangements will be detailed.

If you have a Family Visa such as Spouse, Civil Partner, or Unmarried Partner on the five-year partner route, you can apply to extend your stay or settle in the UK by meeting the current £18,600 income requirement instead of the increased £29,000 threshold.

To apply for a Family Visa (e.g. Spouse, Civil Partner, or Unmarried Partner) on the five-year partner route before the minimum income threshold is raised from £18,600, your application will be assessed against the current requirement and not the increased threshold of £29,000. This applies to any children seeking to join or accompany you as their parent.

Please note that if you were granted a Fianc(é)e Visa before the minimum income threshold was raised from £18,600 to £29,000, you will be assessed against the current income requirement of £18,600 when applying for a Family Visa on the five-year partner route.

If you do not already have a Family Visa,

Families will be relieved that the Home Office has backed down from its plan to immediately raise the minimum income requirement for a spouse or partner visa from £18,600 to £38,700, but the new £29,000 threshold is still above the average UK working salary and could prevent thousands of couples from living together in the UK.

If the new £29,000 financial requirement applies to you and you do not think you can meet it, you may choose to apply for your husband, partner, or fiancé to join you before the new minimum income requirement is imposed in Spring 2024. All applicants should know that the government will keep its £38,700 family visa cap. The government has said that the minimum income threshold for a spouse or partner visa will increase from £18,600 to £29,000 in Spring 2024, but it will rise to £38,700 in early 2025.
The next parliamentary election is in January 2025, thus the £38,700 rise may never happen.