UK Family Visa New Income Requirements 2025
A family visa in the UK means that if you are a British citizen or have settled status in the UK, and you want your spouse, children, or sometimes other relatives to come and live with you in the UK, they have to get a family visa. A very important condition for this visa is that the income (salary or earnings) of the person who is inviting their relatives to the UK must be above a certain limit. This condition is to ensure that the family can support themselves in the UK and do not need government assistance (benefits).
Getting a UK family visa has become more financially difficult as the minimum income requirement has been significantly increased. New applicants will have to earn more, while there is some relaxation for existing visa holders.
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What is the most important change?
Previously, the requirement was that you had to have an annual income of at least £18,600 but this has been increased to £29,000 from 11 April 2024. And the government intends to increase this further to £38,700 by early 2025, but this is still under discussion and may change (as some sources have also spoken of £23,000 to £25,000, but £29,000 is currently in force and £38,700 is intended). In short you will now have to earn more money to invite your relatives to the UK.
Who will this new requirement apply to?
· New applications: If you are applying for a family visa for the first time and your spouse or children are not in the UK, this new high income requirement will apply to you.
· Visa extension: If you had a family visa before 11 April 2024 and are now extending it, you may be subject to the old £18,600 requirement. This means that existing visa holders will not need to meet the new high income requirement immediately. This is good news.
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How can you show income?
The UK government does not say that your income can only be in the form of salary. You can show your income in a number of ways:
· Employment income (salary): If you are employed, your annual salary must be above the required threshold.
· Self-employment income: If you run your own business, you can show income from your business.
· Savings: If your income is a little low, you can also show your good savings (cash savings) in the bank as income. There is a special calculation for this to see how much savings will be considered as income.
· Pension: If you receive a pension that will also be considered income.
· Rental income: If you have a property that pays rent, you can also include that.
· Duration of money in the account: Generally, you need to show that your income or savings have been in your account regularly for at least the last 6 months.
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Why has this change been made?
The UK government is making this change to:
· Reduce immigration: They want to reduce the number of people coming to the UK overall.
· Families are self-sufficient: The government wants families who come to the UK to be financially strong enough to not need public funds/benefits.
· To know more information about this update you can visit the official link here.