The ‘cruel’ new visa rules set to break up families | News

When the new home secretary announced a change to UK visa rules recently, the reaction was immediate: families across the country were pitched into crisis planning. Thousands of families with one British partner and one born abroad will be hit by the new income threshold from next spring. Only people earning at least £38,700 will be allowed to bring family members to join them – up from £18,600. Many may be forced either to live separately or to leave Britain to be together.

As social affairs correspondent Robert Booth tells Hannah Moore, hundreds of people whose lives could be turned upside down by the new rules have contacted the Guardian warning that they will have to leave the UK if they want to stay with their foreign partners. Many work in sectors with severe worker shortages, such as care and social work.

Now some of those families are working together to challenge the government to clarify the new rules – and challenge them in the courts if necessary.

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