UK Immigration: MAC recommends lowering UK Family Visa financial thresholds

The long-awaited review of the financial requirements for UK Family Visas was published by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on 10 June 2025. 

As explained in further detail below, the key headline is that the MAC has recommended against a further increase to the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) for Family Visas. While the MAC does not offer a simple technical answer, it indicates that a lowering of the current financial requirements could be a more appropriate way to balance the UK’s economic interests with the rights of British citizens and their families. 

This is potentially welcome news for partners and children of British citizens and of settled residents, although it remains to be seen to what extent the Government will follow the recommendations and what comes next for the Family Visa requirements.

Background and current Family Visa rules

As explained in our recent article, there have been several changes to the financial requirements for UK Family Visas since 2024 which have affected British citizens and those settled in the UK who wish to sponsor their non-British partners and dependent children for a visa.

The current position is that, as of 11 April 2024, families of British citizens wishing to live in the UK need to demonstrate a minimum income of £29,000 per year or a minimum of £88,500 held in cash savings. This marked a significant increase on the thresholds which had previously been in place. The former Conservative government had intended to implement further increases at the end of 2024 and again in 2025 to bring the minimum salary up to £38,700, in line with the current Skilled Worker threshold. 

However, after the Conservatives lost the election in July 2024, the new Labour Home Secretary froze the threshold at £29,000 and commissioned the MAC to undertake a review of the financial requirements for the family migration route. The MAC was instructed to consider the MIR in a way that “balances the economic wellbeing of the UK with the right to family life”. This is the report that has now been published. 

The Government will now need to consider the MAC’s recommendations, and we expect a new family route policy to follow at the end of the year.  

Key recommendations for the future of Family Visas

The MAC review stresses that there is no simple answer to the level at which the financial requirement should be set for Family Visas. Ultimately, it is a balance which the Government will need to strike between various economic, social and ethical concerns, including respecting the rights of British citizens to have a family life together in the UK, versus how this interacts with various economic factors and the Government’s overall plan to reduce net migration as set out in the recent Immigration White Paper.

Nonetheless, Professor Brian Bell, Chair of the MAC, notes in the covering letter to the report that:

“Our analysis and research show that the MIR can have significant negative impacts on families. The impacts on British children separated from one of their parents are particularly concerning. We encourage the Home Office to review current policy to ensure that separation of children from parents is minimized where possible.”

The key headlines are as follows:

• Advising against increasing the MIR: The review advises against any further increase to the minimum income threshold. It explicitly states that aligning the minimum salary for families with the higher requirement for Skilled Worker visas (currently £38,700), as the former Conservative Government had intended, would be inappropriate as the two routes have completely different objectives. It adds that doing so would most likely conflict with international law and obligations such as the Article 8 right to a family life. On this basis, it seems unlikely that the Labour Government will be increasing the financial requirement to the previously anticipated £38,700.
  
  
• Potentially lowering the MIR: The MAC confirms that the UK’s current MIR threshold of £29,000 is high compared to other high-income countries such as France and the US, stating that, “In other words, other countries tend to put more weight on family life relative to economic wellbeing”.
  
  The MAC report provides several options for calculations, for example based on living standards or benefits thresholds, which generally result in a range from £21,000 to £28,000. In one example, the MAC concludes that £23,000 to £25,000 would be an appropriate level if the Government wanted to ensure that families are able to support themselves financially by requiring the sponsor to work, but not necessarily requiring them to earn a salary above the minimum wage. (Indeed, we note that the current threshold of £29,000 is significantly above what is achievable for some working families, meaning many partners and children of British citizens are not able to reunite and live together in the UK.)

• Simplifying how finances are calculated and evidenced: As explained in our previous article, the current Immigration Rules for Family Visas are strict around whose income can be counted, how it is counted, whether various sources of finances can be combined, and which mandatory documents are needed to evidence this in order to make a successful visa application. The complexity of the Rules has been criticised by lawyers, the courts and rights groups for many years, and the MAC report has now added to the calls for a simplification of the financial requirements. The MAC also highlighted the especially onerous and complex rules for self-employed applicants.
  
  
• Greater flexibility in whose income can be counted: An additional recommendation was for the Home Office to consider greater flexibility in allowing overseas applicants to rely on UK job offers, and allowing income earned remotely from overseas companies to be taken into account. If implemented, this would be beneficial for families where the British partner is the primary caregiver for children and unable to work, as such families are particularly negatively impacted by the current Rules, which do not allow the migrant partner’s overseas income to be counted (even if substantial).

What’s next after the MAC review?

We will need to wait and see how the Government responds to the MAC’s review and what changes, if any, are made to the current minimum income requirement for Family Visas. In the meantime, we expect that the current level of £29,000 in income, equivalent to £88,500 in cash savings, will remain in place.

In terms of a timeline, the recent Immigration White Paper confirmed the Government’s intention to set out a new family policy by the end of 2025, and so further information should be available then, if not sooner. In addition to potential updates on the financial requirement, there are also likely to be changes to the English language requirements for settlement and other factors affecting Family Visa applicants, so it is important to check the current position and seek advice before applying.

If you would like further guidance on how the changes may affect you and your family, please contact our Immigration team as we would be happy to assist.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, June 2025