| News on the UK spouse/partner immigration system |
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In September 2024 the Labour government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review family visa financial requirements (here). The UK Home Office has also published an equality impact assessment on the minimum income requirement in October 2024 (here). The MAC collected evidence until December 2024 and received over 2,000 submissions. Their report and recommendations are expected to be released in June 2025.
You can read our submission to the MAC review here. You may also be interested to read the highly critical submission from the Scottish Government (here).
After Reunite Families UK’s petition ‘Don’t increase the income requirement for family visas to £38,700‘ gathered more than 100,000 signatures (here), a Westminster Hall debate on the income requirement for family visas was held on 20 January 2025. You can watch the debate here, or read the transcript here.
You can also find the UK Government Research Briefing (13 January 2025) ‘The financial (minimum income) requirement for partner visas’ here.
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| Brexit Couples Project Research Updates |
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We are happy to announce that we have conducted almost 100 interviews with more than 60 UK-EU couples, and have completed our interview phase. We now move to analysing the fascinating data. We want to thank all our participants for supporting our project! Please do reach out if you have any news about the visa process you want to share with us.
We are currently working on a podcast series to highlight some of the themes emerging from our research. We are thrilled to work with the podcast producer Lincoln Van der Westhuizen, who has lived experience with the UK spouse visa system. The podcasts will be available later this year on various podcast platforms such as Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts.
We are also planning two creative workshops (one in person, one online – dates to be confirmed). Participants will help to create illustrations for project publications and media engagements.
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- Brexit Couples Project Interim Report (December 2024) (here).
- Hoellerer & Charsley (3 Feb 2025) Migration Mobilities Bristol Blog: ‘Are the UK’s immigration rules forcing couples into marriage?’ (here).
Media engagements (also see here)
- Katharine spoke on the BBC Radio Bristol Breakfast show about the family immigration system.
- Katharine featured in the BBC News article “Family visa rules are ‘a tax on love’, says MP” by Ana da Silva.(here).
- Helena appeared on Radio Télévision Suisse (Switzerland) to discuss the impact of Brexit on UK-EU couples with RTS journalist Salomé Laurent – Listen to ‘Les amours contrariées par le Brexit‘ (in French) here. You can also read an article about the report (in French) (here).
READ MORE >
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| Other Resources & Reports |
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IMPORTANT NEWS:
EU citizens (without any visa or residence permit in the UK) who want to visit the UK are required to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) from 2 April 2025. They can apply through the ‘UK ETA App’ (Google Play, Apple App Store), or via Gov.uk if they do not have access to a smartphone. Decisions can take up to 3 working days. Read more about the UK ETA and costs here.
The UK government has announced an increase in (family) visa fees from 9 April 2025. Reunite Families UK has calculated that the 5-year route to settlement for partners (including visa and renewal fees, IHS, ILR) will cost £11,463. These numbers do not include language or health tests, or costs for any use of legal services.
Other reports & resources:
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Free Movement (5 March 2025): ‘The 180-day absence rule doesn’t apply to people with a spouse or partner visa’. (here)
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Migration Observatory (November 2024) ‘Report: Migrants’ experiences of the UK immigration system’. (here)
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EU Citizens UK – A website run by Seraphus, a well-known immigration law firm, with free information and support for EU citizens in the UK. (here)
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Have you checked out the new section of our website featuring creative projects on family migration, Brexit and the UK family immigration regime? (here)
You can find further sources of support and links to other relevant research projects here.
READ MORE >
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| UK Immigration statistics: Partner/Spouse migration in numbers |
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Nicole has been analysing the latest spouse/partner immigration statistics for the year 2024 (from the February 2025 release here).
With more than 91,000 visa applications, family migration numbers (which include children, partners/spouses and other family members) were up 16% in 2024, but still only accounted for 9% of UK visa applications (excluding visitor visa applications).
Partner/spouse visa applications increased by 3% in 2024 at 56,000, accounting for 5% of UK visa applications (excluding visitor visa applications).
 EU nationals applying for partner/spouse visas were up 36% in 2024, at more than 3,000.
Applications for family and partner visas have increased, but the number of visas granted have fallen. The government says this “is likely due to the increase in the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) that took effect in April 2024, with fewer partners and sponsors able to meet the higher income threshold required for visa eligibility” (from UK Government Statistics (27 February 2025) – ‘Why do people come to the UK? Family’, here).
** Graphs based on UK Immigration Statistics; created by N. Hoellerer
More migration statistics
- House of Commons (2 December 2024) ‘Migration statistics research briefing’ (here)
READ MORE >
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| Other news & announcements |
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© Brexit Couples Research Project (University of Bristol and University of Exeter) 2025
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