Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to raise the minimum income requirement for family immigration visas to £34,000; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of such an increase on (a) Leicester and (b) other low average income areas.

The financial requirements for the Family Immigration Rules include the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) which is currently set at £29,000 and is intended to maintain the economic wellbeing of the UK whilst respecting family life.

The Home Secretary has announced her intention to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the financial requirements in the Family Immigration Rules.

Conducting a review of the financial requirements across the family routes will ensure we have a clear and consistent system. There will be no changes to the current threshold of £29,000, or the ways in which the MIR can be met, until the MAC review is complete.