Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has carried out modelling on potential changes in migration numbers caused by the savings and salary thresholds for spousal visa applications being raised or lowered.

The savings and salary thresholds for spousal visa applications are dictated by the minimum income requirement. It was set following advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee and considering the Policy Equality Statement published on 13 June 2012. In February 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the lawfulness of the minimum income requirement under the family Immigration Rules, including in terms of equalities impacts and in light of the published Policy Equality Statement.

Any future amendment to the minimum income requirement would be subject to thorough equality and impact analysis and a further Policy Equality Statement will be published.