Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his Answer of 25 January 2023 to Question 125286 on Visas: Married People, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the Minimum Income Requirement on levels of (a) family and (b) spousal separation.

The Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) was implemented in July 2012, following advice from the Migration Advisory Committee, reflecting the income at which a British family could no longer access income-related benefits. It was introduced to ensure family migrants are supported at a reasonable level, do not become a burden on the taxpayer and can participate sufficiently in everyday life to facilitate their integration into British society.

The level of the MIR has not increased since it was introduced in 2012.

The Home Office considers the impact on families, particularly children, in the review and implementation of all its policies.