Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what protections are in place for self-employed people whose income continues to be affected by the covid-19 outbreak after 31 July 2020, and who are unable to meet the Minimum Income Requirement when sponsoring a non-EEA partner’s UK visa.

The Home Office has established a range of measures to support those affected by Covid-19. For the purpose of the minimum income requirement, in addition to the range of ways the requirement can already be met through sources of non-employment income:

• a temporary loss of annual income due to Covid-19 between 1 March 2020 and 31 July 2020 will generally be disregarded for self-employment income, along with the impact on employment income from the same period for future applications beyond 31 July. Income received via the Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will also be taken into account;

• a temporary loss of employment income between 1 March and 31 July 2020 due to Covid-19 will be disregarded, provided the requirement was met for at least six months up to March 2020;

• an applicant or sponsor furloughed under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be deemed as earning 100% of their salary;

• evidential flexibility may be applied where an applicant or sponsor experiences difficulty accessing specified evidence due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Guidance for our customers is available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chapter-8-appendix-fm-family-members.

These are unprecedented times and as the UK returns to work, we continue to monitor the situation closely and take these exceptional circumstances into account. We may make further adjustments to requirements where necessary and appropriate to ensure people are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control.