Damian Green MP

Minister for Immigration

Home Office

2 Marsham Street

London, SW1P 4DF

Date: June 24^th 2013

Dear Damian,

I am writing to you to express concerns raised by my constituents regarding the family migration rules that came into effect in 2012. As you know, the family migration rules make it increasingly difficult for UK residents who have married abroad to return to the UK with their new spouses, in turn creating practical and emotional challenges. I previously sponsored EDM 194 on this issue and I again urge you to review the current family migration rules to ensure that British citizens are not prevented from legitimately living in the UK with their loved ones.

The current earnings threshold of £18,600 per year is insurmountable for many people - it even excludes some professionals such as nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces from gaining the necessary visa for their partners to enter the UK with them. Furthermore, this threshold disproportionately impacts on British citizens who are either full-time mothers or fathers; if the child does not have parents who are both EEA residents, they are inevitably going to be separated from one of their parents until the visa conditions have been satisfied. Parents in this situation are given the choice of either living in the UK alone, or living elsewhere with their partners, neither of which is reasonable.

In its June 2013 report, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration recommended that “family migrations rules should ensure that children are supported to live with their parents in the UK where their best interests require this.” The requirements of the family migration rules are having quite the opposite effect and I know from my constituents that this is proving highly detrimental both to children’s upbringing and to relationships between parents.

One case illustrates the problems particularly well. A constituent has been in very well paid employment in Japan for the past six years and, during that time, has married and had a child. As his overseas earnings are not recognised by the visa application he will need to return to the UK and find new employment with earnings above the necessary threshold in order to be able to meet the necessary criteria for his wife to be granted a visa. During this time he will have to be separated from his wife and child. His wife, who has been on statutory maternity leave, does not have access to any payslips for the previous six months, so my constituent is unable to use his savings as a basis for entering the UK. He also worries that a large part of his savings would be lost in the application process, bringing him below the savings threshold. As each application costs £851, and applications frequently fail due to minor mistakes, this is an understandable concern. The current family migration rules as currently formulated do not allow for this constituent to move to the UK with his family.

In addition, the family migration laws present further anxieties and worries to families who have initially managed to meet the necessary visa requirements. The review process means that families who do not have savings amounting to £62,500 or are unemployed six months after the initial visa is issued still face the prospect of being split up. Moreover, the regulations make it virtually impossible for elderly, disabled and student British citizens to live in the UK with their partners. Their earnings usually fall short of the £18,600 threshold and visa applications from partners are thus invariably denied.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration’s report also recommended that non-EEA residents’ earnings and third party support should be taken into consideration when reviewing a visa application. In some cases, although the British resident may not meet the £18,600 threshold, their partner may earn a considerable income, be promised employment in the UK that meets the threshold, or have skills that mean there is a high possibility of securing well-paid employment in the UK. Surely there is a way to allow these factors to be taken into full account when determining family visa applications.

Given the impact on my constituents, I implore you to review the family migration rules with a view to ensuring families are kept together in future, not drive them apart.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion