Partner and family visa minimum income requirement faces High Court challenge

Reunite Families UK applies for judicial review of policy it says discriminates against women and minorities.

One of Rishi Sunak’s measures for cutting net migration is being challenged in the high court on the grounds that it is separating children from their parents and discriminates against women and minorities.

The Home Office has raised the minimum income requirement (MIR) so that anyone applying for a visa to bring a loved one from overseas must earn £29,000 a year, which will increase to £38,700 next year.

An application for judicial review has been filed this week by the pressure group Reunite Families UK (RFUK) saying that the measure is contrary to the UN convention on the rights of the child. The claim will question whether there was a sound legal basis for the increase and whether the decision was taken in line with official Whitehall advice.

RFUK claims the new MIR breaches the Equality Act because it will have a disproportionately adverse effect on women, members of ethnic minority groups, and young people.

The MIR increase was introduced in April and has been blamed for splitting couples of different nationalities and forcing families to separate, with most of the UK’s population earning too little to live in the UK with a foreign spouse.

Court documents will claim that it breaches the secretary of state’s legal obligations, which enact article 3 of the UN convention on the rights of the child.

We shall follow this news topic closely and publish any updates once they are available.