Help Us Fight in Court the Cruel MIR Increase
Last December, the Tories said they would double the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) – a minimum salary that British citizens and settled residents must earn if they want their loved ones to join them in the UK.
The government plans to raise the MIR in three stages. The first increase, from £18,600 to £29,000 came into force in April.
By spring 2025 it plans to raise the threshold to £38,700. Yet 70% of the UK workforce earns less than this amount, and fewer than 15% of Home Office employees earn more than this salary.
Thousands of families have been separated since Theresa May first introduced these rules in 2012. This massive hike will mean that even more families will have to split up, while others will be unable to come back to the UK.
Even the current level is a struggle for many people – women in particular – who have been forced into single parenting and now juggle work and childcare while their partners are prevented from joining them in the UK.
And the new rules will significantly impact future generations encouraged to travel and live abroad, effectively preventing people from forming relationships with those they meet overseas due to the higher threshold.
Reunite Families UK is taking the government to court, standing up for the thousands of couples and families who get in touch every day, expressing their shock and concern that they can’t be with their loved ones in their country of birth or adoption.
We must stand up for our right to family life. Help us stop the cruel increase to the Minimum Income Requirement.
Let’s keep families united.
We are grateful to the Good Law Project for providing support to Reunite Families UK by running this crowdfunder. This campaign is not affiliated with any of Good Law Project’s cases. The net income raised, after payment processing fees, will be paid to Leigh Day’s bank account. Good Law Project will not take a service fee or charge any core cost contributions
Read the stories of some of the people affected
Polly and Saroch
“We’ve been separated for several months now, with my husband missing key moments in our children’s lives such as birthdays and first days at a new school.
We still have no idea how to move forward and it feels impossible to make plans as we never know how requirements will continue to change or how long this separation will last.'” Polly said.
Stuart Yates
“I am retired now, after having lived and worked in Spain for over 16 years as a teacher. I met my wife 8 years ago and 6 years ago we got married. She came to Spain and we have lived together ever since. But, now that I am retired, I want to come home. My daughters are in the UK, I was born there, lived most of my life there. It is my country and I want to retire there, with my wife.
But, I am being penalised because I happened to have met and fallen in love with a foreign girl. The income threshold is now set so high that it means, as a pensioner, it is impossible for me to meet it. It is unfair and does not take into account individual circumstances, like mine.“
Sarah and Matteo
“I am suffering from anxiety and depression because of the MIR and knowing I will likely never be able to return to live in my home country. My children are affected too as they miss their cousins and grandparents in the UK and don’t understand why they can’t live near them.
Not being able to return is causing much distress to my family. I am unable to help with my family’s business in the UK and will be unable to care for my parents when they grow older.
Being told by someone else that I cannot return to my own country with my husband is infuriating. I feel a lack of control over my own life and feel abandoned and ignored by my government. It is heartbreaking and has destroyed all of our hopes and dreams for the future.
Ly and her husband
“The mental state of both myself and my husband has deteriorated due to the separation. We previously lived in Hanoi where we unfortunately experienced discrimination because we were an interracial couple, with the brunt of the abuse being directed towards me. Then I came into the UK on a tourist visa, with the intention of waiting for my husband to start a job and apply for the spouse visa after 6 months.
Then came the announcement by the government and both of us felt mentally broken, as if whatever we did, we were not going to be able to live our lives together. It is almost indescribable the level of heartache we have experienced. We have both experienced high levels of anxiety.
My mother-in-law is also affected by the increase of the MIR, as my husband’s brother is also married to a foreigner. So if they continue to increase the MIR, both my husband and his brother will in essence be exiled, and their mother won’t be able to live near her 2 sons, daughters in law and grandchildren.
