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BREXIT

What Brits in Europe need to know about UK’s new minimum income rules

From Thursday April 11th it will become harder for Britons living in Europe to move back to the UK with their foreign partner and family because the minimum salary threshold rises steeply.

Published: 6 April 2024 10:00 CEST
Updated: 11 April 2024 12:37 CEST
What Brits in Europe need to know about UK's new minimum income rules
Returning to the UK is about to become harder for Brits in Europe with foreign partners. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

British citizens who intend to move to the UK with a foreign partner have to meet several requirements to make their plans a reality. If they apply for a partner visa, one of the requirements is having a minimum income showing they can support their spouse without relying on the social security system.

Other European countries impose similar rules, but meeting such demand in the UK is particularly difficult, and it will be even more so with the salary threshold increasing on April 11th.

When the UK was part of the European Union, British citizens could move back to the UK with their EU and non-EU partners without such requirements under EU free movement rules. But because immigration policies are a national matter, these rights were not preserved under the EU-UK withdrawal agreement.

Despite not being protected by the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, the UK granted Britons living in the EU a ‘grace period’, until March 30th 2022, to return to the UK with foreign spouses and receive status under the EU Settlement Scheme. After that date, British nationals who return to the UK from the EU with a non-UK partner are also subject to these visa and income requirement rules.

Immigration barriers

The minimum income requirement (MIR) was established in 2012 as part of the toughening of UK immigration policies. British citizens (plus EU/EEA nationals with pre-settled status) need to have a wage with a sufficient annual income in order for them to be able to sponsor their foreign partner’s visa. In other words if they want their partner to come with them, they need to earn a certain amount. This has left Britons living in Europe feeling as though they are “locked abroad” and in “exile”.

READ ALSO: ‘I feel exiled’: Britons in Europe locked abroad with foreign partners

The minimum income up until now was set at £18,600 (€21,700), or £22,400 (€26,100) if the couple had one child, plus another £2,400 (€2,800)for each other child. 

But these income requirements will rise steeply from April 11th 2024.

From this date the minimum a British national or long-term resident will need to earn if they want to return home will increase to £29,000 (€33,800) and up to £38,000 (€44,313) by spring 2025, although there will no longer be an additional amount for accompanying children. Alternatively, families have needed to prove they have at least £62,500 (€72,884) in cash, which from 11 April will increase to £88,500 (€103,207).

Anyone who applied before April 11th won’t be affected by the rise.

“This will ensure people only bring dependants to the UK they can support financially,” the UK government has said.

The minimum income is not the only requirement to secure a spouse visa for a non-UK partner and children.

There are visa fees (£1,846 for applications from outside the UK or £1,048 from within) and the immigration health surcharge, which increased on 6 February from £624 to £1,035 for adults and from £470 to £776 for under 18s per year.

In addition, they need to have adequate accommodation and the foreign spouse needs to prove that they have a good knowledge of English.

“The rules are complex and even applicants who fulfil all the requirements struggle to tick all the boxes needed in order to be successful,” Anna Hawkes, Legal Services Manager at UK-based law firm Seraphus, told The Local.

How the MIR works

When it comes to the minimum income requirement, if the sponsoring partner is employed and has been employed for more than six months with the same UK employer, he or she must prove six months of earnings that would make up the equivalent to an annual salary of £18,600, soon £29,000. If the sponsor has not been with the same employer in the UK for six months, he or she will need to show earnings over the threshold in the 12 months before the application.

It the employment is outside the UK, in addition to the earnings, the sponsors have to show they will keep the income they have had abroad after moving to the UK (for example if they are digital nomads) or that they have a job offer in the UK.

Non-employment income, such as property rentals, dividends, royalties, interests, maintenance payments from former partners, pensions or allowances, also counts, but proof is required for 12 months.

If the sponsor is self-employed or the director of a limited company, the income will be that of the last full financial year (which runs from April 6th to April 5th) or the average from the last two financial years. What counts is the gross taxable profit.

If the minimum income requirement is not met, the sponsor or the applicant or both combined need to show they have sufficient cash savings. These amount to the minimum income requirement multiplied by 2.5 and added to £16,000. This currently makes £62,500, but from 11 April it will be £88,500.

Another alternative is for the partner to seek another visa route, for example through their employment.

If requirements cannot be met, it is possible to apply for the right to remain in the UK on the basis of ‘exceptional circumstances’, for instance when it would not be reasonable to expect a child under 18 to leave the UK or if there are “insurmountable obstacles to family life” with a partner staying outside the UK.

It is also possible to request a court to recognise the right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights. If the family is living abroad, the reasons why they need to return to the UK will be taken into consideration if ‘exceptional circumstances’ is argued, legal specialist Hawkes explains.

This could be for example if a close family member in the UK needs care.

As regards the timing for processing applications, it currently takes around 24 weeks (around 8 weeks if applying from the UK) to obtain a decision when applying from abroad, says Anna Hawkes.

“Applicants should be able to pay for priority service in order to get a decision in 6 weeks. However, it can differ from individual visa centres so it will depend on where the applicant lives,” she added.

A petition on the UK parliament website asks the government to reconsider the minimum income policy. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, it will have to be debated in parliament.

This article has been produced by Europe Street news.

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BREXIT

‘Get the TIE now’: Brits in Spain urged to exchange residency document

The British Embassy in Madrid says it's “really important” that the 200,000+ UK nationals in Spain with a green residency certificate exchange it for a TIE card "as soon as possible" to avoid issues with the EU’s new Entry Exit System. 

Published: 13 May 2024 17:00 CEST
'Get the TIE now': Brits in Spain urged to exchange residency document

British authorities in Spain have urged thousands of Brits in Spain who have held onto their old green Spanish residency certificates since Brexit “to follow suit and get a TIE as soon as possible, ahead of the introduction of the EU’s new Entry Exit System (EES), expected in autumn this year”.

“It’s really important that any British person who lives in Spain gets the TIE – not only because it is the most durable and dependable way to prove your rights in Spain, but also to avoid disruption at the border when the EU’s Entry Exit Scheme comes into force,” outgoing British Ambassador Hugh Elliott said in the statement to the press.  

“We are working with the Spanish Government and the EU to prepare for the implementation of this new scheme and we have requested that more TIE appointments are made available.”

READ MORE: How Brits in Spain can exchange their green residency document for a TIE in 2024

The green certificate – issued in either card or A4 sheet size – is the residency document of EU nationals and is officially called Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión. They do not contain a photo, nor do they have an expiry date, and they’re sometimes wrongly called NIEs. 

Example of a smaller green residency certificate, which used to be issued to UK nationals residing in Spain before Brexit took place.

The British Embassy has encouraged Brits with these green certificates to exchange them since the Spanish government began issuing Withdrawal Agreement TIEs to Brits in July 2020.

However, the exchange has never been made compulsory, just strongly encouraged.

The TIE, which stands for Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, is the biometric residence card that non-EU residents in Spain get, so this corresponds to the new status of UK nationals. 

A 2023 study by Spain’s Immigration Observatory revealed that more than half of UK nationals living in Spain last year hadn’t exchanged their green residency documents for TIEs following Brexit. 

This amounted to 211,274 UK nationals residing in Spain who preferred to keep their green certificates rather than follow the advice of British authorities.

However in their latest announcement, the British Embassy says “most British people living in Spain already have the TIE, having abandoned the formerly issued paper Green Certificate following Brexit”.  

The justification for encouraging the exchange up to now has been mainly to avoid problems with border and airport officials, as there have been some British travellers whose green certificates were not recognised as valid residency documents and weren’t allowed to board their flights.

“The biometric TIE proves that the holder is a Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary with the right to reside and work in Spain,” the embassy writes. 

So what’s changed now to increase the urgency of British authorities? 

The EU’s new Entry Exit system, which has been marred with problems and delays since its announcement.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about Spain and the EU’s new Entry Exit System

“The EES will require all non-EU short stay travellers to register via an automated system at the border. They will need to provide their name, passport details, biometric data (fingerprints and captured facial images) and the date and place of entry and exit upon entering Spain,” wrote the British Embassy in Madrid on Monday. 

“This will replace the current passport stamping at the border. These details will be held on file for three years, meaning Britons making repeat visits to Spain within a three-year period will not have to go through the same registration process each time.  

“To be exempt from registering with the EES, British residents in the EU will need to show a valid uniform-format biometric card, which in Spain is the TIE.” 

In essence, as the EU’s travel system is going fully digital and biometric, the green certificates will no longer be accepted. 

As the UK Embassy writes: “The non-biometric Green Certificate, though a valid residency document in Spain, was issued prior to EU Exit and does not feature in the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement or in Annex 22 of the Schengen Border Guard Handbook. 

“Therefore, it is expected that Green Certificate holders may lose out on the chance to be exempt from registering. 

“As a result, they may encounter difficulties and delays at the border, especially when entering other EU countries where the Green Certificate may not be recognised.”

It’s important to note that the British Embassy has not stated that is now compulsory for Brits to exchange their green certificates for TIEs, but they are strongly advised to do so.

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