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The Supreme Court has ruled on the income requirements for a UK citizen to bring a spouse/civil partner into the country (
[2017] UKSC 10, 22 February 2017). The court did not overturn the requirement for £18,600 minimum income per year (set at £22,400 for a spouse and one non-EEA dependent child), but decided that the present rules for spouses from outside the UK fail to take into account the best interests of children as the primary consideration.
In a press release responding to the judgment, Saira Grant, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said the decision was ‘a real victory for families especially those with children’. Grant believes the decision means that the minimum income threshold requirements have been ‘discredited’ as the Supreme Court ‘has said that alternative funding sources should be taken into account when a person’s right to family life could be breached’.
•Last month, the Tribunal Procedure Committee published a
consultation on changes to the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules 2014 SI No 2604 arising from the Immigration Act (IA) 2016. The committee is asking for views on changes arising from the IA 2016, in particular a number of changes involving bail. The deadline for responses is 23 March.