“The right to fall in love with a stranger is something only the rich can have,” a mother-of-three has warned, as Home Office visa changes threaten to split her family.
Families facing uncertainty over “draconian” measures are presenting petitions to Downing Street on Valentine’s Day, which have attracted more than 250,000 signatures.
Italy-based Scot Sarah Douglas, 42, fears being forced to live 1,400 miles away from her children as the Home Office more than doubles the minimum wage requirement for British expats hoping to move to the UK with their foreign spouses.
The minimum annual income that British citizens need to earn to bring their foreign spouses to the UK will more than double from £18,600 to £38,700 by Spring 2025, Home Secretary James Cleverly has announced.
The first pay increase from £18,600 to £29,000 will take effect from 11 April.
This is despite analysis showing that nearly half of British workers earn less than £29,000 and 70 per cent earn less than £38,700.
Before the new rules were announced in December, Ms Douglas had planned to move to Harwick, Scotland, with her Italian husband Matteo Ricci, 39, and their children Alba, 12, Mirryn, 8, and Arthur, 4, to be closer to family.
But he told the Standard it would be impossible for his family to move under the new measures because he was not earning enough as a part-time English teacher.
She would either have to go back alone or take her children with her and look after them without her husband, while trying to earn a new salary.
The mother added: “If my husband was a British citizen he could go and work while I looked after the children and it would be much, much easier.
“They don’t seem to have really taken into account people’s real circumstances, how difficult it would be for people to meet this requirement, or the impact it would have on the families that need to be separated.
“This is truly an impossible situation.”
Ms Douglas said it would be “extremely difficult” to earn a salary of £38,700 in the south of Scotland and that Home Office policy discriminated against people from parts of the country where wages were lower.
Asked what his message was to the Home Secretary, he said: “I would ask him if he believes that the right to fall in love with a stranger is something only rich people can have.
“Whether it is fair to separate families to prevent British nationals from returning home and ask him if he has really considered the impact of this policy on families.”
The family decided to delay returning to the UK until Brexit was finalized so they could have a clearer idea of where they stood.
Ms Douglas moved to Italy in 2007 and planned to stay there for another year before meeting her husband and is now settled in Perugia.
He said it was “a truly heartbreaking thing to be told you can’t return home” and that Britons living abroad feared they would lose their right to return to the UK with their partners.
Mrs Douglas said: “My children need their mother. They are used to seeing me as their main caregiver. “That would be traumatic for them.”
Petition to Downing Street
Petitions website Change.org told the Standard there had been 47 separate petitions on its site opposing the Government’s visa plans since they were announced at the beginning of December.
The petitions, which have collected more than 250,000 signatures in total, will be presented to Downing Street at 16:00 on Wednesday.
Migrant rights organizations including Reunite Families UK, Praxis, Migrant Voice, IMIX and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants organized a day of action against the minimum income requirement on Valentine’s Day.
Campaigners accused the Government of continuing to “discredit family life”, with one calling on the Government to “remove the price tag on love”.
The groups said they were using a day normally used to celebrate love to “highlight the plight of British citizens and residents who are unable to do so as a result of draconian rules that deny the possibility of mixing here in the UK.” .
Organizers, affected families and supporters will also ask MPs to pledge to support family-friendly immigration policies.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has previously described the new visa rules as “his economic ambition” and said immigrants are “critical” to the capital’s public services and the British economy.
Deputy Mayor of London for Communities and Social Justice and Chairman of Praxis Trustees, Dr. Debbie Weekes-Bernard said: “There have always been huge obstacles placed in the way of those who fall in love with someone from another country, but the imminent increase of the minimum income requirement for the Spouse visa is an unfair and inhumane policy.
“Current requirements have already resulted in couples being kept apart and children being separated from their parents, and this Valentine’s Day, countless people will be worried about being affected by this when this policy comes into force in April.
“As the Mayor and I continue to work to build a better London for everyone, we call on the Government to take a compassionate and humane approach so that no longer will Londoners suffer the pain of being separated from loved ones.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Current levels of immigration to the UK are too high. That’s why the government has announced a plan to reduce the number of immigrants coming to the UK by 300,000 a year – the largest ever reduction.
“We have a long-standing principle that anyone who brings dependents to live in the UK should be able to support them financially. “The Minimum Income Requirement ensures that families are self-sufficient rather than dependent on public funds and can integrate if they want to play a full part in British life.”