08 December 2023 , 15:58
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A British student is now considering leaving the UK because the Government's "disgusting" plan to curb legal migration would prevent her from living with her boyfriend.
Martha Cullen Close, 21, who is studying Hispanic law at Leeds University, told the PA news agency her boyfriend, Ysmael Paredes, 24, was planning to move to the UK from Mexico but, that under the Government's new five-point plan, he would be unable to do so. Home Secretary James Cleverly outlined the plan to tackle rising net migration, which would see the salary threshold required for skilled foreign workers to get a visa rise to £38,700.
Martha Cullen Close with her boyfriend Ysmael Paredes (PA)Another woman said the plan would have prevented her marriage to her spouse had it been introduced before now, and added that she believes it is "cruel and unfair to add even more barriers to an already complicated immigration system". No 10 has clarified since the initial announcement that the minimum income of £38,700 is for a "household as a whole"; however, Martha said she and her boyfriend would still be unable to meet that income together.
She said: "We had plans for him to come and move to the UK because Mexico is so dangerous... so he doesn't want to live there anyway. We've planned to get married - his parents are really religious and we would have had to get married anyway if we wanted to move in together. Now we're just stuck, I don't know what we're meant to do, really."
Martha said her boyfriend would be unable to move to the UK under the new rules and that she is considering leaving England to live with him. She said: "Obviously, that's not my ideal situation. I don't want to do that. I want to be able to work and live in England, but I can't. I think it's disgusting, but it's not surprising from the Government... it's against human rights completely, stopping people from being with their families."
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Emily Chudy, a 31-year-old journalist from London, told the PA news agency her American wife would not have been able to live with her in the UK had the Government's plan been in place previously. She said the couple have "completed two visas already - a fiancee visa and spousal visa - costing thousands in fees" and "still have visas to complete before she's eligible for citizenship".
She added: "We're both really worried about these changes, as I still don't make enough to meet the threshold alone, although our combined income does. All this policy is going to do is tear families apart and mean that only the wealthy can afford to fall in love with a non-British citizen. It just seems cruel and unfair to add even more barriers to an already complicated immigration system, and it'll definitely impact working-class people, women, people of colour, and disabled people disproportionately as communities who face pay and wealth gaps."
When contacted by PA for a response, the Home Office pointed to its Net Migration Press Notice outlining the Home Secretary's proposals to bring the "biggest ever reduction" to migration levels. Health and social care, sectors that are highly reliant on immigrant staff, are exempt from the salary rule. But care workers from overseas will no longer be able to bring dependent relatives with them to Britain, leading to concerns in the industry that fewer will want to come.
The government also said it would scrap a rule that lets employers in sectors on a “shortage occupation list” pay immigrant workers 20% less than UK citizens. Starting in January, most foreign graduate students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK. Cleverly said the new measures would reduce by 300,000 the number of people eligible to move to Britain in future years.
Reducing immigration is a totemic issue for many in the governing Conservative Party, who backed Britain’s exit from the European Union to "take back control" of the country’s borders. The Conservatives believe cutting immigration will shore up votes ahead of an election next year because many voters see immigrants as adding to pressure on already overstretched public services and worsening a housing crisis.