by A mother-of-three has warned that “only rich people can fall in love with a foreigner” as changes to Home Office visas threaten to tear her family apart.
Petitions, which have received more than 250,000 signatures, are being presented by families concerned about the “draconian” measures to Downing Street on Valentine’s Day.
Scot Sarah Douglas, 42, based in Italy, fears she will have to live 1,400 miles from her children as the Home Office more than doubles the minimum salary requirement for British expats hoping to move home to the UK with their foreign spouses.
Home Secretary James Cleverly has announced that the minimum annual income that British citizens must earn to bring their foreign spouses to the UK will more than double from £18,600 to £38,700 by Spring 2025.
The first salary increase, from £18,600 to £29,000, will take effect from 11 April.
That’s despite analysis showing that around half of British workers earn less than £29,000 and that 70 per cent of workers earn less than £38,700.
Mrs Douglas had planned to relocate to be near her family in Harwick, Scotland, with her Italian husband Matteo Ricci, 39, and their children Alba, 12, Mirryn, eight, and Arthur, four, before new rules were announced in December .
But she told the Standard that it would be impossible for her family to move under the new measures because she does not earn enough as a part-time English teacher.
She would have to move back alone or take her children with her and take care of them without her husband, while trying to earn a new salary at the same time.
The mother added: “If my husband was a British citizen he would be able to go to work while I look after the children and it would be a lot easier.
“It seems like they haven’t really considered the real circumstances that people are in and how difficult it will be for people to meet this requirement or the impact it will have on families that need to be separated.
“It’s really an impossible situation.”
Mrs Douglas said it would be “extremely difficult” to earn the £38,700 salary in the south of Scotland and that Home Office policy discriminates against people from lower-paid areas of the country.
When asked what her message is to the Home Secretary, she said: “I would ask him if he believes that falling in love with a foreigner is something only rich people can do.
“If it is fair to separate families – to prevent British citizens from returning home – and ask him if he has really thought about the impact of this policy on families.”
The family decided to delay moving back to the UK until after Brexit so that they would have a clearer understanding of their position.
Mrs Douglas moved to Italy in 2007 and was expected to stay for a year before meeting her husband who has now settled in Perugia.
She explained that being told you can’t go home is “very heartbreaking” and that Britons living abroad fear they have lost the right to return to the UK with their partners.
Mrs Douglas said: “My children need their mother. They get used to me being their main carer. It would be traumatic for them.”
Petition given to Downing Street
Petition site Change.org told the Standard it has posted 47 separate petitions opposing the Government’s visa plans since they were announced in early December.
The petitions, which together have more than 250,000 signatures, are being presented to Downing Street at 4pm on Wednesday.
Migrant rights organisations, including Reunite Families UK, Praxis, Migrant Voice, IMIX, and the Joint Council for Immigrant Welfare organized a day of action on Valentine’s Day against the minimum income requirement.
Campaigners have accused the Government of continuing to “destroy family life under the radar”, with one calling for the Government to “remove the price of love”.
The groups said they are using a day normally used to celebrate love to “highlight the plight of those who are unable to do so as a result of the draconian rules that deny British citizens and settled residents the possibility of meeting here in the UK” .
Organisers, affected families and supporters will also ask MPs to pledge to support family-friendly migration policies.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has previously labeled the visa rules an “economic target” and said migrants were “vital” to the capital’s public services and the British economy.
London’s Deputy Mayor for Communities & Social Justice, and Chair of the Praxis Board of Trustees, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, said: “Huge barriers have always been put in the way of those who fall in love with someone from another country, but this the following is to be said by Dr. The upcoming increase in the minimum income requirement for spouse visas is an unfair and inhumane policy.
“Due to the current requirements couples have been kept apart and children separated from a parent, and Valentine’s Day will be more of a concern now when this policy comes into effect in April.
“As the Mayor and I continue to work to build a better London for all, we are calling on the Government to take a compassionate and humane approach, so that no more Londoners suffer the heartache of to be separated from their family.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Current levels of migration to the UK are far too high. That’s why the government announced a plan to reduce the number of migrants coming to the UK by 300,000 a year – the biggest reduction ever.
“We have a long-standing principle that anyone bringing dependents to live in the UK must be able to support them financially. The Minimum Income Requirement ensures that families are self-sufficient instead of relying on public funds, and are able to integrate if they are to participate fully in British life.”
