AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 129.06 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-0.36%)
BOP 6.75 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.05%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.02%)
DCL 8.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-4.36%)
DFML 40.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.87 (-2.09%)
DGKC 80.96 Decreased By ▼ -2.81 (-3.35%)
FCCL 32.77 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFBL 74.43 Decreased By ▼ -1.04 (-1.38%)
FFL 11.74 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (2.35%)
HUBC 109.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.97 (-0.88%)
HUMNL 13.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.81 (-5.56%)
KEL 5.31 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.48%)
KOSM 7.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.68 (-8.1%)
MLCF 38.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.19 (-2.99%)
NBP 63.51 Increased By ▲ 3.22 (5.34%)
OGDC 194.69 Decreased By ▼ -4.97 (-2.49%)
PAEL 25.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.53%)
PIBTL 7.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-3.52%)
PPL 155.45 Decreased By ▼ -2.47 (-1.56%)
PRL 25.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.52%)
PTC 17.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.96 (-5.2%)
SEARL 78.65 Decreased By ▼ -3.79 (-4.6%)
TELE 7.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-5.42%)
TOMCL 33.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.78 (-2.26%)
TPLP 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.66 (-7.28%)
TREET 16.27 Decreased By ▼ -1.20 (-6.87%)
TRG 58.22 Decreased By ▼ -3.10 (-5.06%)
UNITY 27.49 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.22%)
WTL 1.39 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.72%)
BR100 10,445 Increased By 38.5 (0.37%)
BR30 31,189 Decreased By -523.9 (-1.65%)
KSE100 97,798 Increased By 469.8 (0.48%)
KSE30 30,481 Increased By 288.3 (0.95%)
World

Two thirds of foreign wives may be banned from UK

LONDON : Two thirds of foreign wives could be banned from the UK under new plans to stop immigrants becoming “a burden
Published November 17, 2011

immigration-britainLONDON: Two thirds of foreign wives could be banned from the UK under new plans to stop immigrants becoming “a burden on the state”.

Government immigration advisers say that minimum salary required to bring a spouse to Britain should go up significantly, and may even be doubled, Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

The proposals could mean more than half of UK's population would not be able to bring in a foreign partner, as they might not earn enough to support them without relying on benefits.

Professor David Metcalf chairman of MAC said a minimum salary of between £18,600 and £25,700 should be introduced for UK residents sponsoring a partner or dependant for UK citizenship.

This minimum, which applies equally to British citizens and immigrants, is currently set at around £13,700.

Some 40,000 foreign wives, husbands and partners were granted visas to join their family in UK last year, but that number would be cut by up to 63% under the proposals.

Government asked advisers to identify salary a worker would need to earn to support a spouse or partner “without them becoming a burden on the state”, Professor Metcalf said.

The minimum salary could be even higher for those who wanted their children to join them from abroad, he added.

The lowest figure in proposed range, £18,600, is income level at which many benefits, including housing benefit, tax credits, are withdrawn, while highest figure, £25,700, represents typical income of a one-adult household.

That would mean that between a quarter and a half of full-time adult workers would be unable to bring their partners to UK - but many others, including unemployed, pensioners, could be prevented too.

MAC's figures show that of 40,000 spouses and partners brought in from outside EU, nearly a third were from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, while 6% came from the US and 5% from Nepal.

It said while 94% of those based in UK with a spouse abroad wanted their partner to join them, half earned less than £20,100 and three quarters earned less than £30,500.

The Institute for Public Policy Research warned that if the government accepted proposals and went ahead with the policy, “it is likely to be challenged in courts.”

 

Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2011

 

Comments

Comments are closed.