The UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has highlighted its concerns about the restrictive conditions under Danish law with regard to family reunification...Bearing this in mind, we think it is very alarming that the UK government is even considering the introduction of such or similar rules. In fact, no EU-country nor Australia or Canada has adopted the ‘national attachment requirement’ since it was introduced in Denmark in 2002...
Sponsors of spouses or partners coming to the UK must already meet a minimum income threshold, set at the level of income support in the UK. This is a perfectly clear threshold for applicants. We see no reason to introduce a new requirement which would risk raising the bar for applicants with no clear rationale. Given that the current level of income support is set at a level considered adequate for recipients to live on in the UK, it is inconsistent to require migrant sponsors to demonstrate a higher level of income than this...The Migrant Integration Policy Index also suggests that anything more than proof of basic income at the level of a country’s social assistance or minimum wage is unnecessary for promoting equal outcomes for immigrants and nationals...
Migrants' Rights Scotland: Submission to the UKBA Family Migration Consultation
Thomas Huddleston
Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Group
Thomas Huddleston is a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Group, a European think-and-do-tank. He coordinates MPG’s research for European cooperation on national integration policies, including the second and third editions of the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) (published in February 2011) and the third edition of the European Commission’s Handbook on Integration.
