Addressing the Deficiencies in the Family Visas process

Addressing the Deficiencies in the Family Visas process: Article written and researched by RMC’s Immigration department.

Recently, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) called for evidence to be submitted by 11th December 2024 to review financial thresholds for family visas. In response, RMC has contributed evidence drawn from our extensive casework experience to highlight the profound challenges faced by families seeking reunification.

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The Current System

The current system, which heavily prioritises financial thresholds, places economic contributions above the human realities of family migration. This approach is flawed in accommodating the significant financial burdens, often amounting to thousands of pounds, while disregarding the mental and emotional toll on families separated for extended periods. Even for applicants under ‘exceptional circumstances,’ such as those with family members stranded in conflict zones, the process remains excessively complex and plagued by delays, leaving many in a state of uncertainty and distress.

Between September 2023 and August 2024, RMC supported 19,009 clients, including 1,391 individuals seeking advice on family and private life visas. To further explore the challenges faced by these applicants, we collaborated with Reunite Families UK to conduct a focus group with caseworkers in September 2024. The discussions revealed systemic barriers that not only intensify mental distress but also create significant obstacles to family reunification, exposing the harsh realities confronting families and individuals navigating the process.

Principal Challenges Identified:

• Onerous requirements: The requirements for family visas are several and often difficult to meet. Specifically, in relation to the financial requirement, the minimum income requirement set currently at £29,000 is impossible to meet for many of the clients we support.

• Exceptional circumstances: Applicants from conflict zones or countries with severe security concerns, like Afghanistan and Sudan, face exceptionally restrictive barriers such as the absence of biometric enrolment centres and difficulty in securing necessary document due to ongoing conflict or risk of danger, making it nearly impossible to meet the requirement under this route. While they could rely on exceptional circumstances, the high evidentiary threshold for these applications causes delays and often lead to refusals that need to be challenged.  

• Accessibility: The cost of starting an application under the family route is expensive and excludes family in lower-income group. Beyond financial barriers, the system’s lack of accessibility further magnifies these challenges. Many applicants struggle with the overly digitalised and bureaucratic application process, which can be daunting for those with limited English proficiency or digital literacy. The absence of legal aid for family visa applications leaves individuals without the support they need to navigate this labyrinthine process.

• Lengthy delays in decision-making complicate the uncertainty, sowing confusion and eroding trust in the system. These challenges take a severe toll on the mental health, with families enduring anxiety and despair due to prolonged separations. Children are massively affected, with far-reaching consequences like risks of developing depression and anxiety in adolescence.

• Mental Health Repercussions: The protracted separation of families under current family visa rules exacts a harrowing toll on mental health, fostering despair and anxiety. Children, particularly, bear the brunt of these separations, often manifesting their distress in diminished academic performance and emotional instability.

There are clear and actionable solutions to these challenges. We have outlined several key recommendations for urgent implementation to prevent further disruption and inequities in family visa applications.

Reformative Recommendations:

The findings of our focus group point to clear and actionable reforms:

• Revisit the requirements: The right to bring close family members to the UK and engage in a family life is a basic human right and should not be dependent on one’s ability to meet blanket income thresholds There should not be any financial requirement on these applications to ensure the system is not inherently exclusionary.

• Exceptional circumstances: The threshold of exceptional circumstances needs to be lowed to consider circumstances from individuals from conflict zones and marginalised communities, addressing critical gaps. Eventually, reducing delays in processing applications which would alleviate much of the emotional strain endured by families waiting to reunite.

• Streamlining the application: The process fails to register the importance of simplified application forms, clarity in requirements and in mitigating procedural hurdles, particularly keeping in context the concerning language tests and support for those applying under exceptional circumstances.

• Expanding Legal Aid: Extend legal aid to include family visa applications, thereby offering vital support to those who need it most while navigating a complex and expensive process.