Key Notes:
- The planned increase of the £29,000 annual income requirement for family visas is on hold pending a review by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) UK.
- The increase was initially set to raise the requirement to £34,500 this year and £38,700 next year.
- MAC will also review international recruitment in key sectors like IT and engineering, with additional changes proposed for skilled workers, health and care workers, and visa holders bringing dependents.
Yvette Cooper, the secretary of State for the Home Department in her statement last week mentioned many key points regarding the UK’s immigration policies. She announced a hold on the increase of the planned salary threshold for a family visa. This means, that temporarily, the threshold will not be increased until the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) completes its review.
The UK issued 79,384 family visas from March 2023 to March 2024 according to the UK family visa statistics reported by visa-guru.com. As per UKVI, for the same period, 113,990 visas were issued for the extensions only.
About these changes, Yvette Cooper stated on 31 July as follows:
The Family Immigration Rules, including the Minimum Income Requirement, are designed to balance the respect for family life with the need to maintain the UK’s economic stability. To ensure we achieve the right balance and base any potential changes on solid evidence, I plan to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the financial requirements within these rules. The Minimum Income Requirement is currently set at £29,000, and no further changes will be made until the MAC completes its review.
She further said about the Student and Graduate Visa Routes:
On May 23, the previous Government announced a series of measures to reduce the potential for abuse within the student and Graduate visa routes, building on recommendations from the Migration Advisory Committee. This Government highly values the economic and academic contributions of international students, including those on the Graduate visa. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain an effective system that is not vulnerable to exploitation. We will continue with the previously announced measures, working closely with the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure these efforts effectively protect international students, the institutions they attend, and the overall immigration system from misuse.
Increase in Net Migration in the UK from 2019 to 2024
During the last five years, the net migration trebled (before the introduction of new stricter rules in 2024) as follows:
| Stream | December 2023 | December 2022 | December 2019 |
| Net Migration | 685,000 | 184,000 | |
| Non-EU Long-Term Immigration (Work) | 423,000 | 277,000 |
The number of work visas issued also increased immensely replacing the previously top immigration stream (study visa) during the last five years:
| Category | 12 Months to March 2024 | 12 Months to March 2023 | 2019 |
| Work Visas Issued (Including Dependants) | 605,264 | 486,614 | Over 3 times lower |
Implementation of new rules dropped immigration numbers
According to the latest “UK Immigration Statistics,” reported by the BBC, a decline in immigration has been noticeable since the Conservative Party implemented new rules. Back in May 2025, visa-guru.com noted that immigration numbers had already dropped by 25% with some of the details as follows:
- The number of overseas workers, students, and their families applying for UK visas has dropped by one-third in the past year, from 141,000 in July 2023 to 91,000 recently.
- The decline is largely attributed to rule changes by the Conservative government, which banned most international students and health and social care workers from bringing family members to the UK.
- The changes in immigration rules led to an 80% decrease in health and care worker visa applications.