What is the income threshold for spouse visa? £29,000 and £18,600 lines

Is it more stable to wait until the threshold drops back to over £20,000 and then apply for a spouse visa?

The fact in October 2026 is: the line of £29,000 has been hanging for two and a half years. The Migration Advisory Committee's "Review of Family Visa Financial Requirements" submitted on June 10, 2025, clearly did not recommend moving it to £38,700, and provided a reference range - if measured by the standard of living, it is roughly between £24,000 and £28,000; if more emphasis is placed on family life, it should be lower. After the report was submitted, the rule itself remained unchanged.

My judgment is therefore straightforward: submit on the £29,000, or on the transitional rate that applies to you, don't delay for a reduction that has no schedule.

£29,000 From which day, has it been changed today?

The cut-off date is April 11, 2024. Those who first enter the partner route (including first applications for fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner) after this date are subject to a minimum income requirement of £29,000. The subsequent two planned increases were not implemented, and from July 2024, the threshold was fixed at £29,000 as per the MAC's conclusion, which then remained unchanged after the conclusion was released.

The next officially announced node is not the income threshold, but the earned settlement scheme - consultation ran from November 20, 2025, to February 12, 2026, and received more than 200,000 responses. The official statement is that the revised plan will be announced by the end of the year. According to the May 2025 white paper, the proposed five-year residency route for partners and children of British citizens remains part of the plan, but has not yet been included in the Immigration Rules.

Does the child count as money? There are two sets of accounts here.

Applicants who first enter after April 11, 2024, will find that £29,000 is a flat figure: the threshold remains £29,000 whether you have one child or three children, with no additional amount for each child. The practice of adding money per child only exists in the transitional bracket.

The transitional rate starts at £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first relevant child, and £2,400 for each additional child, with an overall cap of £29,000. Calculated step by step: one child £22,400, two children £24,800, three children £27,200, and for the fourth child it would have been £29,600, but the cap applies here, so it is still calculated as £29,000. Home Office refers to the Appendix FM financial requirements guidance for decision-makers (current version dated 12 March 2025), which clearly states that the transitional arrangement must not exceed the new threshold after 11 April 2024.

The boundary lies in two things: whether the first application date is before April 11, 2024, and whether subsequent applications are still with the same partner. Both conditions are met, then proceed with the transitional category; if either condition is not met, proceed directly with £29,000.

The transition gear follows this relationship.

Transitional protection is not a label attached to a person, but rather to the three things: "the same five-year partner route + the same partner + timely subsequent application." If you change partners and re-enter, you become a new applicant, and the £29,000 fee still applies; if you do not submit before the visa expires or fall out of time for the application, whether you can continue using the £18,600 tier will be assessed separately. Therefore, for transitional category families, timely renewal is itself part of the financial strategy, more important than increasing income by a few thousand pounds. The three specific things you can do are: schedule the renewal submission at least one month before the visa expires; for Category A, confirm that the same employer has been present for six months and that all six months' payslips are not below the threshold amount; for those relying entirely on cash savings, confirm that the money has been held continuously for six months before submission, and the portion below £16,000 is not counted. The one thing that is easy to miss here is the word "continuous" regarding the savings - transferring accounts, changing currencies, or temporarily using the funds will restart the six-month period.

It is much more complicated to determine which Category you fall into if you are self-employed, have two jobs combined, or your income spans two tax years. If unsure, spending £5 on justiscript.com to get a written response from a qualified UK lawyer within 24 hours on a single issue is more time-efficient than repeatedly revising documents.

How to get a spouse visa to permanent residency, which number to look at financially?

When applying for settlement (ILR) under the five-year partner route, the financial requirements are still assessed under the same tiered system: new entrants £29,000, transitional category with £18,600 plus applicable child supplements, also capped at £29,000. It will not automatically exempt you just because you have been in the UK for five years, nor will it make you switch to the new figures due to the threshold increase during the period.

Finally, add a point that was not mentioned before, which will slightly weaken the impression that "everyone must cross this line": when the guarantor receives designated benefits such as Carer's Allowance or Personal Independence Payment, according to Appendix FM E-ECP.3.3, the applicant is not subject to the minimum income threshold, but instead assessed based on adequate maintenance - the family's net weekly income after deducting housing costs should not be lower than the level of Income Support available for similar families. For these families, the focus is not on £29,000, but whether the guarantor is still receiving the benefit at the time of submission; once the benefit stops, the threshold immediately reverts to the income requirements.

This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney.

[Data source] gov.uk/uk-family-visa/proof-income; gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-family/partner-family-visa; Home Office "Family Migration: Appendix FM Section and Appendix HM Armed Forces Financial Requirements" guidance (GOV.UK edition)

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