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

Is it more stable to wait until the threshold drops back to over 20,000 pounds 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. In the "Family visa financial requirements review" submitted by the Migration Advisory Committee on June 10, 2025, it clearly did not recommend further increasing to £38,700, and provided a reference range - if measured by standard of living, it is roughly between £24,000 and £28,000, and if more emphasis is placed on family life, it should be lower. After the report was submitted, the rules themselves were not changed at all.

My judgment is therefore straightforward: submit the application on the £29,000 basis, or on the applicable transitional arrangement that applies to you, rather than delaying 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 the minimum income requirement of £29,000. The subsequent two-step increase that was originally scheduled did not take place, and from July 2024, the threshold was kept at £29,000 as per the MAC's conclusion, which then remained unchanged.

The next officially announced milestone 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 scheme will be announced by the end of the year. According to the wording in the white paper in May 2025, the proposed five-year settlement route for partners and children of British citizens remains in the scheme, but has not yet entered 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 £24,800, three £27,200, and for the fourth child it would be £29,600, but the cap applies here, so it is still calculated as £29,000. Home Office The Appendix FM financial requirements guidance for decision-makers (current version dated 12 March 2025 at the front) clearly states this upper limit: the transitional arrangement must not exceed the new threshold after 11 April 2024.

The boundary lies between 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 follow the transitional category; if either condition is not met, proceed directly with £29,000.

The neutral gear follows this relationship

Transitional protection is not a label on a person's body, but rather on "the same five-year partner route + the same partner + timely subsequent application." If you change partners and re-enter, it becomes a new applicant, and the £29,000 is calculated as usual; if you do not submit before the permit expires or fall out of time for the application, whether you can continue to use the £18,600 category will be assessed separately. Therefore, for transitional category families, timely renewal itself is part of the financial strategy, which is more important than increasing income by a few thousand pounds. The three specific things that can be done are: set the renewal submission date at least one month before the permit expires; for Category A, confirm that the same employer has been employed for six months and that the salary slips for the six months are not below the threshold conversion amount; for those who rely entirely on cash deposits, confirm that the money has been held continuously for six months before submission, and that the portion below £16,000 is not counted. The part that is easy to miss here is the word "continuous" for the deposit - transferring accounts, changing currency, or temporary use will reset the six-month period.

It is much more complicated to determine which Category you fall into for self-employment, having two jobs combined, or income spanning two tax years than just fudging the numbers. 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 tier 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 earlier, which will slightly weaken the impression that "everyone must cross this line": when the guarantor receives specified 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 Income Support level 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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