A few questions here. Firstly, what the actual fuck? Secondly, how come I missed this at the time? Thirdly, how come there were no mass protests at the time? Fourthly, what the actual fuck? This fucking country.
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
Yep, that's absolutely the position. My wife is in this country on a settlement visa. Were I to lose my job and have to take one paying less than the £22,400 per year, she'd have to leave the country in two years time and we'd have to decide which one of us he'd stay with whilst we tried to sort out what happened next.
To answer your other questions:
1. You missed it because it received next to no media coverage at the time, which in itself proves that trying to pander to anti-immigrant types is an almost complete waste of time, regardless of any other considerations.
2. Because imgrunts.
You may also have missed the fact that people on settlement visas now have to pay an "NHS surcharge" £200 per year, meaning that the initial settlement visa and the Further Leave to Remain visas now cost an extra £500 each - they last for two and a half years - per application.
48% of people fall short of the £18,600 threshold, so would have any application rejected. Never mind that this is £5k above what someone earning the minimum wage would make in a year in a full-time position. Court challenges against it have already failed. I don't know whether there are any more planned.
The moral of the story? Don't fall in love with someone from a foreign country unless you earn a reasonable amount of money. -
The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
If I earn £55,800, does that mean I can have three?Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
I don't know how to respond to that without completely losing my rag.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
MNII, do you mind if I paraphrase your post elsewhere?Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
Sorry, I was trying to emphasize the ludicrousness of the rule.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
I believe that's not entirely true, as it's with the Supreme Court, and if needed, to the ECHR. Interesting the first high court suggested the more sensible linking to the national minimum wage, but the Court of Appeal disagreed.Court challenges against it have already failed.
Also worth pointing out that your spouse, now that she is legally in the UK, would have her income taken into account. So if she's working and earning £17K, and you're working and earning £17K, you're fine, or anything over £18,600 combined. Your child isn't a dependent, unless he's not a British citizen.
I agree with everything else of course, with the added proviso that you are not allowed to fall in love with somebody from a foreign country if they're the breadwinner.
Many, many, many of the cases involved are women who have foreign spouses who make a fat fucking wedge in IT or something like that - really good money, just not enough money to build up the ridiculous £60,000+ in savings you need to circumvent the income requirement. Those women have had children and naturally decided to take a step back in their career. They've then gone home and been told they cannot bring their spouses over to ol' Blighty because part-time work in many regions of the country doesn't get you to £18,600 (not in London either, but there's been many examples of women who relocated to low-wage areas like Devon and been screwed).Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
Yes, I'm aware of that. My wife can't work at the moment, though (She's due to give birth on Monday) and the cost of child care is such that I doubt very much that she'll be able to in a couple of years time either.
I'm not going to lie - the system suited us just fine so far as getting the visa in the first place is concerned because I earn over the minimum threshold. Being unable to claim any benefits is a killer, though. I'm working fifty hour weeks to make ends meet as things are and I don't know where the end is in sight on that. But there's a sign of how broken the system is. It's more interested in keeping immgrunts out and trying to reinforce a perception that "they're all here to take advantage of our generous - COUGH - system" than it is with the wellbeing of the child. I don't know how much time I'll be able to spend with my boy. But I'll be out of the house from half seven in the morning until seven at night during the week then every Saturday morning as well. Child tax credits and child benefit would render this unnecessary but, you know, no recourse to benefits. Nice to know that the paranoia of UKIP voters is more important to the government than me being able to spend quality time bonding with my son.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
Well, there's the rub, isn't it. Your Made in Chelsea set would consider that the "holiday fund", after Grandad left them £1m in the will.really good money, just not enough money to build up the ridiculous £60,000+ in savings you need to circumvent the income requirement.
One law for all, but curiously drafted to suit some more than others ...Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
For splitting up families, see also the benefit cap. Slightly over the threshold are you, poor couple with kids? Split up.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
You can claim child benefit. The British person involved is allowed to claim CB on their own. My wife does this, for example.My Name Is Ian wrote: Yes, I'm aware of that. My wife can't work at the moment, though (She's due to give birth on Monday) and the cost of child care is such that I doubt very much that she'll be able to in a couple of years time either.
I'm not going to lie - the system suited us just fine so far as getting the visa in the first place is concerned because I earn over the minimum threshold. Being unable to claim any benefits is a killer, though. I'm working fifty hour weeks to make ends meet as things are and I don't know where the end is in sight on that. But there's a sign of how broken the system is. It's more interested in keeping immgrunts out and trying to reinforce a perception that "they're all here to take advantage of our generous - COUGH - system" than it is with the wellbeing of the child. I don't know how much time I'll be able to spend with my boy. But I'll be out of the house from half seven in the morning until seven at night during the week then every Saturday morning as well. Child tax credits and child benefit would render this unnecessary but, you know, no recourse to benefits. Nice to know that the paranoia of UKIP voters is more important to the government than me being able to spend quality time bonding with my son.
Edit: you can claim child tax credit too, although I don't know much about this as my wife is the breadwinner. I suspect you can claim for it on your behalf, but they don't take her income (or lack of it) into account so you get less or something. But you certainly are entitled to more than zero if you qualify, as you're British and so is your child.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
But the requirements are pretty low. I mean, the real targets of this are, let's be blunt, poor brown Muslims. They don't make a lot of money, the Tories and their supporters want to keep them out, so come up with a minimum income requirement that's low enough for the vast majority of the right sort of folk to jump the hurdle and high enough to keep poor brown Muslims out.Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:Well, there's the rub, isn't it. Your Made in Chelsea set would consider that the "holiday fund", after Grandad left them £1m in the will.really good money, just not enough money to build up the ridiculous £60,000+ in savings you need to circumvent the income requirement.
One law for all, but curiously drafted to suit some more than others ...
The problem is that the Tories have a very good standard for incompetence, and nobody seems to have cottoned on to the idea that a British person with a high-earning spouse will be a very good addition indeed by almost anybody's definition.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
Thanks so much for this - if correct I can't begin to tell you how much that might mean to us. I had been reliably informed not to based on not being the "main care-giver," so I'm still not 100% certain that I can but it's certainly worth a trip to the CAB to find out more. (I haven't claimed any benefits in twenty years, so am out of the loop on this sort of thing - the last time I made a claim, payment was sent through a bank giro in the post. I can't believe they do that very often any more.)Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
I fucking hate Britain at the moment.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
You're entitled to benefits for any child you are financially responsible for. Hence the Tories being up in arms about child benefit and tax credits being used to support some Polish person's kids in Gdansk.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
If the reliable informant worked for the benefits agency or any other government agency they will have told you that just to make sure you don't claim.My Name Is Ian wrote: I had been reliably informed not to
It appears they will lie, mislead and lose paperwork as well. So go in with your eyes open and get what you are due.
As an aside, I hate the way it's assumed no one who pays tax supports benefits. I don't have kids but I'm very happy for my taxes to go towards helping you spend time with your kid. That's a good thing to spend taxes on.Comment
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The Tories - splitting up families since 2012
If Cameron didn't dick everybody in the EU about all the time, that would have been changed ages ago. Possibly being saved as a nice sweetener for Miliband.Flynnie wrote: You're entitled to benefits for any child you are financially responsible for. Hence the Tories being up in arms about child benefit and tax credits being used to support some Polish person's kids in Gdansk.Comment
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