New minimum income proposals - will it affect you?

I don't think there's anything wrong with the government preventing immigrants from using public funds, but shouldn't the "no recourse to public funds" bit in the visa already take care of that?

Yes, but the government clearly believes (and I'm afraid I agree with them on this one) that two years is not long enough for a migrant to not have recourse to public funds. IMO, the right to public funds should be earned either by birth or by paying into the system (taxes).  Two years of maybe or maybe not paying into the system should not entitle someone to the same benefits of a British citizen.

And I absolutely agree on your comment about JSA - there have been many times that other arms of the government have actually encouraged people to take advantage and that needs to stop.

I asked a couple questions earlier but found this topic and wanted to be a part of it.  My UK partner is currently on benefits and this rule change hit us pretty hard.  We can't get things together before 9 July so we aren't sure what our next move is, but most likely it will involve saving.  Even this process is going to take quite some time, and saving means not spending on trips so we would have to spend even more time apart.  Are there no provisions for people on benefits?  It seems unfair to deny someone the ability to live with their spouse if neither make a required amount of money.  While I understand to some extent the government making sure you won't be down and out when you try to start life somewhere new, it just seems unreasonable if there are no alternatives, especially now with putting the responsibility on the sponsor.

I asked a couple questions earlier but found this topic and wanted to be a part of it.  My UK partner is currently on benefits and this rule change hit us pretty hard.  We can't get things together before 9 July so we aren't sure what our next move is, but most likely it will involve saving.  Even this process is going to take quite some time, and saving means not spending on trips so we would have to spend even more time apart.  Are there no provisions for people on benefits?  It seems unfair to deny someone the ability to live with their spouse if neither make a required amount of money.  While I understand to some extent the government making sure you won't be down and out when you try to start life somewhere new, it just seems unreasonable if there are no alternatives, especially now with putting the responsibility on the sponsor.

If your partner is receiving benefit due to a disability, there are provisions made for them. I believe they will continue to be judged using the old rules.

Got this response in another topic I started:

I'd like to throw a word of caution into the mix regarding UK Disability payments.

The Statement of Intent does indeed say that disability benefits exempt the sponsor from financial requirements.  However, it names specific benefits and they are:

Disability Living Allowance.

Severe Disablement Allowance.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.

Attendance Allowance.

Carer’s Allowance.

However, per the Welfare Reform Act of 2012, DLA is being replaced by the Personal Independence Payment.  All persons on DLA will eventually be re-assessed for qualification under PIP.   The government anticipates these changes to drop 500,000 persons from the Disability rolls.   

Two things are at play here:  1)  The disabled sponsor could in the future find their disability disallowed, thus dropping the immigrant from the disability exemption when they seek to renew their status during the new five year probationary period and 2) We don't know that PIP will be in the list of disability allowances which exempt the sponsor from the financial requirements.

Edited to add link for PIP:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/personal-independence-payment-faqs.pdf

This doesn't bode well, unless they are willing to make exceptions.

Where can I find the new minimum income proposals? I am now worried they may affect my husband and I. I was planning on moving to the UK to be with him by the end of 2013 (he recently got his final degree for the job he wants, and now he is on the lookout for a job. At the moment, he is on jobseekers allowance.)

The Statement of Intent for the new rules is here:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/soi-fam-mig.pdf

and the IDI (Immigration Directorate Instructions) for the new Financial Requirements is here:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/IDIs/idischapter8/appendixFM/section-FM-1.7.pdf?view=Binary

Thank you for the links, ksand24!

The new financial requirement for settlement does worry me a bit now. I am hoping that we are able to be at or above the requirement, once he gets a job, but I am not sure.