How would this affect those of us already here and going for ILR?
This could pose very serious problems for us and for other people whose circumstances here are fixed.
I also wonder about how things like this can not be discriminatory in nature. For example, people who are on benefits are frequently disabled. Getting a job may not be an option for them. Seems a bit like discrimination.....
Also, the US system (to combat the discrimination issue) allows for outside sponsors. This is currently allowed with fiance visas, but if this extends on to those applying for ILR, will the ability to use outside sponsorship come in to play?
Jaye
I think they'd have to be very careful with ILR (or probationary citizenship, if it ever becomes that). It would be a huge issue, for example, if the applicant or sponsor were to lose their job (not unlikely in the current climate) just before they were about to apply for ILR, and this put them below the threshold - would they refuse the visa, and the foreign spouse be forced to leave the country?
The US system's income threshold is actually based on the poverty level (think you have to be earning 1.5 times it), and interestingly, the poverty level in the US is set quite a bit below the UK poverty level. Maybe they'll make it a written hard-and-fast rule that the sponsor must be earning more than the income support level, or something.
