JCWI, along with 22 other organisations, wrote to the Home Secretary Priti Patel on 8 April 2020. We asked her to take urgent action to protect families at risk of being split up because of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to the restrictions that have been put in place to save lives during the pandemic, many people will have lost their jobs or experienced a significant drop in their income. For people in the UK on a spouse visa, this will mean the additional worry about their families being split up, because they can no longer meet the Home Office’s strict financial requirements to extend their visa. Many will also be put at greater risk of falling ill, because they feel forced to continue going out to work when it isn’t safe to, just to stop their income from falling below the threshold and keep their family together.
Families belong together. It isn’t fair, or safe, for families to have to worry about meeting these visa requirements in the midst of a pandemic.
…