Migrants granted asylum can immediately apply to bring family members to the UK to claim housing support, benefits, and NHS care, whereas British citizens must navigate a series of hurdles.
New arrivals can request for relatives to join them in Britain as soon as they receive refugee protection. The UK’s policy is more lenient compared to its European counterparts, which enforce a waiting period of up to three years.
Moreover, family members of refugees are not required to prove they have adequate housing and income to support themselves without relying on housing support or universal credit. They also do not need to be proficient in English.
Conversely, British citizens wishing to bring foreign partners into the UK face stricter conditions. Current regulations mandate that they demonstrate a minimum income of £29,000 annually to avoid needing benefits.
Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, expressed to the Mail that it was ‘fundamentally unjust’ to prefer newcomers over long-term residents.
The number of refugee family reunion visas has surged in recent years, from 4,118 in 2022 to 19,258 in 2024. These visas are free to apply for, while a family visa for a foreigner wanting to join their British partner in the UK can cost up to £1,938.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has vowed to use a statement to the Commons today to set out planned changes to the refugee family reunion process that will provide ‘greater fairness and balance’.
Among the expected changes are new requirements for relatives to meet English language standards and prove they have access to sufficient funds.
Migrants in lifejackets wave to a dinghy leaving Gravelines in northern France last month
The rise in migrants arriving on refugee family reunion visas has been blamed for loading pressure on local councils, who are required to find housing if they are at risk of homelessness.
They now account for more than a quarter of family visas, with Syrians, Iranians and Afghans the most common nationalities claiming them.
While some may have arrived via legal asylum routes, others are likely to have crossed the Channel on small boats or arrived on work, study or visitor visas before switching to claim asylum.
Matt Goodwin, former Professor of Politics at the University of Kent, said the discrepancy between the treatment of refugees and British citizens was ‘insane’.
Among the changes Ms Cooper is expected to outline today will be a new requirement for the relatives of refugees to demonstrate they are proficient in English and have access to enough money to support themselves.
She may also emulate Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland by introducing waiting times of up to three years before refugees can bring over their relatives to join them.
But Kemi Badenoch said Labour ‘do not have the stomach’ to take stronger action on immigration control.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has vowed to use a statement to the Commons today to set out planned changes to the refugee family reunion process
Speaking to reporters today, the Conservative Party leader said: ‘Well, what I would actually like to see the Home Secretary talk about is how she’s going to close down the asylum hotels.
‘What they have done with their recent court case is actually shown that they believe that illegal migrants have more rights than our local communities, and we completely disagree with that.
‘We had a deportation Bill, which we asked Labour to support, we talked about disapplying the Human Rights Act so you wouldn’t even get to some of the circumstances that she’s talking about.
‘There’s a lot more that can be done on immigration control. Labour do not have the stomach to do it. We do, and we have the plans as well.’
On Friday, the Court of Appeal threw out an earlier High Court injunction preventing migrants from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which has become a centre of anti-migrant protests.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has dismissed the potential changes to family reunion rules as a ‘tiny tweak’ and said the Government was in ‘complete denial’.
‘I’m afraid the truth is this is a tiny tweak that will make very little difference,’ he told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Philp added that the Government was ‘in complete denial’ about the scale of the ‘borders crisis’.
Anti-migrant protests taking place yesterday outside the Bell Hotel in Epping
‘To be quite honest, people who cross the channel illegally shouldn’t be able to bring any family members over here at all.
‘In fact, if the Government was serious about fixing this issue, what they would be doing is making sure that everybody who arrives illegally is immediately removed.’
Asked why the Conservatives did not restrict people’s ability to bring family to the UK when in power, he pointed to the now-scrapped Rwanda plan, which he said would have seen ‘every single illegal immigrant crossing the Channel immediately removed to Rwanda’.
