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A British woman has spoken out about her grueling efforts to bring her Bangladeshi husband to the UK, revealing she works over 70 hours a week but still cannot afford the new minimum income requirement for a spouse visa. Her story highlights the profound human impact of the UK's family migration rules and the growing financial burden on British citizens seeking to reunite with their loved ones.
Demi Akter, a 22-year-old from Glasgow, met her husband, Alamin, 24, in 2018 during a family trip to Bangladesh. "We connected on social media and our relationship grew, but it was a long-distance friendship for a while before we decided to make it official," Akter said. Over the next five years, she made regular trips to Bangladesh to visit him, and the couple married in October 2023.
The financial reality of their situation became clear when Akter, as the UK-based sponsor, had to meet the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR). In April 2024, the government raised this threshold from £18,600 to £29,000, a move critics argue disproportionately affects younger and lower-income families.
To meet the new requirement, Akter made the difficult decision to leave her degree in fashion, art, and design at Glasgow Caledonian University a year early to work full-time. She transitioned from a part-time role in a care home to a demanding job as an autism practitioner. "I was doing 60 to 70 hours a week, and I was still about £400 short of the £29,000," she explained. "Working 70 hours a week is exhausting. A lot of it is 15-hour shifts. It's so difficult when you're young and on minimum wage."
The previous Conservative government initially planned to increase the MIR even further to £38,700, a move that was met with widespread criticism. However, after the Labour Party won the 2024 general election, they paused this increase and commissioned a review by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
The Wider Context: Policy, Poverty, and Family Separation
The story of Akter and her husband is far from unique. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford estimates that tens of thousands of people could be separated by these rules. The MAC's review, published in late 2024, found that the £29,000 threshold is "high compared to other high-income countries" and that "other countries tend to put more weight on family life relative to economic wellbeing." The committee recommended against increasing the threshold further, though it stopped short of proposing a specific lower figure.
A parliamentary research briefing revealed that approximately half of all employees in the UK earn less than £29,000 per year, highlighting the significant number of British citizens who are unable to sponsor a foreign partner on salary alone.
The emotional toll on couples is immense. Akter revealed that the biggest challenge for them has been "missing out on things like birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, and Easter." The separation has been particularly difficult for Akter, who told The Scotsman she had to deal with health issues, including a miscarriage, without her husband's physical presence.
To try and see each other, the couple has relied on tourist visas for Alamin, two of which were rejected. This forces Akter to bear the costly burden of international travel. "I try to come over every six to eight weeks, whether it's for a weekend off work or annual leave," she said.
In exceptional circumstances, the Home Office can still grant a visa if a refusal would cause "unjustifiably harsh consequences" for the family. However, this is a difficult and complex route that requires extensive evidence.
Charities like Reunite Families UK are at the forefront of the campaign against these rules. Caroline Reid, the executive director and co-founder, described the MIR as a "block on young people’s future." She added, "Instead of enjoying the beginning of their love, they are forced to deal with a cruel system that doesn’t comprehend the many ways in which people today fall in love." The charity advocates for a more humane and compassionate family immigration policy.
