The £29,000 partner rule and the limits of statistical claims about its impact.
Rules and sources checked: 5 November 2026. General information; confirm the rules for your application date.
The usual minimum income requirement for a new partner application is £29,000 a year. There is no additional child uplift under that standard threshold. Specified benefit cases use an adequate-maintenance test instead, and exceptions or human-rights cases need individual advice.
For a qualifying income shortfall at entry or extension, the usual cash-savings calculation is £16,000 + 2.5 × the annual shortfall. Savings alone therefore require £88,500. For example, £21,000 of eligible annual income leaves an £8,000 gap: £36,000 of qualifying savings is the usual amount. Savings must meet the ownership, access, source and evidence rules; normally the relevant amount must have been held for 6 months, with specific exceptions such as qualifying proceeds from assets held for the required period.
These rules do not mean every income source can be combined with savings. Employment, self-employment, company-director income, pensions and other income have different calculation and evidence requirements. Overseas earnings of an applicant coming from Thailand are not simply added to a sponsor’s UK salary. Returning sponsors may have a specific overseas-employment and UK-job-offer route.
If the first partner application was made before 11 April 2024 and you continue with the same partner, transitional rules may use £18,600 plus £3,800 for the first relevant child and £2,400 for each further relevant child, capped at £29,000. Children with specified British, Irish or settled status are excluded. The £38,700 proposal is not the current standard partner threshold.
Official sources: Family Income · Finance
The Migration Advisory Committee’s family-financial-requirement review examines the trade-offs behind a threshold, including economic effects and family life. Its recommendations are not themselves Immigration Rules. The current standard partner threshold remains £29,000, subject to transitional and other exceptions.
A salary-distribution estimate cannot by itself tell how many couples qualify: household structure, permitted income sources, savings, benefits exemptions and transitional rules all matter. We have removed unsupported claims about a fixed percentage of couples being excluded and claims that the threshold caused a particular Thai refusal rate. The published visa data does not establish that causal relationship.
Official sources: Mac · Family Income · Data
| Category | Issued | Refused | Grant share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family group | 680 | 45 | 93.79% |
| Family: Partner | 594 | 31 | 95.04% |
Year ending June 2026. Family: Partner is part of the Family group, so the rows must not be added together. Student excludes Child Student and dependants; Skilled Worker excludes Health and Care Worker and dependants. The Skilled Worker result is based on only 48 grants and refusals and is especially sensitive to small changes.
Source: Home Office entry-clearance datasets released 27 August 2026, covering 1 July 2025–30 June 2026. Figures for the first two quarters of 2026 are provisional. Counts are by nationality and decision period, not residence, unique people, an agent’s customers or the outcome of applications made in the same period.
Grant share = visas issued ÷ (issued + refused). Withdrawn and lapsed cases are excluded. Applications are a separate series and must not be used as the denominator for a decision-period success rate. This is a description of recorded outcomes, not your personal chance of approval or evidence that an agency caused the result.
This guide summarises the linked official sources and cannot determine an individual application. For eligibility, exceptions, refusals or appeals, consult a suitably authorised adviser. UKVI makes the decision. Our administrative service fees are separate from government and third-party charges.
Fees · Service quote · All guides · Contact
Tell us what administrative help you need. Review the written scope, total and cancellation terms before paying.
