The Reunite Families group plans to take legal action against the new minimum income requirement of £38,700 for spouse and family visas (Report, 17 December), which the government has now said it will phase in, with the threshold first rising to £29,000 (Report, 21 December). Most of the reporting on this has rightly focused on families being separated. But two aspects that have been largely ignored – the situation of pensioners and Ireland.
First, pensioners: my wife (an EU citizen) and I gave up any thought of returning to live in the UK after Brexit because the income threshold is far above my small occupational pension, and even when I get the state pension, my income will be nowhere near the new requirement.
