UK Spouse Visa Income Requirement 2026: How to Meet the £29,000 Rule

There is no longer a separate amount for children. When the threshold rose to £29,000, the child element was removed. Whether you are a couple with no children or a couple with four, the figure is the same £29,000. Under the old £18,600 system you had to add £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child. That no longer applies to new applicants.

It applies to the couple’s combined income, not just the UK sponsor’s. Whose income counts, and when, depends on where the applicant is applying from. That is where most of the technical difficulty sits.

The £18,600 exception: if you applied before 11 April 2024

If you first applied as a partner (including as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner) before 11 April 2024, and you are now extending with the same partner, you are assessed against the old regime: £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child.

The cap is helpful: if the child additions would take you above £29,000, you only need to show £29,000.

You lose this protection if you switch partners. If you are applying to stay with a different partner from the one you were last granted permission for, you are treated as new to the route and the £29,000 applies.

The disability and carer’s benefit exemption

There is no minimum income requirement at all if your partner receives one of a specified list of benefits, including Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Carer Support Payment, Severe Disablement Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment, and certain War Pension and Police Injury Pension awards.

Instead, you must show adequate maintenance: that you and your family can house and support yourselves without additional public funds. The caseworker weighs your income against your housing costs.

This exemption is significantly under-claimed. If your sponsoring partner receives any disability or carer’s benefit, check the full list on GOV.UK before you assume you need £29,000.

The rule that catches overseas applicants: if the applicant is applying from outside the UK, their own overseas earnings generally cannot be counted. A couple where the applicant earns well abroad and the sponsor earns modestly in the UK can still fail, because only the sponsor’s earnings count. Couples routinely find this out too late.

Employment income: Category A versus Category B

If you are relying on a salary, the category you fall into decides what evidence you need. Choosing the wrong one is one of the most common causes of refusal.

Category A applies where the sponsor (or applicant, where their income counts) has been with their current employer for at least 6 months and been paid at least the salary relied on throughout. You annualise that salary (or, for variable pay, the 6-month average). Evidence is 6 months of payslips, matching bank statements and an employer’s letter.

Category B applies where you have been with the employer for less than 6 months, or you have been there longer but do not rely on Category A (variable pay can still use Category A). Category B is a two-part test: your current annualised income must meet the threshold, and your actual gross income over the previous 12 months must also have met it.

The second limb is where people come unstuck. A sponsor who started a £32,000 job two months ago meets the first limb comfortably and can still fail the second, because their total earnings over the last 12 months were below £29,000.

Verify the detail before relying on it. The evidential rules for each category (which documents, covering which periods, in what combination) are set out in Appendix FM-SE and the Home Office’s Appendix FM 1.7: financial requirement caseworker guidance. The summary above is a plain-English orientation, not a substitute for those documents. Check them, or take advice, before you submit.

A worked scenario:

Priya sponsors her husband. She moved to a new employer three months ago on £31,000. Under Category B, her current income annualises to £31,000, which is above the threshold. But in the 12 months before applying she earned £24,500 in total, because she took two months out between jobs. She fails the second limb of Category B. Options: wait until she has 6 months with the employer and qualify under Category A, or rely on cash savings alone (Category B’s 12-month test can’t be topped up with savings).

Cash savings: where does £88,500 come from?

If you have no qualifying income at all, you can meet the requirement on savings alone. The figure comes from a formula in Appendix FM.

The formula for a standard 2.5-year application:

Savings needed = £16,000 + (2.5 × the income shortfall)

The first £16,000 is disregarded entirely; the Home Office treats it as a baseline reserve. Only savings above that count. The multiplier of 2.5 reflects the length of the initial grant of leave.

So, with no qualifying income at all:

£16,000 + (2.5 × £29,000)

= £16,000 + £72,500

= £88,500

(That arithmetic is ours, applying the Appendix FM formula to the £29,000 threshold. Check the current formula and multiplier in Appendix FM-SE before relying on it, because the multiplier differs for other application types.)

Most couples do not have £88,500 in cash, and they do not need it. You can top up income with savings, and for most people that is the practical answer.

Illustrative arithmetic applying the formula above. Confirm against Appendix FM-SE for your application type.

The holding period is where savings applications fail. The funds must have been held for a continuous qualifying period (commonly 6 months) and be under the control of the applicant, sponsor or both. Money that arrives as a gift three weeks before you apply does not count. Nor does money that dipped below the required level for a single day during the period. You have to evidence the lowest balance across the whole period, not the closing balance.

• September 2024. The incoming government paused the further increases and commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the family route’s financial requirements.

• 10 June 2025. The MAC published its review. It did not recommend a single figure. It set out a range of defensible thresholds, broadly £19,000 to £28,000, with methodologies anchored to full-time work at the National Living Wage producing roughly £23,000 to £25,000. It invited the government to choose according to its policy preference. It also recommended reforms such as allowing savings to be combined with self-employment income, and exploring whether a main applicant’s UK job offer could count.

• As at 11 October 2026. The threshold remains £29,000. The staged increases to £38,700 have not been implemented.

What this means practically. Every figure the MAC put forward is lower than £29,000. That makes a future reduction more plausible than a future increase. But a MAC recommendation is advice, not law. The government is not bound by it, and no change takes effect until the Immigration Rules are amended and a commencement date is set.

Do not delay an application on the assumption the threshold will fall. There is no announced date, no draft rule, and no commitment. If you meet £29,000 now, applying now is the lower-risk course. If you are close but short, the calculation is about your own circumstances, not about a policy change that may never arrive.

Where there is a qualifying child. You may still be able to apply if you have a child in the UK who is a British or Irish citizen, or who has lived in the UK for 7 years and for whom it would be unreasonable to leave.

The cost of that route. If you do not meet the financial requirement and succeed on another basis, the earliest you can apply to settle is after 10 years in the UK, not 5. That is five extra years of extension applications, fees and Immigration Health Surcharge. We compare the two routes in detail in our guide to the 5-year and 10-year partner routes.

• Missing a single payslip or bank statement. The sequence must be complete and the payslips must reconcile to the bank credits.

• Savings held too briefly, or dipping below the required level during the qualifying period.

• Counting the applicant’s overseas income when applying for entry clearance.

• An employer’s letter missing a required element: gross annual salary, length of employment, how long at that salary, and type of employment (permanent, fixed-term or agency).

• Assuming the child element still applies. It does not, at the £29,000 threshold.

• Missing the disability or carer’s benefit exemption entirely.

How much savings do you need for a UK spouse visa?

With no other qualifying income, £88,500, calculated as £16,000 plus 2.5 times the £29,000 threshold. Only savings above £16,000 count, and the funds must be held for the full qualifying period.

Can I combine savings and income for a spouse visa?

Yes. Savings can top up an income shortfall. You need £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall. For example, on a £25,000 income the shortfall is £4,000, so you would need £26,000 in savings.

Does my partner’s overseas income count?

Generally no, for entry clearance applications. Only the UK partner’s employment income counts where the applicant is applying from outside the UK. This catches many couples where the applicant earns well abroad.

Do I need extra income for children on a spouse visa?

Not at the £29,000 threshold. The child element was removed on 11 April 2024. Extra amounts for children only apply if you are assessed under the old £18,600 regime.

Is the £29,000 spouse visa income requirement going down?

Not yet. The MAC’s June 2025 review suggested a range of roughly £19,000 to £28,000, all lower than £29,000, but the government has not implemented any change. The threshold remains £29,000 as at 11 October 2026.

What happens if I cannot meet the spouse visa income requirement?

You may still qualify on exceptional circumstances or Article 8 family life grounds, or where there is a qualifying child in the UK. But settlement would then take 10 years rather than 5.

Does the income requirement apply if my partner is disabled?

No. If your partner receives a specified disability or carer’s benefit, there is no minimum income requirement. You must instead show adequate maintenance without recourse to public funds.