Minimum Income Required: U.K. migration rules put a price on family unification

Abstract

DOI: 10.1215/07402775-4280100 Vol. XXXIV, No. 3, Fall 2017 © 2017 World Policy Institute L ONDON—Mustafa has not seen his father for three years, a painful absence that often comes to his mind during the daily school run. “Where is my father?” he asks his mother, Muhado, at the gates of his elementary school in north London. “Why is he not taking me to school like the other children?” It’s not an easy question for her to answer. Explaining to a child that the government doesn’t think you earn enough for the family to be together can’t be pleasant. Muhado says she has run out of responses to her son’s question and no longer replies when he asks. TE RM IN A L5 IN SI D ER MINIMUM INCOME REQUIRED: U.K. MIGRATION RULES PUT A PRICE ON FAMILY UNIFICATION