A Thai mother cannot live in the UK with her husband and two daughters because her husband does not earn enough to meet the £24,800 minimum demanded by the Government for her to receive a spouse visa.
UK citizen Farshid Ghafourpour met Korakot, now his wife, when he worked in Thailand after university. The couple married and had two daughters who both have British citizenship by birth.
However, Mrs Ghafourpour was prevented from joining her family in the UK when her husband returned to care for his elderly mother. The couple ran a business in Thailand and Mrs Ghafourpour remained there to sell the company. Because she has been unable to do so, the couple do not have enough money to meet the Government’s regulations.
Mr Ghafourpour told the BBC:"I never thought my wife would get stuck out there. I think the Government has to look at each individual case and not generalise the whole thing.
"There has to be some merit given to people who are married and are a family."
Families with children must earn more than childless couples if a non-European spouse is to be permitted to join their British husband or wife in the UK. Childless couples must earn at least £18,600, those with one child £22,400, and a further £2,400 is required for each additional child.
Under these requirements, six out of 10 women and three in 10 men employed in the UK would not qualify to bring in a spouse from overseas, the Migratory Observatory said.