did anybody else see this headline ? It surely raises a few questions and an ethical debate ?

you must have noticed the pattern of British men marrying pretty young ladies from China and other parts of SouthEast Asia ? And a relative dearth of this when you reverse the genders ?

Notwithstanding the controversy, in the pakistani community , of cousin marriage - now on the wane. There is evidence of other arranged marriages that bring young wives across to the UK from that country. To marry young men who grew up in the UK, men who are also from that community. Will the new rules affect this ?

Then there is the phenomenon of the 'sham marriage'.....a couple masquerading as romantic whereas its only a business-arrangement to exchange money for legal domicile paperwork.

separate from sham marriages, what happens if an impecunious Brit falls in love with somebody from overseas ?

separate from all of this is the gender-imbalance in much of the illegal migration into the UK. Will this new rule make it difficult for one of these fellas to get married here ?

The new rule seems to have arrived in from Leftfield. Did anybody forsee this ? Was there lobbying for it ? or an interest group that pushed for this ?

How will this all relate to chain-migration, family reunification and the rules on that ?

How would all this relate to long-term dole dependency and family life ? Is this an attempt to turn the UK into another Silicon Valley ?

who are the winners, the losers and those with a stake in the new rules ? Is this new rule a good thing ? or do you disapprove ?

answers on a postcard please

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Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

what, like, fellas from Poland or Norway ?

your guess is as good as mine.

i would expect the legislation to be colour-blind and to merely focus upon the nationality and/or domicile of the relevant parties.

But the old romantic notion of ANYBODY can go off with ANYBODY ELSE seems to be under attack. Will this new law discriminate against poor people ? And what about multi-millionaires who do not work, and therefore do not earn ?

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

They have an income vastly exceeding 39K.

the new rule seems to be for Brits who are importing somebody. What those Brits earn.
i didn't see any reference to the earning power of the newcomer. What if the newcomer was a brain-surgeon or a Premier league footballer ? What if the British 'importer' was a toilet cleaner ?

and considerations of the burden on the State ? what if the couple is two gay men, married ? less likely to be raising kids, i would have thought ? or the 'importing' of a woman beyond the age of child-bearing ? or previously existing step-kids ?

it all seems to be very contrived ?

Edited by PalazioVecchio (10 Dec 2023 7.19pm)

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

i reckon this new Law would have been forbidden by the EU, before Brexit. The treatment of EU versus spouses from the Commonwealth, versus the Rest of the World.....you are correct. A very big place.

will this new law equally affect everybody ? male and female ? rich and poor, black and white, Christian and Heathen, young and old ?

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

There is no change to the underlying principles. Just to the level of income expected, which has more than doubled having not been adjusted for inflation for many years.

So yes it does discriminate against the poor. It does apply to everyone. New arrivals cannot immediately draw benefits and must pay an annual NHS surcharge.

Couples cannot meet online and agree to marry. Nor can anyone else just arrange things for them. They have to show evidence that they have spent time together and that a genuine relationship exists or a visa will be refused.

There are though specialist agencies which advise and support people to navigate a long and tricky process strewn with many barriers. Not least of which is that it costs a lot and there is no refund if a visa is refused. Which they are if any of the requirements aren’t fulfilled.

The British partner has to bear all of the costs for an extended period. It is, in today’s shrinking world, the government interfering in love. People now travel for work, leisure and study much more than in the past. It’s only natural that some will meet their partner whilst doing so. It happens when people come here, or when a Brit goes abroad. Sometimes the Brit relocates. Sometimes their new partner will.

We need to get rid of the “Little England” mentality than still seems to infect the attitudes of some. An attitude to be found here. Even today it reared its ugly head again with the expressed desire to send people they didn’t approve of out of the country. This isn’t simply unrealistic. It’s a refusal to acknowledge that we now live in a global village where mobility is the new normal.

So I would like to see our government taking a completely neutral stance on this, whilst ensuring it is not abused in any way. I understand why it’s there. It is to ensure that there is sufficient resource available to avoid poverty, given that no support is available but that decision should be left to the couple and their families. Having any kind of minimum salary requirement is an insult to fairness and common sense. It is just a sop to the anti-immigration lobby which hurts their fellow citizens whilst doing nothing at all to try to deal with genuine problems.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.