Minimum income upheld

The Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a legal challenge to the £18,600 minimum income rule for British citizens seeking to bring non-European Economic Area spouses into the UK, in R (oao MM (Lebanon) & Ors) v Home Secretary [2017] UKSC 10. However, the Justices did criticise Home Office rules for failing to look at the treatment of children or consider alternative assets when examining the earning ability of the British spouse. The minimum income rule was introduced by then Home Secretary Theresa May in 2012.