Atmywitsend wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 6:12 am How can a Trading Block insruct a Uk company to move certain businesses to Eastern Europe ?. Surely that would be the decision of the CEO of any Business who wanted to take advantage of cheap labour. By the way pre Brexit Sterling to Dollar was £1.55. Its never moved above £1.30 since.

Bubble T wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 4:10 am

Freightdog wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 11:12 pm I know of several colleagues (British nationals, working overseas) who, even with good salaries, failed to meet or had major issues achieving the exacting requirements of the UK immigration mafia.
Come COVID, it resulted in some misery. But, anecdotally, this is maybe not consistent with all partners, as foreign partners are not all equal.

We had no issues when going through a good immigration firm (we met all the legal requirements but i had to jump through some hoops to prove my income on the initial application). Renewed the 2.5 year spouse/partner visa a couple of months ago. We'll have been here for 3 years in January.

Alex wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 9:28 pm

armchairlawyer wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 8:41 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 8:20 pm I think that's despicable. When someone immigrates to a country such as the UK, it's reasonable to put limitations on the importation of further family members of those new immigrants. BUT if someone is already a citizen and marries a foreigner, that foreigner should be allowed to move to the UK without having to meet ridiculous requirements. Where I'd draw the line is that those families should be able to support themselves, and I think the OLD requirements ensured just that.

Imposing such an arbitrary "top 23rd percentile" requirement screams xenophobia. Meanwhile they let illegals of the "religion of peace" variety run amok and behead people.

On the other hand, my impression is that the UK is even worse a shithole nowadays than it was when I visited the last time, in 2005. Not being able to move there might well be a blessing in disguise for those affected.

Well, if you are a Brit and have children with your Khmer partner then the UK is the only country that will issue them with a passport (besides Cambodia of course). And people have family connections etc.
I know the Pattaya visa service agents deal with a lot of UK builders, software guys and other freelancers who earn a lot in the UK but do it mostly for cash, so although their income is high they struggled to prove even the old £18k minimum!

The part I've highlighted in bold confuses me. As a Brit, if your half-Khmer children are born outside of the UK, do you have to take them to the UK and meet those insane financial requirements to get a UK passport for them?

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 7:34 am 38k is not "in the top earning percentile" ;it's a modest wage

Families already settled in UK won't have to meet new visa salary thresholds, Home Secretary signals
People already settled in Britain will not have to meet new salary thresholds when they renew their visas, the Home Secretary signalled on Wednesday.

James Cleverly said the plans designed to cut immigration figures are "forward looking rather than backward".

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Thu Dec 14, 2023 7:37 pm I’m wondering if it’s because of perceived over immigration like the US has. Too many immigrants (refugees) coming over so need to cut the overall immigration numbers.

Unfortunately cutting the number of skilled immigrants in favor of those needing handouts.

I’m not a Brit. Any thoughts on this?