BritCits

From the comments ( more via http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/poll-on-income-requirements-please.html#comment-form )

These rules are so ridiculously unfair, and they're forcing people to put their lives and dreams on hold, no one should have to go through this, you have to be major rich or work crazy crazy hours just to be with the one you love and married.
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Ive been separated from my husband for the past 13 months whilst I concentrated on getting my income to the required level. I have relied on overtime and relief work to meet the requirement as my salary fell short by £3000 p.a .The stress , worry and impact it has had on my family has been awful to say the least. Ive been fortunate enough to have the extra work available and my children are older so difficulties around childcare as a forced single parent were not as difficult to arrange as someone with younger children. ( some weeks i have worked over 65 hours and I have only took 4 days annual leave in the past 8 months and worked Christmas day , Christnas eve night , New years eve night and New Years day ( night shift ) My husband has been granted his spouse visa after it very nearly went on hold as the letter my husband received stated that overtime is not guranteed therefore the case officer wasnt satisfied I was meeting the gross annual requirement. We were given the chance to submit further evidence that I meet the requirement and I submitted a 76 page file which left no room for refusal! My husband will be joining me on the 13th February so yes we have our happy ending. I feel for those unable to meet this requirement and cannot believe that in 2014 people are being "punished " for simply not earning a set amount of money that many jobs do not pay. Human right violations being disguised as "protecting public funds" to those that dont really have a clue as to what is going on. I had seriously looked at relocating in Europe somewhere and begging my employer for a career break to enable me to do this and still have the option to return if employment was difficult to secure. I would have had to wait until two of my children were independent though as they are part way through completing thier education ( both due to start university this September and next September) Only the financially rich will have freedom and rights in this country in the not so distant future.
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I left the UK due to the financial crisis and in order to not simply collect benefits and become a burden on society. I had planned to go abroad for a short period of time and return when the economy improved. During my time away I met my future wife and we have been living together ever since. The financial rules make moving back to the UK an impossibility. I work as a TEFL teacher and obtaining a salary large enough to satisfy the rules is incredibly rare. Therefore, I am living in political exile from my own country. I am unwilling to part from my wife and unable to return to the UK. I feel that my life and my ability to live in the country of my birth is being treated like a political football - a matter to be kicked back and forth with no regard for people in my situation.
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Like the previous writer, I'm a TEFL teacher who met my wife in Colombia. We have a three year old son who I wish to receive his education in the UK. My wife and son aren't able to come here and therefore we've been separated. I own my own house here in Brighton (no mortgage), have very low travel expenses and can provide for my family. If I rented a property and spent half my wages on travelling to London every day for work, they'd let my wife in but we'd be poorer tan we are now. Crazy and inflexible system! But if you're in charge of the HO, just employ who you like, from wherever you like and charge premium rates for your advice line. Nice business to be in!
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The income rule is inhumane. Half of the workers in this country do not earn £18600. This nasty policy excludes vast swathes of the UK, especially in the north and Wales where average wage is below £18600. In fact this £18600 arbitrary minimum excludes many groups. So woe betide you should you fall in love with a non-EU person if you live outside of London & the Southeast, if you are a woman (60% of working women earn below £18600), if you are disabled, if you're on minimum wage, or if you're black or ethnic (average wage of ethnic people is below £18600). It's nothing more than a poor-bashing, disability-discriminating, racist, sexist policy. And are these Tory policymakers thick, or just deliberately disingenuous? Because non-EU partners/spouses of British citizens have always had NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS even before the introduction of this bigoted rule.
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Because of these rules, My grand daughter is now in care as my sons wife decided she could no longer wait for him and found another man. In the process they neglected my grand daughter who was taken into care.
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Unfortunately, 2 weeks after I came home happily married and eager to apply for the Spouse Visa for my husband, I saw Theresa May announce the rule changes. I was devastated, and have been ever since, because it is impossible for me to earn that income here in rural Devon. I've been apart from my husband for 2 years, and we really want to have kids together, but now I am 35 and time is running out. These rules have made me so depressed. I don't want to leave my Dad to live abroad, and leave my mother to struggle on her own with his illness and all the farm work.

It's put such a strain on my life, my emotional and physical health. It is heart-wrenching to be apart from the  person you love and to see your chances of having a family slipping away before your eyes. 

 
Thank you all for your comments and responses.