It seems that the Australian Government are not the only ones tearing families apart with costly fees and unnecessarily stringent regulations.

In a recent column in the Telegraph, one couple writes of the anguish of going through the UK partner visa process; not unlike the Australian partner visa process.

It seems that in 2012 Theresa May enacted harsh rules to bring down net immigration and as a consequence, splitting many families apart.

Although partner and family visa application fees are not as high as Australia (as seen in the infographic) the financial hurdle is that the sponsor must have a certain threshold of income before being able to sponsor. In other words, you must be rich to bring your family back to the UK. Naturally, these were put in place to ensure that the family would be taken care of (and not use public funds) but it seems the threshold was created quite arbitrarily (as are Australian thresholds).

In Australia, the financial barrier is of course the high visa application fees of almost $7,000. However, this is a one time fee to apply for a partner visa and there is no requirement that the sponsor earns a certain level of income before being able to sponsor.

Having a financial requirement for sponsors significantly disadvantages young people who more than likely these days, meet their partners while travelling and return home to begin their careers. According to the article, the sponsor income requirement would not be met by 43% of people working outside of London!

While Australians have it tough, English families are also facing being broken up.

Enough is enough. Stop breaking up families and holding love to ransom.

For the full article on the Telegraph: Please, Theresa May, relax the rules for spouse visas – and stop tearing loving families apart