British nationals who have spent months apart from non-EU spouses have expressed fears that their separation will become permanent as mass unemployment and furloughing as a result of the Covid crisis could leave them ineligible for visas. Vicky Scarth, 40, moved back to the UK from Sri Lanka last October to find work in order to sponsor her husband of three years, Vikum, to settle in Edinburgh with her and her six-year-old son. She secured a job that met the minimum income requirement of £18,600 per year, but she was dismissed in February owing to the coronavirus outbreak and has been unable to find paid work since. “I find myself in an impossible situation: I lost my job and can’t get another one at the moment, and I don’t have any childcare provision. For the first time in my life, I’m on the outside looking in, completely disenfranchised,” she said. “I feel so angry that the power to decide what is right for my family has been completely taken away from me. Just because I married a Sri Lankan, I’m treated with disdain by my government. All we want is to be together – we have the right to a family life.” Paul Goodwin married a Zambian woman, Anita, eight years ago and relocated to Derby last year to begin working as an operations manager. He has since been furloughed and is concerned he will be unable to meet the financial threshold to settle his wife in the UK. He said: “Paying for two households, with four children and two adults, is always difficult, but now it feels like I’ve got a mountain to climb before they can come over. We’re not criminals, we just want to live together as a family.” Last month in response to a written parliamentary question about whether the Home Office had considered suspending the minimum income requirement for visas during the coronavirus pandemic, the immigration minister Kevin Foster said there were “a number of ways” to meet the £18,600 threshold. He suggested “income from the couple’s investments, property rental or pension may also be taken into account, together with their cash savings.” Caroline Coombs, from the campaign group Reunite Families UK, said these suggestions were “absurd”. She said: “It’s like battling Goliath, honestly. These are the spouses and children of British citizens. The trauma of forced separation, particularly during a global pandemic, is incredibly challenging – and what’s worse is, this isn’t going away after lockdown. “People won’t be able to get jobs, and for those who have managed to cling on to one, they’re already working crazy hours to try to meet the requirements for their husband or wife to be with them. Even then, most people still can’t raise the funds. The Home Office needs to bring in a blanket period of time to lower the income requirements, or get rid of them completely.” Nineteen overseas visa application centres are due to reopen by the end of this week “where local restrictions allow”. But for spouses in countries where borders remain closed and flights grounded, the possibility of a reunion in the near future appears unlikely. Some couples say the lack of information has been a particular source of frustration. Owen Wibberley left South Korea in early March to begin a new job in Yorkshire, and applied for a spouse visa for his wife, Misun, to follow with their two young children, both dual British-Korean nationals. Misun’s passport is currently being held at a closed visa application centre in Seoul. “The worst part is not knowing the result of the visa application,” he said. “They have informed us that a decision has been made but not what the result is. If it has been rejected then we will have spent all this additional time separated for no reason. At least if they could tell us the result then we could make more concrete plans regarding housing and major purchases, but being in a total state of limbo is infuriating.” Colin Yeo, an immigration lawyer, said the government’s limited communication on the issue since the lockdown started was unacceptable. “The deafening silence from the Home Office is causing huge anxiety for affected couples at what is already a really worrying time. Families need to know whether they are going to have to separate or whether new rules will be introduced enabling them to stay together. We’ve seen all sorts of other non-urgent policy immigration announcements recently, so it is baffling that families are being ignored in this way.” A Home Office spokesperson said it had taken a “compassionate and pragmatic approach” to the spouse visa application process during the pandemic. “Family immigration requirements are being kept under review, including the minimum income requirement, and we will publish further guidance shortly,” they said. “Some visa application centres overseas have reopened with social distancing in place, meaning that passports can be returned and people can now supply biometric information or supporting documents for their visas.”