Immigrant spouses must speak English, rules court in UK

The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge against immigration rules requiring people to speak English before joining their spouses in Britain, a landmark ruling which could affect thousands of immigrants from countries like India.

The case was brought by two female British citizens whose husbands, from Yemen and Pakistan, want to come to the UK to be with their families.

However, under the UK’s spouse visa rules for nationals outside the European Union, the men must learn a basic level of English and pass a test at an approved centre before being allowed to enter the country.

Saiqa Bibi and Saffana Ali claimed their husbands would not be able to pass a test before coming to the UK and argued that the men would have to learn computer skills and travel long distances to take their English tests, making it unfeasible. The court was told that this meant their right to a private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was being breached.

A panel of five judges were asked to rule whether the pre-entry measure was “unreasonable, disproportionate and discriminatory”. They unanimously dismissed the appeal but indicated that the way the scheme operated might be unlawful and asked the women’s lawyers to present further arguments. They also suggested that exemptions may be made in cases where it was impractical to apply the rule.