A CONTROVERSIAL change to immigration rules has been linked with a 27 per cent decline in the number of family visas being issued.

Figures released by the Home Office show that in the two years following an increase in the income threshold for family sponsorship, there have been 25,327 fewer family visas issued compared to the previous two years.

The UK Government imposed the new threshold in 2012, taking the minimum earnings for visa sponsorship of a spouse from £5,500 to £18,600 per year. This rises to £22,400 for families with a child and a further £2,400 for each extra child.

Campaigners say the drop in visas has been widely expected amid frequent reports of couples and families being forced to leave the UK.

Pat Elsmie, director of Migrants' Rights Scotland, said: "It was inevitable there would be a significant drop when the income threshold was set at such an unrealistic level.

"This is really having an impact on people and this significant decrease demonstrates that.

"We have heard a lot of stories from people who have been affected by this and many feel like they are banging their head against a brick wall.

"Many have been forced to move away because they simply cannot meet the threshold. Lives have been disrupted, lives have been changed and there is now a lot of negative feeling about the way immigration policy is going."

Figures show at least 1.7 million people in Scotland earn less than the threshold, with the average salary for residents in six UK constituencies in Scotland falling below the limit.

Ms Elsmie added she believes people in Scotland are experiencing a greater impact than other parts of the UK due to lower salary levels.

She said: "Although I have never seen any research on this, my gut instinct is that it has probably, proportionally, affected people more in Scotland.

"I believe it will have hit families and individuals in Scotland more than it would in, say, south east England because of the lower incomes here, and that really does Scotland a great disfavour.

"A lot of people are simply packing up and moving away."

SNP MP Angus MacNeil has also hit out at the threshold, arguing it is significantly higher than many other nations, including America, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

He said: "The 27 per cent drop in the number of family visas granted by the UK Government is a direct consequence of the UK Government increase of the income threshold. This ridiculous threshold is breaking apart families and hearts.

"More than half of my constituents in Na h-Eileanan an Iar earn less than the financial obligation of £18,600 a year to sponsor family visas.

"In fact, London is telling 1.7m Scots they are too poor to marry a foreigner and that if they do so, they will not be able to live together in Scotland."

A spokesman for the Home Office said: "We welcome those who wish to make a life in the UK with their family, work hard and make a contribution. But family life must not be established here at taxpayers' expense.

"It is in everybody's interest for family migrants to be able to integrate properly — that means speaking our language and paying their way."

In 2012, just after the changes were implemented, The Herald reported on the case of an American academic and his Scottish wife who were forced to leave the country as they did not meet the income threshold.

Andrew Wilbur, who had lived in Scotland for 14 years and had just completed a PhD in human geography from Glasgow University, moved to Italy.