Family visa: New rules will help weed out forged documents

The new rules requiring residents to submit bank statements, in order to sponsor their family members, may sound like extra paper work and more time. However, the process will help ensure that only people who can afford to take care of their families here will be allowed to bring them over, helping build more stable homes in the long run. In doing this, officials hope to weed out those who claim to draw the minimum required salary to sponsor a family, when in reality they do not.

Living with the family is healthy for all members of the basic unit of society. But that is not always possible. Workers and migrants living in the country, without their families, sacrifice a great deal in order to give their children and spouses a better life back home. However, it is also a reality that without a certain amount of monetary security, bringing the families here will result in financial strain leading to debt. It is with this in mind that the government has stipulated a minimum salary to sponsor families. The move to submit bank statements will help clamp down on forged documents and ensure that rules are followed across the board.