Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, had previously announced the threshold for visas was to rise to £38,700 but this will now be gradual with an initial rise to £29,000.
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The announcement was previously announced as a package of measures to cut net migration to the United Kingdom.
James Cleverly had previously announced the threshold, to bring foreign spouses to the UK, would rise from £26,200 to £38,700 from next spring.
But in an apparent climbdown, the Home Office has today announced the threshold will be a gradual increase, with the initial increase only being £29,000.
There is no timeline currently set out for when it will rise to £38,700.
The announcement has sparked reaction from MPs such as Liberal Democrat MP, Alastair Carmichael, who says: "The Home Secretary needs to publish the advice from Treasury and OBR about the impact that his package of changes will have on the economy."
He added, the initial announcement was: "yet another madcap idea to placate the implacable crazies on the Tory back benches."
This climbdown comes as legal action was being touted over the income threshold visa rules, by family visa and immigration charities.
Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, says this shows 'more evidence of Tory Government chaos on immigration and the economy.'