spouse visa and public funds?

Hi john, its me again.

Since last time we spoke things have moved on a bit , now my wife is pregnant and also working, all the other details are the same, but now im wondering about something. My wife is still working at the moment but soon she will have to stop, she has been to the hospital and has been given a MAT B form to give to her employer to confirm pregnancy (24 weeks), Im not sure wether she will qualify for maternity benefit or not but i think she will get it as her employer asked her to get the MATB form in the first place, also if she does get it is that a recourse to public funds?

Also she was sent an NHS card that enables her to get free medecine during and for some time after her pregnancy. is this a recourse to public funds?

the reason is because her visa says no recourse to public funds , if this is the case we wont use them , if they are ok then will it cause a problem later on when i apply for her ILR?

Congratulations on the pregnancy!

OK ... Public Funds! The first thing to realise is that nothing like all possible benefits paid by the UK Government are within the definition of Public Funds. So if a particular benefit is not within the definition then it is totally OK to claim.

The definition? Look at the definition in paragraph 6 of this website. That will confirm to you that it is totally OK for benefits associated with maternity to be claimed without breaching the Public Funds restriction on the visa. That includes, for example, the ability of the mother to get free NHS dentistry while pregnant and for 12 months afterwards ... assuming of course you can find an NHS dentist!