ILR application and council tax single-person discount with spouse as a student abroad

[perkerand]

Hi everyone,

I am preparing my ILR application. I have a question regarding good character related to the correct council tax amount paid.

Situation:
1) I moved ALONE to the UK in 2015 from EU country via Tier 2. My spouse stood in other EU country for another two years to finish a university degree (which was very unpredictable in terms of time). I rented a property and applied for the single-person discount of council tax.

2) HOWEVER, in 2016 we applied for the PBS visa, since she was too close to finishing her study, but it took another year to actually graduate from. So, she moved to Uk shortly in 2016, and then returned back to her university. She used a dependent visa to visit me occasionally.

3) In 2017, I cancelled the discount and register my wife in a council bill when she moved to the UK permanently.

My concern:
When my wife got a dependent visa I didn't inform a council since she was a student anyway. I assumed, she was counted as a disregarded person for council tax.

I believe I paid the right amount for council tax since my wife was a student. But I worry how caseworker will interpret such a situation:
1. Should I provide an explanation in my ILR application why I had a single-person discount?
2. Do I need to collect evidence that my wife was a full-time student in my ILR application?
3. Is there anything that I did wrong regarding council tax?

[seagul]

An overseas student attending university outside of UK won't be considered as a student in UK and won't be exempted from council tax. However, if you kept paying the council tax in full then there shouldn't be any issue. But updating to your local council with your present circumstances is always wise.

[perkerand]

An overseas student attending university outside of UK won't be considered as a student in UK and won't be exempted from council tax. However, if you kept paying the council tax in full then there shouldn't be an issue. But updating to your local council with your present circumstances is always wise.

Thanks for the reply.

I am a bit surprised with the fact that the university outside of the UK makes such a big difference. My wife even was not living here (she even had to pay health insurance in other country either, no GP In UK), just occasionally visits.

I was claiming a single-person discount until my wife's thesis defence (which happened 3 years ago). After that, I asked a council to add my wife to bill and cancel the discount. I am paying full tax.

Should I tell the council that I was wrong with the discount?

[perkerand]

An overseas student attending university outside of UK won't be considered as a student in UK and won't be exempted from council tax. However, if you kept paying the council tax in full then there shouldn't be any issue. But updating to your local council with your present circumstances is always wise.

Also, I was following this statement (Studying in Europe to pay off with new Council Tax exemption): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stud ... -exemption, when I applied for the discount.

[seagul]

An overseas student attending university outside of UK won't be considered as a student in UK and won't be exempted from council tax. However, if you kept paying the council tax in full then there shouldn't be any issue. But updating to your local council with your present circumstances is always wise.

Also, I was using this statement (Studying in Europe to pay off with new Council Tax exemption): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stud ... -exemption, when I applied for the discount.

Almost all UK universities offers Erasmus programme/student exchange program where UK students gets the opportunity to study abroad at the participating universities for few months. Perhaps that exemption is referring to them. You should speak to your council and ask for further clarity but as long as the correct amount of council tax has been paid then there shouldn't be any issue.

[perkerand]

Hi everybody,

I am Tier2 General holder living in UK with my wife (PBS dependent). This is our immigration history:
- Sept 2015 - Move to Uk with one employer. Our BRP expire date was Sept 2020.
- Feb 2019, I changed the initial employer. To do that we applied for a new Tier2 visa within UK.

I would like to get clarification regarding my wife (PBS dependent) visa and a new rule of 180 days absence.

I am aware of new rules: ''for PBS dependent the new 180 days rule applies to any residence period where the visa was granted on or after 11-Jan 2018'', SO It applies to my wife visa clearly.

Question:
What is the effective date of applying this new rule? We received a decision about our application on 12-01-2019. BUT my wife received a new BRP only in one month with Date of Issue: 10-02-2019. Till that time, her old BRP was still valid, because I finished my employment on 16-02-2019.

Should we list all absence for my wife starting from 12-01-2019 (Application approval date) or Date of Issue from BRP: 10-02-2019?

In our particular situation, Date of Issue would be more beneficial since she spent a visible amount of time outside UK in 2019.

[zimba]

It is date of visa approval. BRP issue date is irrelevant

[perkerand]

It is date of visa approval. BRP issue date is irrelevant

Thank you for the reply!

Even if her first BRP (issued with old rules) was still valid because she held until receiving a new one?
I am picky about these dates, because we have a boundary case regarding absence from the UK.

Additionally, today I read our approval letter stating:
"There notes are for information purpose only and do not convey the grant of leave. The Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is a residence permit and is confirmation of your entitlement to remain in the UK".
Also, I received a letter of cancelling my CoS from first employer only in Feb 2019.

[zimba]

BRP issue date is irrelevant. The fact that her previous BRP was not expired is also irrelevant