claiming benefits when subject to immigration control

Hi

My wife came on a spouse visa on may 2010. I believe the visa gets reviewed after 2 years and then granted an ILR after reviewing the case.

When i applied for her visa i was on a good manager job bringing home £270 a week after tax. I was made redundant in January 2010 and now as there are very few jobs available i have started driving taxi and work self employed until i find a better job. My wife is 5 months pregnant.

The pay is not very good and i wanted to know if i could apply for working tax credit. I dont want to apply for it as i dont want to have problems with her visa when she applies for ILR. i did a little research and found out afew thing.


the Home Office says your leave to remain in the United Kingdom (UK) is on the condition that you do not have recourse to public funds, or
• you require leave to enter or remain in the UK, but do not have it.

If you are subject to immigration control, you may still be entitled to tax credits if

• you are claiming as a couple and only one of you is subject to immigration control

Please could anyone advise me regarding this matter.[/b]

Kind Regards

Salman

It depends on your status, if you are British or have ILR then you are entitled to benefits which will not effect your spouses application for ILR

Yes i am british but dont you apply as a couple when you apply for working tax credit.

I dont want the authorities to say she has been relying on public funds when i apply after 2 years for her ILR.

pLEASE HELP.

Yes you do apply for Tax Credits jointly with the spouse you are living with but in your circumstances such a joint claim is totally OK. Reasons are as stated in this pinned topic.

So lets get this straight. I can claim working tax credit in a joint application and it will not affect my wifes ILR application.

When i have a child in December i can claim child benefit but in my name only.

Can anyone plz confirm this and thank you so much for all your help.

From when the baby is born yes claim Child Benefit, And as regards a Tax Credits claim, in respect of a couple living together the claim must be made jointly but such a joint claim will cause no problem to a later ILR application.

Just one thing to add, which is that when the baby is born, not only claim the Child Benefit, but also report the birth to the Tax Credits office, and they will recalculate and add Child Tax Credit to the previous Working Tax Credit claim.