Claiming benefits while applying for spouse visa

Hello all,
My wife is applying for a spouse visa for the U.K. she is a Turkish citizen and although she will be able to support herself with the application my concern is what I can or cannot claim when she makes the application.

My wife will have an income which is the goverment guidelines amount but I am claiming Housing benefit, Jobseekers allowance and child tax credit, now after much reasearching we are unclear about what we can or cannot claim. As it is my wifes application and she is self sufficent and will not be a drain on the state can I still claim as we have a rented property.

I had a job but have lived in Istanbul and then returned and discovered the reccession and have been unemployed for the first time in my life

Thanks for any guidance

istanbulrich wrote:Hello all,
My wife is applying for a spouse visa for the U.K. she is a Turkish citizen and although she will be able to support herself with the application my concern is what I can or cannot claim when she makes the application.

My wife will have an income which is the goverment guidelines amount but I am claiming Housing benefit, Jobseekers allowance and child tax credit, now after much reasearching we are unclear about what we can or cannot claim. As it is my wifes application and she is self sufficent and will not be a drain on the state can I still claim as we have a rented property.

I had a job but have lived in Istanbul and then returned and discovered the reccession and have been unemployed for the first time in my life

Thanks for any guidance

If you are a British citizen or have ILR you are entitled to the benefits you have mentioned but you will not be able to claim ADDITIONAL benefits for your wife

after much reasearching we are unclear about what we can or cannot claim

Have you read the pinned topics in this Claiming Benefits section of this board? These issues have been discussed numerous times on this board. Your circumstances are far from unique.

The Tax Credits claim, please confirm that it is in the joint names of you and your wife.

John wrote:

after much reasearching we are unclear about what we can or cannot claim

Have you read the pinned topics in this Claiming Benefits section of this board? These issues have been discussed numerous times on this board. Your circumstances are far from unique.

The Tax Credits claim, please confirm that it is in the joint names of you and your wife.

Hello John,
I never stated that our circumstances were unique, the tax credits are in my name and are for my daughter, I have a single claim as my wife is not in the U.K. and therfore we cannot claim as a family or have my wife on the claim form, so it is a single claim without anything to do with my wife
Thanks

I never stated that our circumstances were unique

No but there is lots of guidance already here that you appear not to have read, or might have thought did not apply to you, hence my comment.

I have a single claim as my wife is not in the U.K.

Fair enough, but the fact that your wife is not yet in the UK is not entirely clear. For example she might have already been in the UK on a student visa, which is now hopefully being converted to a spouse visa.

Do ensure that the Tax Credits claim is converted to a joint claim, as soon as your wife starts living with you in the UK.

Hopefully the visa application in Turkey will be successful and it will not be long before she joins you in the UK.

John wrote:

I never stated that our circumstances were unique

No but there is lots of guidance already here that you appear not to have read, or might have thought did not apply to you, hence my comment.

I have a single claim as my wife is not in the U.K.

Fair enough, but the fact that your wife is not yet in the UK is not entirely clear. For example she might have already been in the UK on a student visa, which is now hopefully being converted to a spouse visa.

Do ensure that the Tax Credits claim is converted to a joint claim, as soon as your wife starts living with you in the UK.

Hopefully the visa application in Turkey will be successful and it will not be long before she joins you in the UK.

Hello John,
The claiming benefits section was a very imformative read and I did find it useful, John my wife came over on a visitors visa and she stayed for five months of the six month validity of the visa, she has only ever had a visitor's visa and upon her last entry July 2011 she was told at the Border Agency that she cannot apply for another visa until a six month period because she was actually using the vist to stay longer.

I was advised that when my wife finally gets over here we make a joint claim for my daughter's tax credits.

I am worried John about the whole process, the big fact is I cannot find a job through trying so patiently and although my wife will be self sufficent because she will have in effect £800 income a month is probably still not sufficent for her spouse visa.
Richard