ILR

Hi Jhon, I am a spouse of a british citizen and I am due to apply for my ILR in Febuary. I have just discovered that we(my husband & I) have made a mistake that can count against my applicatio for ILR. My husband has been claiming child tax credit as an individual because I am not entitled to public funds as a result I was not included in the claim. Please advise as my application is still in febuary.

What I would do before you make your application is for your husband to try and contact the Child tax credit office ASAP and inform that that his circumstances have now changed and include you (his wife) in his child tax credit claim, this will involve them asking him of details of where you work, how much you earn, when did you start working and so on........

They will ask when you started working (if you are working) and how much you have been earning... only problem here is they might ask your husband for a repayment for the months you have been in employment because they might have been paying him too much child tax credit without taking your income into consideration.

the good thing about this is once their sytems are updated they should send a letter out in both your names and update your child tax credit claim. which should be done in time for your app.

The only visible downside to me is that you both might have to make a repayment on CTC if you have both been working..... they will know this via your NI numbr as you will have to provide it to them as well....so its always best to be truthful if you have earned any wages..

As an example if he claimed alone without ur income he would have received for example £100 pr month... however once your income comes into consideration the £100 will likely be halved into £50 or less...depending on how much you're earning.... so he will have to pay back the months where they overpaid him......

However this is just what I think I am not an expert.....You should also wait for one of the moderators like John to advise you as well....