Child benefit into joint bank account

Hi all, so I'm a Canadian, and my wife is a British citizen. We've got two girls who were born here in the UK. I am currently on a Limited leave to remain (spouse) visa with no recourse to public funds.

From my reading, it seems that my wife is able to claim the child benefit for both girls because she's a British citizen. I am not suppose to claim, and I recognise that. What isn't clear to me is, will there be a problem if the money that comes from the child benefit goes into a joint account owned by my wife and myself?

I can't seem to find guidance on this particular point.

No issue.

grwhumphries wrote: ↑

Fri May 17, 2019 9:55 pm

Hi all, so I'm a Canadian, and my wife is a British citizen. We've got two girls who were born here in the UK. I am currently on a Limited leave to remain (spouse) visa with no recourse to public funds.

From my reading, it seems that my wife is able to claim the child benefit for both girls because she's a British citizen. I am not suppose to claim, and I recognise that.

Cananda is one of the countries that has an agreement with the UK for Child Benefit.

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-move-to-uk

"You’re ‘subject to immigration control’

You cannot claim Child Benefit if you’re subject to immigration control, unless you’re:

a sponsored immigrant - someone else has agreed to be financially responsible for you
from Algeria, Morocco, San Marino, Tunisia or Turkey and working in the UK
from a country that has an agreement with the UK for Child Benefit

Countries that have an agreement with the UK are:

Barbados
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Canada
the Channel Islands
Israel
Kosovo
Mauritius
Montenegro
New Zealand
North Macedonia
Serbia"

Thanks JB007

I saw this, but I've been unable to find the specific documentation or treaty wordage that confirms this. The little bit I've seen talks about NIC contributions, but not specifically child benefit, and another document I found actually separates Canada out from child benefit contributions. In either case, that's fine as my wife has claimed Child benefit anyways! I just needed to know specifically if the money was going into our joint account, would that matter. Seems like it does not

Cheers

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sat May 18, 2019 7:09 am

No issue.

Thanks CR001 - I was just a bit concerned about the wording on my visa letter which said that I cannot have access to public funds. That wording suggests that I cannot have access to the funding at all. If it goes to my joint bank account, then I technically have access to those funds. It seems a bit grey, and use of the word 'access' sounds like something that lawyers could have a field day arguing about.

Cheers

It refers to you claiming it in your name and not receiving it in a joint bank account.