Job seeker - still exercising Treaty rights?

enic · Post by **enic** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:08 pm

Hi everybody!

Been reading this forum for a while and first wanted to say thank you to all posters, mods and admins! Would be lost without all this info!

I'm an EU national, my spouse - non-EU.
We've applied for EEA1/EEA2 in Oct 2012, got CoA the week after but still waiting for RC (it's been 5 months, fingers crossed).

I've just received notice from my employer and I'll be officially terminated this Friday, which will make me unemployed.

My question is - since I was made redundant against my will, if I register with JobCentre as a job seeker, am I still exercising Treaty rights?

And if I do, am I allowed to claim JobSeekers Allowance?

Will that be held against me and my spouse 5 years later if we wish to apply for Permanent Residence?

And finally, how long can I have a status of job seeker (looking for work while still exercising Treaty rights) not to create a gap in my Treaty rights period. Is it 30 days as the Directive suggests?

Thank you all for your help! Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Enic

nidaulhaque · Post by **nidaulhaque** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:37 pm

yes u can apply for job seeker, and its other way to exercising treaty rights. you can claim upto 6 months without any problem, after 6 months if u still claim job seeker then it will be problem, i think you also report this to ho, as if they contact your employer and they will say you not working anymore they will refuse your application.

Post by **sheraz7** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:36 pm

enic wrote:Hi everybody!

Been reading this forum for a while and first wanted to say thank you to all posters, mods and admins! Would be lost without all this info!

I'm an EU national, my spouse - non-EU.
We've applied for EEA1/EEA2 in Oct 2012, got CoA the week after but still waiting for RC (it's been 5 months, fingers crossed).

I've just received notice from my employer and I'll be officially terminated this Friday, which will make me unemployed.

My question is - since I was made redundant against my will, if I register with JobCentre as a job seeker, am I still exercising Treaty rights?

And if I do, am I allowed to claim JobSeekers Allowance?

Will that be held against me and my spouse 5 years later if we wish to apply for Permanent Residence?

And finally, how long can I have a status of job seeker (looking for work while still exercising Treaty rights) not to create a gap in my Treaty rights period. Is it 30 days as the Directive suggests?

Thank you all for your help! Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Enic

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006 ... ion/5/made

enic · Post by **enic** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:53 pm

Thanks for advice nidaulhaque and sheraz7!

The information in the link provided was written in a very complicated manner so I'm not sure I understand it fully, but it doesn't seem like any of the points apply to me.

I've been employed by a company for 6 months during which we applied for EEA1/EEA2 and I was made redundant by the employer this week (have his letter as a proof).

If I register with JobCentre Plus and prove than I am actively seeking employment, do I retain my "worker" status, i.e., this counts as me exercising Treaty rights?
Is the maximum period I can be registered as unemployed/job-seeker and still be exercising Treaty rights 6 months?
Can I claim job-seekers allowance during this time or getting any benefits will void my Treaty rights?

I'm sorry if I'm asking obvious things, but this whole process seems complicated beyond measure and I don't want to make any mistakes that we will have to pay for 5 years later.

Thanks so much!

nidaulhaque · Post by **nidaulhaque** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 11:40 pm

Well I am not sure if this will effect your eea1/2 application or not but home office does consider job seeker as a treaty rights but only if u claim for 6 months or less although there are cases where people claimed job seeker for 1 year or more where home office refused the application and then later appeal granted the pr so best to keep job seeker for 6 months or less otherwise u may get problem after 5 years when u apply for pr benefit will not effect your application so best to find another job ASAP or start ur own business and register self employed to keep you safe for pr. another issue with ur eea1/2 ho may contact with your employer to confirm employment as recently someone posted on this forum that their application refuel on that base where left for the job and working for other employer but fail to repot to ho

enic · Post by **enic** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:17 pm

I've just learned from a friend that I cannot claim any benefits (jobseekers allowance included) if we wish to apply for PR in 5 years time.
At least I can stay unemployed for a month or two and that will count towards my Treaty period, right?

Anyone else had a situation where they've been unemployed for some time and had no problems getting PR later?

Post by **sheraz7** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 3:58 pm

enic wrote:Thanks for advice nidaulhaque and sheraz7!

The information in the link provided was written in a very complicated manner so I'm not sure I understand it fully, but it doesn't seem like any of the points apply to me.

I've been employed by a company for 6 months during which we applied for EEA1/EEA2 and I was made redundant by the employer this week (have his letter as a proof).

If I register with JobCentre Plus and prove than I am actively seeking employment, do I retain my "worker" status, i.e., this counts as me exercising Treaty rights?
Is the maximum period I can be registered as unemployed/job-seeker and still be exercising Treaty rights 6 months?
Can I claim job-seekers allowance during this time or getting any benefits will void my Treaty rights?

I'm sorry if I'm asking obvious things, but this whole process seems complicated beyond measure and I don't want to make any mistakes that we will have to pay for 5 years later.

Thanks so much!

Normally an EEA national worker is still considered as worker even stop working if:
-they are temporarily unable to work due to illness or accident or

-they are in duly recorded involuntary unemployment after having been employed in the UK, as long as they have registered as a jobseeker with the relevant employment office and

-they were employed for a year or more before becoming unemployed
-they have been unemployed for no more than six months or
-they can provide evidence that they are seeking employment in the UK and have a genuine chance of being engaged or
-they are involuntarily unemployed and have started vocational training or
-they have voluntarily stopped working and have started vocational training which is related to their last employment.

Normally regulation define that an EEA national should not be an unreasonable burden on state benefits and despite certain benefits are allowed to claim. But its bit difficult to determine/say whether an individual is an unreasonable burden or not and it would be entirely depend on each individual case and their circumstances involved.

enic · Post by **enic** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:08 pm

Thanks for the detailed answer sheraz7!

The multiple "or"s and "and"s confuse me a bit, so if I understand correctly in my situation (having been employed for less than a year, involuntarily unemployed):

As long as I am unemployed less than 6 months, registered with JobCentre and can prove that I am employable and actively seeking employment, I am still exercising my Treaty rights, correct?
Or does this rule apply only to those who worked for more than a year?
And as far as job-seeker's allowance goes - it's a gray area, so better not touch it not to jeopardize the future PR?

Sorry, I don't mean to be daft but I just can't seem to get a straight forward answer that applies to my situation and just get confused by all the "ifs" and "buts".
I'm very grateful for your advice!

Post by **sheraz7** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:26 pm

sheraz7 wrote:
-they were employed for a year or more before becoming unemployed

austin100 · Post by **austin100** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:33 pm

Well, It does not matter really according to the regulation, as long as you are register as a Job seeker. You will not loose worker status, Even though is more than six month. Keep evidence of Job application and feedback from the employers.
You will be fine !

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Job seeker - still exercising Treaty rights?

Job seeker - still exercising Treaty rights?

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