Treatment benefits and naturalisation

[Blessings123]

Dear members.
I am waiting for my naturalisation. Submitted application in March 22. In that application the answer to question asking about social benefits, I only mentioned child benefits which I was getting. I did not receive any other benefits from the department prior. But now I am in need of a medical device. As I am housewife so I’ll be eligible for treatment benefits via my spouse. Department of social protection will contribute towards the cost of that equipment. My question is that would claiming treatment benefits have any negative impact on my application? I plan to tell department of naturalisation if I do get the benefit as I do not want to hide but just wondering would that make my application a bit weak?

[XiMi]

Claim of Medical Device is through Spouse PRSI Contributions. In my Learning it is not a Social Welfare Claim.

[littlerr]

Only means-tested benefits will have a negative impact on naturalisation applications. PRSI benefits are not means-tested so you are completely fine. You don’t even need to mention it in your application.

[raja.brit]

Only means-tested benefits will have a negative impact on naturalisation applications. PRSI benefits are not means-tested so you are completely fine. You don’t even need to mention it in your application.

I dont think all means tested benefit (especially Medical Card from my experience) has impact on Citizenship Applications.

I also know of people (refugees) who claims all sorts of benefits (council house/job seekers allowance etc) has obtained Citizenship with no issues.

[littlerr]

Programme refugees are of course allowed helps from the government in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

[Blessings123]

So I end up getting equipment via PRSI contribution of my husband. The cost was around 5000 and department contributed 1000 in that. I am just thinking about question 9.5 in my application (have you ever received social assistance payment or state support). At the time of applicarion I only mentioned about child benefit. I never received any other social payment or medical card etc. Should I write letter to department informing them about this PRSI contribution ? I have heard if they feel you are hiding something , it can cause negative impact. So I was thinking is it better to inform them?

[littlerr]

There is no harm either way. As I previously mentioned, PRSI benefits are available to everybody who works, and it is advisable that people avail of them.

If you just want to be on the safe side, you can request for a Payment Statement and see for yourself how much has been paid to you and in which category. If I remember correctly, PRSI benefits will not show up there. You only need to inform INIS if the payment shows up there, in which case you send this statement to the Citizenship team along with a brief explanation.

Link to request for a Payment Statement is here: https://services.mywelfare.ie/en/topics ... statement/

[Blessings123]

Thanks for your reply. As you mentioned in the first comment that it doesn’t necessarily need to be mentioned. I have also talked to few other people and the general advice was the PRSI doesn’t consider as a social assistance and hence no need to mentioned. So I have decided not to update the department. As this was from tax contribution. Do you think that should be ok? I don’t want this to have any negative impact on my application. I have never taken any disability benefits etc in past.

[littlerr]

Yes that is absolutely fine.

If you haven’t gone so, get a new payment statement and make sure that there is no social benefit payment in the official record.

[Blessings123]

The receipt I got from the medical device shop has some payment from social department. But letter from department clearly says that it’s departmental PRSI scheme.
My understanding is that is not a social welfare anyway so I didn’t feel the need to inform citizenship department. Is that the right move?

[littlerr]

Yeah PRSI payment is fine.

[Corw]

Only means-tested benefits will have a negative impact on naturalisation applications. PRSI benefits are not means-tested so you are completely fine. You don’t even need to mention it in your application.

I dont think all means tested benefit (especially Medical Card from my experience) has impact on Citizenship Applications.

I also know of people (refugees) who claims all sorts of benefits (council house/job seekers allowance etc) has obtained Citizenship with no issues.

Hi
Will there be any nagtitve impact on citizenship application if anyone holding medical card in Ireland ?

[meself2]

Hi
Will there be any nagtitve impact on citizenship application if anyone holding medical card in Ireland ?

It might have, since Medical Card is means tested.

Only means-tested benefits will have a negative impact on naturalisation applications.

Assessment for a medical card
We assess your application on a qualifying financial threshold. This is the amount of money that you can earn a week and still qualify for a card.

But I'm unsure.