How long before you can start claiming for benefits?

[srrooms]

First of all, I am not on the scrounge but I just want to know when will I be able to claim for any benefits that I am entitled too.

I am moving back to the UK (I am British and my wife is Khmer) with my wife and children and it is going to be hard for the first 3-5 years especially financially or at least until I can get my own business venture up and running.

Anyway, I will have somewhere in the region of 20k to keep us going for about a year if we need it which we probably will as my business will take a while to get off the ground.

Here are my questions:

1. After arriving in the UK, how long is it before I am eligable to apply for child benefit for my children (they hopefully will have British passports by then)?

2. How long do I need to be working before I can claim housing benefit and council tax benefit? I expect to rent for the first 3 years but we also expect to be on a low income for the first few years. After 3 years we will hopefully be in the position to buy a home and get mortgage.

3. I have read in many places that the working tax and child tax benefits are based on your previous year's salary so if this is the case does that mean we will not be able to claim these benefits for at least a year from when we open our business as we will have had no income from the previous year?

Thanks for any help.

[mochyn]

I think having over £16,000 in the bank will put the kibosh on most benefits that are income based

[John]

srrooms, using your numbering :-

1. Immediately you and your family are living in the UK there will be an entitlement to claim Child Benefit. Child Benefit is not means-tested in any way.
2. As stated by mochyn, for some benefits cannot be claimed by those having more than a certain amount in the bank. So no claim for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit possible until your savings are reduced.
3. For Tax Credits, whilst income is taking into account, in order to assess the amount payable, the amount of savings is not a factor. It is not right, or at least not the whole story, that Tax Credits are calculated on the basis of the previous year's income. That is the case, initially, for continuing claimants, but for new claimants such as yourself and your wife, the 2010-2011 claim will be calculated upon estimated 2010-2011 income and circumstances. Those circumstances include the number of hours that you and/or your wife work.

[srrooms]

Thanks Mochyn for your reply. I do not expect to be claiming straight away and I also do not expect 20k to last very long. I expect renting a home, food, council tax and so on will use up a lot of that 20k in the first year.

Thanks John for the information.

Can I just confirm a few points.

1. Only I claim for the children for child benefit?

2. Thanks for that info.

3. I am hoping to start my own business within a few months of arrival in the UK after a bit research. I only expect to make around 10k to 12k the first year in gross profit. Do you think working for someone first would be better for me for the first few years? Will been self employed make it to hard to forecast my expected earnings to show the benefits office? Will my wife need a national insurance before we can claim anything?

Thanks,

Phil

[John]

Again using that numbering :-

1. Child Benefit is claimed by just one person, and in your circumstances it could be either you or your wife. Irrespective of who is the claimant, that claimant can pay the money to their spouse, if that is what they want to do. Especially as you will have a NI number, and your wife has not been to the UK before(?) and might not have a NI number, you being the Child Benefit claimant will probably reduce the time before the Child Benefit money starts flowing.
2. If your capital does run down, there might become a point when HB and/or CTB might become payable.
3. OK you have £20K of savings, but there is still a financial test to pass, in order to get the spouse visa for your wife. If you give the impression that you will not be earning anything for ages that might create a doubt in the mind of the ECO in Bangkok looking at the visa application. So I strongly suggest your plan needs to be that you seek employment as soon as you arrive back in the UK. But fine if you eventually become self-employed.

By the way, how long have the two of you been married, and living together outside the UK?

[srrooms]

Hi John,

1. Sorry I am a bit confused about the child benefit. I thought that only I can claim for child benefit if my wife is Cambodian?

3. I certainly will not be given the impression that I will not be earning anything for ages. What I meant was is that I might be on a low income for a while until by buisness picks up. A new business will take a while to build up regular customers as you will know. The chances are I will be much better off finanacially with my own business then I will be if I took a regular job but it will take a few years. Also when I say 3-5 years will be hard financially then i mean this is the length of time I expect to be not needing any benefits plus have my own home/mortgage.

By the way I did not mention it here but we have been married for 6 years as I know that makes a difference when it comes to the visa for my wife.

Thanks again

[mochyn]

Surely the ECO would be in Phnom Penh and not Bangkok unless it has been closed down?

[John]

Given that your wife is married to you, a British Citizen, she could be the Child Benefit claimant. But as stated before, it is probably best if you are the Child Benefit claimant.

As regards income, I would certainly not give the impression that "I might be on a low income for a while until by buisness picks up. A new business will take a while to build up regular customers as you will know.". Simply say that you intend to look for employment as soon as you reach the UK.

Of course if you are on low income then you will be able to claim an enhanced amount of Tax Credits, but in view para 6C of the Immigration Rules, you cannot use that fact in support of the application for a spouse visa.

we have been married for 6 years as I know that makes a difference when it comes to the visa for my wife

So you know to point out that the "KOL REQ" endorsement should be put on the 27-month spouse visa? Certainly do not just assume that the endorsement will be applied automatically.

By the way, how is your wife's English language ability?

[John]

Surely the ECO would be in Phnom Penh and not Bangkok unless it has been closed down?

There is no visa processing in Cambodia. The visa application will need to be made at the VFS office in Bangkok.

I think it might be the case that the TB testing can be done in Phnom Penh, but admit I cannot find a link to support that.

[John]

As regards the needed TB certificate, this needs to be done by IOM. Their link for Cambodia is .... click here.

srrooms, suggest you phone the IOM office in Phnom Penh, but I expect them to confirm that a TB certificate issued by them in Phnom Penh will be acceptable for the visa application being submitted in Bangkok.

No TB certificate = automatic rejection of spouse visa application.

[srrooms]

Hi Again,

Thanks for all the information. I am not planning on arriving in UK until April 2011 but I am doing all the research now so I am well prepared. I am getting some great info though on this board (especially form John) so I appreciate it. Thanks.

In regards to my employment in the UK then I will not be given the impression I will be on a low income. I will be telling them that I will be seeking employment as soon as I arrive. I would like to open my own buisness BUT this is not 100% so I therefore will be telling them that I will be seeking employment.

My wife can now apply to the British embassy in Phnom Penh for her visa but it is forwarded to Bangkok for processing. Before when my wife applied for a tourist visit we had to travel to Bangkok to get the visa bu things change here regularly.

The TB certificate is something they have added to the application recently so I was going to ask about this at the British Consulate for confirmation.

I know it is not automatic that my wife will get her settlement visa but I know if you are prepared with all the right documents and the right infomation they require then makes things a whole lot easier. My wife's English is fair but she is not fluent in English and I intend on sending her to classes to improve her English once we get to the UK.

John, sorry but can you explain what "KOL REQ" means? THIS SOUNDS IMPORTANT?

Going onto something different, we are also applying for our children's British Birth Cetificates as we are then able to apply for British passports at the same time. I have been told we need all of their Cambodian birth certificates, my British Birth Certificate and our marriage certificate plus my wife's and my passports. Do you have any tips on in regards to getting the British Birth certificates and passports for the children? It seems as long as I have my British Birth Certificate then they should be granted them but you can never know. I would rather get their British passports before we go to the UK as it makes it easier then having to get them visas and then sorting the passports out in the UK plus it would be a lot more costly?

By the way my wife has no NI number as she has only visited the UK on a tourist visa and has never worked there.

Thanks again for the great info.

[John]

the British Birth certificates and passports for the children? It seems as long as I have my British Birth Certificate then they should be granted them

Indeed, prove that you are their father, and that you are a British Citizen otherwise than by descent, for an example by producing a full birth certificates showing you were born in the UK, and the children can be issued British-style birth certificates and then British passports. If children were born before 01.07.06 then it will assist if you prove that you are married to the childrens' mother.

I have just looked at the website of the British Embassy in Phnom Penh and I have to say that it is not nearly as informative as the website of the British Embassy in Bangkok. On that website it goes into quite a bit of detail, including the ability to submit applications at the same time for the birth certificate and the passport. You need to check if the embassy in Phnom Penh have the same procedure.

John, sorry but can you explain what "KOL REQ" means? THIS SOUNDS IMPORTANT?

As you have been married and lived together outside the UK for at least 4 years the "KOL REQ" endorsement should be appleid to the spouse visa. What that means is this. Ordinarily the person cannot apply for their ILR in the UK until they have been in the UK for nearly 2 years. However with the "KOL REQ" endorsement, once she has passed the Life in the UK Citizenship test, or got a completion certificate from a combined ESOL/Citizenship course, then she can apply for her ILR without needing to wait until she has been in the UK for nearly 2 years.

My wife can now apply to the British embassy in Phnom Penh for her visa but it is forwarded to Bangkok for processing

That is clearly very good news for you.

The TB certificate is something they have added to the application recently so I was going to ask about this at the British Consulate for confirmation.

Actually not very recently at all. For visa applications being decided in Bangkok, including those from Cambodia and Laos, it has been necessary for about 4 years. More about this on this UKBA webpage.