Public Funds Confusion.....

[scoot]

hi, have been reading the posts for some time now, and have noticed a few posts regarding claiming working tax credits.
In these posts it seems to be that people are claiming or going to claim this kind of benifit, however on the ukvisa website it clearly states that this is a public fund and cannot be claimed by the fiancee or partner.
please can i request some feedback on this subject as we do not wish to to break the immigration rules.

thanks
chris

[Nutkin333]

Hiya .... we're going to claim WTC , i'm going to enclose a note saying that my partner is subject to immigration control and is not to have recourse to public funds and if this should affect her immigration status then we do not wish to claim. I was advised to do this by a benefits adviser. My partner is on the 2 year temporary visa for civil partner.
I have been informed that it would be ok to claim as long as the person claiming is a Brit or is not subject to immigration control. I was also given a copy of some of the rules .......

" you are not eligible for tax credits if you are a 'person subject to immigration control'.... there are also some important differences that arise for certain groups:
~ Couples, where one of the couple has settled status or is a British or European Economic Area national but the other member of the couple is a ' person subject to immigration control', are eligible to claim.This will not contravene any public funds requirement.

There is a little more to the rules but thats what i'm going on.

[scoot]

hi nutkin, i have searched and read up on this subject as best that i could.
the question i guess that most interests me is that i understand that we have to claim as a couple and that would mean that she is also a claiment(i think).
my fiancee has two children, and from what i understand i can claim child benifits for them.
Any information that you guy's on here might have will be usefull.

regards,
chris

[John]

Chris, can you please post details of your nationality ... are you British? If not, what nationality, and what is your UK immigration status?

Your fiancée? What nationality is she, and what is her UK immigration status?

Are the two of you living together? If so, since what date?

This is a very complicated area ... unnecessarily complicated in my opinion ... but once you post answers to the questions I pose above, it will be possible to give you a definitive answer.

[scoot]

hi john,
i am british born here in the uk.
my fiancee is from canada.
we are just waiting now to hear from the embassy about the fiance visa.
we will be living together once she arrives here in HOPEFULLY 1 week.
she also has two children that will be comming here too.

hope this helps john.

[John]

Chris, it certainly does help.

As soon as the two of you start living together in the UK, you (and certainly not your fiancée) will be entitled to claim Child Benefit for the two children. It matters not that your fiancée and the two children will all have visas saying "No recourse to Public Funds" ... none of the three of them will be claiming ... you will be ... and you are totally entitled to claim.

Child Benefit is a one-claimant benefit. However you also mention Tax Credits, and in respect of a couple living together, a claim for Tax Credits must be made jointly. However, in your circumstances this is not a problem. Some "small print" buried in the Tax Credits legislation comes to your rescue.

That is, reg. 3(2), Tax Credits (Immigration) Regulations 2003 says that where the couple consist of one person who is not subject to immigration control (you) and one person who is subject to immigration control (your fiancée) then for Tax Credits purposes only, both of you are treated as not being subject to immigration control. Hence a claim is totally OK. This is backed up by para 6B of the Immigration Rules.

Hope this helps. Just for the record, another bit of "small print", the Tax Credits (Residence) Regulations 2003, stops any claim for Tax Credits until the three of them are actually living in the UK.

One side-effect of the Tax Credits claim! The application form asks for the National Insurance number ("NINO") of each applicant. Your fiancée does not have a NINO? If that is the case, it will provoke the procedure to get her a NINO. Whilst this might delay the start of the Tax Credits payments, the backlog will be paid after the NINO is issued and the Tax Credits application processed.

Finally, 3 settlement visa applications at about £260 each! Or rather the Canadian Dollar rough equivalent of that! Ouch!

[scoot]

thanks john, that puts my mind at rest a little.