No Recourse to Public Funds and Exceptions

[rose99]

If you are allowed to enter the UK for a limited period, one of the conditions attached to your leave may be that you have ‘no recourse to public funds’. But, exceptions do apply to some benefits and to people coming from certain countries. Unless you are receiving a fund under one of the exceptions set out in the brochure below, claiming public funds is a breach of your conditions of entry to the UK. You can find a list of the most common exceptions in the brochure with full detail on benefits for non-UK nationals at this address:

www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/11464/publicfunds.pdf

Basically, according to this brochure "In most cases you will not be able to claim any of the benefits or tax credits that count as public funds. However, for some funds there are exceptions to this. If you receive a fund under one of these exceptions, it will not count as recourse to public funds." The most common exceptions listed in this brochure are:

a) I’m a member of the family of an EEA national - am I eligible for any benefits?

If you are living with another family member who is an EEA national – for example, your child or your partner – you may be eligible for the following benefits:

• Child benefit
• A social fund payment
• Attendance allowance
• Severe disablement allowance
• Carer’s allowance
• Disability living allowance

b) My partner is allowed to claim tax credits - can I claim them too?

Claims for child and working tax credits are assessed jointly. If you are living with a spouse or partner who is allowed to claim tax credits, your name may be included in the claim. Other benefits classed as public funds are assessed individually.

c) My home country has a social security agreement with the UK or the EU - am I eligible for any benefits?

If your home country has a social security agreement with the EU or UK, you may be eligible for certain benefits.

If you are from Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or San Marino, you may be eligible for the following funds.

• Child tax credit
• Child benefit
• Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• Income support
• A social fund payment
• Housing benefit
• Council tax benefit

If you are from Barbados, Canada, Israel, Mauritius, New Zealand, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, you may be eligible for the following benefits:

• Child benefit
• A social fund payment
• Attendance allowance
• Severe disablement allowance
• Carer’s allowance
• Disability living allowance

d) I’ve been awarded tax credits in error - will this affect my leave?

If you applied for child or working tax credits before January 2005, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may have paid you them in error. If so, HMRC will stop the payment. Any tax credits you did receive before the error was corrected will not count as recourse to public
funds.

e) I’ve been affected by a temporary loss of funds from abroad – am I eligible for any benefits?

If you are temporarily without funds, due to disruption of remittances from abroad, you may be eligible for the following funds:

• Child tax credits
• Working tax credits
• Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• Income support
• A social fund payment
• Housing benefit
• Council tax benefit

These benefits and tax credits will only be awarded if there is a reasonable expectation that the supply of funds will be resumed. They will only be paid for a short period. A claim can only be made once during any period of leave.

If you are in any doubt about whether you are able to claim a particular fund, you should contact the department or agency that issues it. You can find a list of useful contacts at the end of this brochure.

To get more ifnormation about the Child Benefit for people from abroad you can call 08453021454.

The most interesting section for me was c) My home country has a social security agreement with the UK or the EU - am I eligible for any benefits?
As the citizen of both Canada and Croatia, according to this brochure I am eligible for certain public funds although I have 'No recourse to Public Funds' stamped in my passport and that should not affect my eligibility for ILR (my HSMP has been extended for 4 more years and ILR is the next step).

I am in the UK on HSMP visa for the past year and 3 months and only now have found about this possibility re: public funds while browsing the website for Canadian expats in the UK. I have phoned 08453021454 yesterday, explained my situation and they confirmed that I am indeed eligible and will be sending me a claim form.

A very nice operator explained to me that I am going to be eligible retrocatively for three months from the day of my application, but not for the whole period of my stay in the UK prior to that. What a shame - in Canada they always inform new immigrants of their rights for benefits and pay all benefits (child tax benefit for example) retroactively from the date when you step on to the Canadian land. Why is it so complicated here in the UK and almost kept a secret for those who might be eligible?

My visa was stamped in my Canadian passport in the UK embassy in Ottawa, my extension was stamped here in the UK and both times they just tell you 'No Recourse to Public Funds'. The same happened during my NI number application process. But as it was obvious I was a Canadian citizen, they should have at least informed me of this brochure and the eligibility for certain public funds. I pay taxes, my husband as well, both my countries (Canada and Croatia) have a social security agreement with the UK or EU (which means that the UK/EU citizens can claim their benefits while living in Canada and Croatia), so why shouldn't I be able to claim them from the very first day of my life in the UK as well?

On the other side, am I making a mistake if I claim these benefits (Child Benefits)? The brochure is coming from the govrenment website, but as it seems that all these government departments work in a very confusing manner and do not know what is going on in between them will my application for ILR in 2010 be refused because I have received the Child Benefit money? Can I really trust the brochure and the service and operators at the Child Benefit for people from abroad phone line at 08453021454 as I was already told by people issuing my visa that I do not have any right to access public funds?

Please check the brochure, call 08453021454 if you are coming from one of the countries listed in the brochure in the exception section and see for yourself. Will anybody here be able to make some comments about all of this as well? I would be thankful to get some feedback before I fill out my claimform for the Child Benefit.

Thank you,

Rose

[rose99]

Here is another document that deals with this topic... I've just found it and it is interesting as well:

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/docume ... iew=Binary

According to the Flowchart for Further Leave/Indefinite Leave Decissions Involving Receipt of Benefits in that document, I (as Croatian and Canadian) might be eligible for the Council Tax Benefit as well, but nothing about that is said in the other part fo that document (or in the previous brochure that I've posted here). They listed only:
----------------------------------------
Nationals from Barbados, Canada, Israel, Mauritius, New Zealand, Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are eligible for the following funds:

• Child benefit
• A social fund payment
• Attendance allowance
• Severe disablement allowance
• Invalid care allowance
• Disability living allowance
---------------------------------------

Also, the document and the chart mentioned above says that "Croatians working legally in the UK are eligible for working tax credit."

I called the department that deals with applications for the Working Tax Credit and I was told that since my (Canadian) passport where my HSMP visa is stamped says 'No recourse to Public Funds' that hence I am not eligible for the Working Tax Credit. They did not want to take into consideration that I have Croatian citizenship and passport as well and that I am therefore eligible for the Working Tax Credit. Their only explanation was that since their guidance says that whoever has 'No recourse to Public Funds' in the passport is not eligible and they do not know anything about people that have two citizenships where one makes them eligible for that benefit/tax credit.

They also said I should call Home Office and ask about all of that but from this forum I see that that would be fruitless as the Home Office people don't know how to deal with regulations at all and always give different instructions to different people. It is interesting to know that when I applied for FLR with my Canadian passport I did not have to pay any fees due to a fact that I have Croatian citizenships as well (Croatian citizens are exempt from FLR and ILR fees). So I could use my dual citizenship in that case, but not when it comes to applying for the Working Tax Credit....

Very confusing indeed... Is there any place where we can check about the Council Tax Benefit and Working Tax eligibility for sure? I really don't want to claim certain public funds (when I am eligible due to my citizenships) when it might hurt my further ILR application...

Rose

[BG101]

I was under the impression that "no recourse to Public Funds" meant exactly that ... and as the spouse (British Citizen) of a Visa national that would include me as well as these things are considered on a joint basis so I won't be claiming anything either as it is likely to undermine my wife's application for ILR and naturalization in due course

(that is, if the BHC ever get their finger out and issue the bloody visas )


BG

[and_org]

I am from Israel and my country is in the same list as yours.

I filled a form and sent it to Child Benifits office and I wrote there that I am from Israel and Israel and UK have reciprocal social security agreement and so I am eligible for child benifits.

I received negative answer by post.

Then I called Child Benifits office, they told me that they will review my appeal. Later on I received from them letter that I am eligible and they payed me the child benifits to my bank account.

Now I am going to extend my HSMP (tier 1) visa and I am worried if it may cause any problems.

I heared from some people from Israel that they did receive child benifits and then sucessfully extended their HSMP.

Hope everything will be OK.