Claiming Tax Credits and Treaty Rights EU Citizen

[maryannstar]

Hiya
I am really hoping that someone can shed some light on a situation that a friend of mine is currently facing with regards to obtaining a British passport for her daughter under the fact that she has been exercising treaty rights.
She moved here from Portugal in 2004 and has been working the entire time she has been here. All be it she has been claiming Tax Credits for a majority of this time as she went on to have her son in the UK in 2005. She obtained her residency card in 2006 I believe and has lived in the UK continuously ever since. She is aware that she would have to apply for British citizenship for her son as she was not exercising treaty rights for 5 years prior to him being born here, but she felt it would be quite straight forward when it come to applying for a British passport for her daughter who was born in 2014 on the grounds that she had been exercising treaty rights for a number of years (more than 5).
She has since submitted her application into the passport office with all the supporting documentation only to now be told that due to her claiming tax credits she would need to register her daughter as a British citizen at a cost of £900 and something pounds??
But surely her daughter is British by birth given the circumstances??
She was told that because she had been claiming Tax Credits for a period longer than 9 months then she would not be able to pursue obtaining a passport for her daughter via the route of exercising treaty rights??
This is the first she ahs heard of this and I cannot find anything anywhere which states this ??
Please could anyone give any advice on this .
Many Thanks

[noajthan]

Clearly HMPO don't accept friend's settled status. Over reliance on benefits may invalidate certain categories of qualified person.
Much easier if precise wording of refusal is posted or friend registers and asks directly.

Friend has to have been a qualified person for 5 years and be able to prove it.
Start here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _clean.pdf

For a passport based on treaty rights did friend follow this guide (and Table B in particular)?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... plications

[maryannstar]

Hi
Thank you for responding.
I am unable to use exact wording as she is yet to receive the paper work from the passport office via the post, and this is what she was told over phone (she isn't the best at relaying information) and as I am trying to help her with this matter I didn't think it would be a problem asking on her behalf as she isn't the best at wording what she has to say but either way thank you for the links and I will check them out for her.
Is there anywhere which sates clearly what the guidelines are with regards to reliance on benefits or is it at the discretion of the case worker, as her husband had previous applied for PR under the fact that she was exercising treaty rights (as he wasn't an EEA national) and that was accepted and he was awarded PR? and this was only a year ago?
Thanks again

[noajthan]

Hi
Thank you for responding.
I am unable to use exact wording as she is yet to receive the paper work from the passport office via the post, and this is what she was told over phone (she isn't the best at relaying information) and as I am trying to help her with this matter I didn't think it would be a problem asking on her behalf as she isn't the best at wording what she has to say but either way thank you for the links and I will check them out for her.
Is there anywhere which sates clearly what the guidelines are with regards to reliance on benefits or is it at the discretion of the case worker, as her husband had previous applied for PR under the fact that she was exercising treaty rights (as he wasn't an EEA national) and that was accepted and he was awarded PR? and this was only a year ago?
Thanks again

You can read the HO guidance link provided or refer to UK EEA Regulations.

In general, as per EU law, someone on EU migration route cannot be an undue burden on the host state's social assistance system.

Here's a good explanation:
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/brexit- ... -benefits/
However,

EU citizens who are currently working in the UK in work that is ‘genuine and effective’ can access in-work benefits, including Working Tax Credit.

As far as is known, HMPO is not same division as HO (EU unit) and, based on experiences reported here, they are not EU/PR experts. So the way someone in HMPO assessed evidence may differ from how someone in HO did it a year or so ago.

It's also all about the quality of evidence submitted and the period of time covered by the evidence.
For example, did applicant submit evidence on claiming benefits in form of a DWP letter (as per linked requirements)?

There is also the UK MET test to be factored in if HMPO apply it to help them decide if they agree someone is a worker qualified person (just as HO do).

If hubby also has PR status then he could apply for child's passport instead of mom; that may be one solution instraed of a protracted argument with HMPO over ins and outs of acquisition of PR.

btw if parents also have ambitions for the privilege of citizenship it may be prudent to sort out DCPR for mom soon too. Especially with all this wild talk of Brexit.

[maryannstar]

Thank you for all the information it is much appreciated.

Unfortunately from what they understand dad cannot apply for the passport on the grounds that he has PR as he was awarded this after their daughter was born.

Having had a look at the table she did submit the documents in the correct form apart from the fact that when she received her residency card she was claiming tax credits at the time.

It seems that they may need to hire a solicitor unfortunately as this is becoming more complicated than expected. We all believed that given that HO accepted she exercising treaty rights when her husband applied for PR that the HMPO would be the same, but I see your point as to the fact they work differently ( which doesn't make any sense really).

Thanks again

[noajthan]

Thank you for all the information it is much appreciated.

Unfortunately from what they understand dad cannot apply for the passport on the grounds that he has PR as he was awarded this after their daughter was born.

...

Thanks again

When did hubby acquire the holy grail of PR (status)?
Note this is not the same date as the date of issue of the merely confirmatory 'PR card' (if hubby has one) which could have been issued at any random date, months or years after acquisition of PR.

If hubby acquired PR more recently it may suggest that wife(mom)/sponsor was not adequately exercising treaty rights in an earlier period, perhaps before child was born.
But she could/must have been a true and proper qualified person in some later years.

If that is the case and so both parents were only settled after child's birth then the mist is clearing and what HMPO seem to have said begins to make sense.
Namely: child would not have been born British but would be entitled to register as a citizen under section 1(3) of BNA.

As ever, the devil is in the detail - a full letter from HMPO may reveal all.

And workers are permitted to claim means-tested benefits (eg WTC) as long as the work can be shown to be genuine and effective.
Was it?
- throughout all years of mom's time in UK? or only in certain periods?

[maryannstar]

Hi again
Once again your information is proving to be a great help . Google only seems to hold so much information
Dad was granted his PR about 1 year after their daughter was born so mums circumstances with regards to income/dependency on benefits etc. would have been extremely similar to that which would have been assessed for their daughters passport.
Once she receives the letter we should a better idea as to why exactly the passport was refused, but it simply seems that she was too dependant on tax credits although she was work legitimately and genuinely the entire time (receiving payslips, paying tax's etc.)
For the first year of arriving here from Portugal she was solely dependant on her working income, it was once she became pregnant with her son that she began to claim tax credits and has done so ever since as her working income was simply never enough to cover all bills.
Worse case sinario they may have go down the route of registering their daughter as British, it just seems that the fees are so extortionate!!
Many Thanks

[noajthan]

Hi again
Once again your information is proving to be a great help . Google only seems to hold so much information
Dad was granted his PR about 1 year after their daughter was born so mums circumstances with regards to income/dependency on benefits etc. would have been extremely similar to that which would have been assessed for their daughters passport.
Once she receives the letter we should a better idea as to why exactly the passport was refused, but it simply seems that she was too dependant on tax credits although she was work legitimately and genuinely the entire time (receiving payslips, paying tax's etc.)
For the first year of arriving here from Portugal she was solely dependant on her working income, it was once she became pregnant with her son that she began to claim tax credits and has done so ever since as her working income was simply never enough to cover all bills.
Worse case sinario they may have go down the route of registering their daughter as British, it just seems that the fees are so extortionate!!
Many Thanks

Yes, Google is like the proverbial curate's egg: good in parts.

Friend is fortunate to be on EU migration route and has so far avoided the stringent costs typical of the UK domestic visa route.

The privilege of citizenship (naturalisation /registration) is ofcourse a different kettle of fish with a different legal basis - and different fee structure.