T2G -> ILR: Child Benefit claimed by mistake

[sdesaraju]

Hi,

I am on Tier 2 general currently and eligible for ILR in 6 months time.

I have a baby born in the UK and due to some wrong guidance, i have claimed tax benefit for my son for 2 years. I did not realise this during my Tier 2 extension and I suppose due to some luck it did not cause any problem at that time.

However, recently we have moved house (2 months back) and child benefit stopped. Upon checking with HMRC, they correctly informed me that i should not be receiving the benefit in the first place and said they are stopping it with immediate effect. They confirmed me that i need not pay the amount I recieved till now as it was a mistake from their side.

They sent a letter stating these things
1. Should not be receving in yhe first place due to immigration status
2. Paid an amount xxx and need not pay it back
3. Should the immigration status change in the future, my case will be reviewed again

I understand that this was a mistake from my side as well, but i will be applying for ILR in 6 months time, what can i do with this situation?

Mentioning the facts, agreeing the mistake and providing the letter from HMRC will be enough to not reject my ILR application? Please provide me some guidance on my situation

[sdesaraju]

Guys,

Can anyone provide some sort of guidance for my question please?

[eoo10]

Hi,

I am on Tier 2 general currently and eligible for ILR in 6 months time.

I have a baby born in the UK and due to some wrong guidance, i have claimed tax benefit for my son for 2 years. I did not realise this during my Tier 2 extension and I suppose due to some luck it did not cause any problem at that time.

However, recently we have moved house (2 months back) and child benefit stopped. Upon checking with HMRC, they correctly informed me that i should not be receiving the benefit in the first place and said they are stopping it with immediate effect. They confirmed me that i need not pay the amount I recieved till now as it was a mistake from their side.

They sent a letter stating these things
1. Should not be receving in yhe first place due to immigration status
2. Paid an amount xxx and need not pay it back
3. Should the immigration status change in the future, my case will be reviewed again

I understand that this was a mistake from my side as well, but i will be applying for ILR in 6 months time, what can i do with this situation?

Mentioning the facts, agreeing the mistake and providing the letter from HMRC will be enough to not reject my ILR application? Please provide me some guidance on my situation

During your renewal did you tick yes or no to benefit claim question on the application form?

[sdesaraju]

Hi eoo10,

During renewal, i have ticked No

[Djsuccess]

Hi,

I am on Tier 2 general currently and eligible for ILR in 6 months time.

I have a baby born in the UK and due to some wrong guidance, i have claimed tax benefit for my son for 2 years. I did not realise this during my Tier 2 extension and I suppose due to some luck it did not cause any problem at that time.

However, recently we have moved house (2 months back) and child benefit stopped. Upon checking with HMRC, they correctly informed me that i should not be receiving the benefit in the first place and said they are stopping it with immediate effect. They confirmed me that i need not pay the amount I recieved till now as it was a mistake from their side.

They sent a letter stating these things
1. Should not be receving in yhe first place due to immigration status
2. Paid an amount xxx and need not pay it back
3. Should the immigration status change in the future, my case will be reviewed again

I understand that this was a mistake from my side as well, but i will be applying for ILR in 6 months time, what can i do with this situation?

Mentioning the facts, agreeing the mistake and providing the letter from HMRC will be enough to not reject my ILR application? Please provide me some guidance on my situation

You might need to consult a lawyer. There are a few things that can happen. While the letter from HMRC will be useful, I am not sure it will make any difference because it is also your duty to check that you are not taking public fund.
As you have said, you were claiming child tax benefit when you applied for extension. Did you answer yes to the question about the public fund?
if Yes, then it is also the mistake of the caseworker. if you answered no, then your future application could be rejected based on deception.
You will need to declare it when you are applying for your ILR and hope for the best.

[sdesaraju]

Hi Everyone,

My ILR application has been approved successfully.

Last few months have been stressful because of the CB situation, and thankfully, with the advices from the forum I went through this stage.

First of all, I would urge everyone who is on a visa (with no recourse to public funds) to think, do some research and be vigilant before applying anything like benefits or public funds. I do not want anyone to go through the stress I have gone through for the past 4 months.

Having said that, for any one who is in my situation, I am providing details of what I have done to correct my mistake.

1. After getting to know from HMRC that I am not eligible for Child Benefit, I have asked them to stop the benefit and requested to initiate the repayment of the amount.
2. After repayment, I have requested them to confirm in a letter that all the amount is repaid and no dues left.
3. I have requested them to provide that this is an administration error, however, since I have made my CB application 2 years back, they said they cannot verify and hence no letter is provided
4. I have requested for the filled CB application form via SAR, again as above, they will not retain any documents older than 13 months and hence no document provided.

So, along with my ILR application, I have provied the following aceepting my mistake

1. Cover letter specifying facts - Applied as mistake, mentioning that everything is repaid to correct the mistake, and providing NI number as reference so that case worker can check my account for the notes.
2. Repayment confirmation letter from HMRC
3. Payslips for the period I have received child benefit - to show that my salary was well above the minimum pay for SOC and I did not rely on CB

Caseworker did not ask me anything related to the issue at all

[Djsuccess]

Hi Everyone,

My ILR application has been approved successfully.

Last few months have been stressful because of the CB situation, and thankfully, with the advices from the forum I went through this stage.

First of all, I would urge everyone who is on a visa (with no recourse to public funds) to think, do some research and be vigilant before applying anything like benefits or public funds. I do not want anyone to go through the stress I have gone through for the past 4 months.

Having said that, for any one who is in my situation, I am providing details of what I have done to correct my mistake.

1. After getting to know from HMRC that I am not eligible for Child Benefit, I have asked them to stop the benefit and requested to initiate the repayment of the amount.
2. After repayment, I have requested them to confirm in a letter that all the amount is repaid and no dues left.
3. I have requested them to provide that this is an administration error, however, since I have made my CB application 2 years back, they said they cannot verify and hence no letter is provided
4. I have requested for the filled CB application form via SAR, again as above, they will not retain any documents older than 13 months and hence no document provided.

So, along with my ILR application, I have provied the following aceepting my mistake

1. Cover letter specifying facts - Applied as mistake, mentioning that everything is repaid to correct the mistake, and providing NI number as reference so that case worker can check my account for the notes.
2. Repayment confirmation letter from HMRC
3. Payslips for the period I have received child benefit - to show that my salary was well above the minimum pay for SOC and I did not rely on CB

Caseworker did not ask me anything related to the issue at all

Congratulations

[Angeleyes24]

@sdesaraju : congrats on getting you ILR . I am kind of in the similar boat with respect to child benefit . We only claimed it for 3 months but waiting to get information from HMRC for repayment.

Please can you help me with the following questions:

1 . How long did it take for you to get a letter from HMRC to confirm that child benefit is cancelled ?

2 in your post you mention their letter said u didn’t need to pay any money back , but you still did , what what the account / payee details and address ?

3 . How long did you get confirmation of payment ?

4 . How long did the whole process take ? And did you apply for ILR after everything was sorted ?

Thanks in advance for your reply .

[sdesaraju]

@sdesaraju : congrats on getting you ILR . I am kind of in the similar boat with respect to child benefit . We only claimed it for 3 months but waiting to get information from HMRC for repayment.

Please can you help me with the following questions:

1 . How long did it take for you to get a letter from HMRC to confirm that child benefit is cancelled ?
This is the first letter I have received from them, stating that I am not entitled for child benefit and they are cancelling the benefit

2 in your post you mention their letter said u didn’t need to pay any money back , but you still did , what what the account / payee details and address ?
You need to speak to child benefit office. They will verify your details and set up a one time direct debit from your bank account.

3 . How long did you get confirmation of payment ?
7-10 days

4 . How long did the whole process take ? And did you apply for ILR after everything was sorted ?
The whole process took a long time, approximately 6-8 weeks from the time I had initial discussions, speaking to refunds team, arranging a direct debit and chasing them up to confirm that they have received the payment and send the confirmation letter. It was an tiresome process with the HMRC as they have multiple teams and the communication between them takes a long time. And, yes, I have applied ILR after sorting the issue

Thanks in advance for your reply .

[Angeleyes24]

@sdesaraju ... Thank you so much for your reply . Helps me with my current situation . Just one more questions , whenever I try to call HMRC and ask for refund procedure they tell me to wait for the letter . Now one lady on Saturday told me it can take up to 20 weeks which i think is bizarre . Did you speak to Child benefit people for refund or contacted another team to set up the refund ?

Thanks for your help .