QUESTION REGARDING DISABILITY (DLA)

[Miladin]

Hi all,

Two and a half years ago my wife, a national of Serbia, obtained her first spouse visa extension from UKVI, to remain with me in the UK. The problem is it transpires both she and I were effectively penalised by being made to go through the 10-year route towards her naturalisation, rather than 5 years based on the fact she originally obtained a visa to take care of me as someone living with a registered disability, inside the UK.

I am in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for many years now, and under the present immigration rules this means I am able to secure the normal 5-year route for my wife's naturalisation, but due to the fact I found a job prior to her deadline for reapplication, we were made subject to fulfilling the minimum income criteria for maintaining our household and expenses. I was working in retail at the time, and for the first 3 months I was on probation working only 32.5 hours a week, which was later upgraded to 37 upon becoming a full time employee of the store I was working at. My income was still low at the time of my wife's reapplication, but she could not find a job of her own as she was still providing care for me despite the fact that I had taken the big step of going back to employment. I needed her support and aid to help me get through periods of anxiety and pressures arising from the significant change to my daily lifestyle.

She found a job also in retail, one month prior to her deadline for her reapplication, but she had to quit it pending her status with UK immigration. On paper it looks like we were at fault for having failed to meet the minimum income criteria with our joint income, but why was my own situation judged against me, with regards to my status as a recipient of DLA? Should we still not have been, on balance, granted the 5-year route to naturalisation for her, based on the fact I have DLA, that I demonstrated the willingness to get back to work despite my problems, that her direct support enabled me to take that big step forward, that in the course of the first two and a half years of her stay with me in the country, she did not receive a single penny from public funds yet was still fully provided for?

Anyone in the know, please help!

[secret.simon]

Were you in receipt of DLA or PIP at the time of the application? Did you provide proof of that in your wife's application?

If you are in receipt of DLA, the threshold to be met for the five year FLR(M) is much lower. Your wife would only need to prove maintenance and accommodation without recourse to public funds.

[Miladin]

Hello, sorry for my late reply!

Indeed yes, I was in receipt of DLA at the time of my wife's application and all the documents confirming this (including bank statements showing monthly payments paid directly into my bank account), but this was not considered for the purposes of fulfilling maintenance and accommodation requirements, rather my income from my then still new job, was.

Like I've already mentioned, my wife lived with me at home and had all her expenses covered for throughout the entire period of her stay, and she personally never received a single PENNY of assistance from the State, so I just don't understand why my situation was deemed not good enough to qualify for the 5-year route to my wife's naturalisation? Yes, we didn't exceed the minimum income threshold of 18,500 GBP at the time, but against all the odds I found a job, stuck to it and basically made progress! I wasn't going to lose DLA despite getting a job, either, as the benefit is not means tested, yet for the requirements of UKVI the fact I was working at the time of my wife's application somehow "negated" the validity of their own rules, and I want to know why?