FLR Granted

[Kuchiness]

Hello all,

Just wanted to share a bit of info and ask a question.

I'm British and husband was on aFLR visa(30 months) which expired recently. He booked a premium service and went for extension and he got his new 30 months visa on the day. so yaay

I'm working part time as an employee and my salary is just above £18600 so I sponsored him and they were fine with it. He's self employed but his company is less than a year old and earns very little.

During the past 30 months (Some months, not whole 30 months) I received HB and CTR in my own right( single person's amount) and home office had no problem with that. Our worry was that this past benefit situation would effect the ILR in the future and the 5 year route would possibly extended to 10 year( told by an immigration lawyer!). But my husband talked to a manager in home office about this and the manager said it's no problem as long as he is not the one who claims.

There are a few paragraphs in UKBA documents that confused us. One stating that as a sponsor I'm not supposed to rely on public funds to support him. The other one states that I'm as a British citizen eligible to apply for whatever I'm entitle to but in my own rate, claiming single person's rate(which I did).


So this is what an officer said.I'm still not so sure if it's a good idea to get HB and CTR in the future even when I need to because I don't want to jeopardise the ILR's timing.

Finally the question I have is, if I applied and get the full CTR, this would be the full amount, because I'm not single and therefore not getting %25 discount. If I was alone I would get this discount and basically I would cost less to my council. Would this not be a problem for my husband in the future? As his existence would increase the cost.

Any thoughts?


Thanks

[Casa]

HB must be claimed as a single person with a child/children (in your name) and Child Tax Credits must be claimed in JOINT NAMES.

[Kuchiness]

Hi Casa,

We don't have children so I don't know anything about child benefit. Today I went to my CAB, as usual they don't know anything I don't already know. I wanted to ask about CTR and whether or not it would cause a problem on the ILR process ( as I explained above, I wouldn't get the %25 single persons discount because I don't live alone).


Do you know anything about this? I hope my question is clear enough.

Thank you

[CR001]

If you don't live alone, you don't qualify for CTR.

[Kuchiness]

CTR is Council Tax Reduction isn't it? I used to get this when I was getting Housing Benefit, it was a full reduction actually. My council tax was issued as nil as I was out of work. CTR isn't referring to %25 single discount as far as I'm concerned but the new name of Council Tax benefit. I could be wrong though of course.


Thanks

Sen

[CR001]

25% CTR is for a single person living alone in a property.

Council tax benefit is a reduction, i.e. if you are unemployed or earn very low wages.

[Kuchiness]

If you don't live alone, you don't qualify for CTR.

CR001,

Okay then, I thought the name for council tax benefit was CRT. So I was wrong. I know I don't qualify for that. And I know I can apply and get council tax benefit. But is this a good idea to do, as when it comes to apply for ILR, this might turn against my husband because if I was living alone in the property I would get %25 discount but I live with him therefore my council tax benefit is not discounted and this is because of my husband. Do you see what I'm saying?


Sen

[Petaltop]

If you don't live alone, you don't qualify for CTR.

CR001,

Okay then, I thought the name for council tax benefit was CRT. So I was wrong.

They are two different things.


The 25% discount for a single person is called Council Tax Single Person Discount. It is not a welfare payment and is just a discount to refect that only one adult lives in the property.


Council Tax Benefit, is a type of income based welfare payment. This has ended has been replaced by Council Tax Reduction. Under this change, even people on benefits have to pay some Council Tax now. Sometimes it is also called Council Tax Support. Each council now decides how much low income/benefit claimants, must pay towards their Council Tax bill.

And I know I can apply and get council tax benefit. But is this a good idea to do, as when it comes to apply for ILR, this might turn against my husband because if I was living alone in the property I would get %25 discount but I live with him therefore my council tax benefit is not discounted and this is because of my husband. Do you see what I'm saying?

I don't.

The fact that your husband doesn't earn much, is between you and him as he is living off you. This does not mean you are single, for benefit purposes.


If you are asking if you can claim the benefit Council Tax Reduction, then you will have to ask your council. But make it very clear to them that you cannot take any reduction in your council tax bill for your husband as he is under immigration control and can't have public funds. Council Tax Reduction is a public fund.

You can avoid this problem. You are ony working part time and don't have children, why not just work full time? Perhaps your husband can take a part time job until he builds his business up?

[Petaltop]

I'm working part time as an employee and my salary is just above £18600 so I sponsored him and they were fine with it. He's self employed but his company is less than a year old and earns very little.

During the past 30 months (Some months, not whole 30 months) I received HB and CTR in my own right( single person's amount)

You also need to be aware that under the welfare reforms they are stopping perople who do this. Housing Benefit is one of income based welfare payments being replaced by the new one welfare payment, Universal Credit.

If you were claming UC today, your claim would be calculated on a joint income of at least £504 a week (£26,208pa) even though you don't earn that jointly.

Universal Credit has different rules:
- you would need to earn at least 35 hours a week @ the hourly National Minimum Wage. At todays NMW rate, that is 35 x £7.20 = £252 per week.
- your husband would also need to earn at least that 35 x £7.20 = £252 per week. As he is self employed, they will base your claim on him earning that minimum of that £252 per week, even though he does not.

Meaning that under the present hourly NMW, your Universal Credit claim would be based on your household earnings being at least £504 per week. £26,208 per year. Under UC, you will need to claim every month. That £504 a week will most likely rule you out of any benefits.

Exisiting claimants of the income based benefits called, Housing Benefit, JSA, ESA, Income Support, Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits, will start to be moved onto the new one welfare payment, Universal Credit, from next year.

The Council Tax Reduction benefit, will still be dealt with by your local council, but I am guessing they will use Universal Credit figures (£504 a week) to calculate if you can have a reduction based on low income.

[Petaltop]

I should add that for a Universal Credit claim, once his company is 12 months, they will base earning on NMW for benefit purposes. Starting a new compnay every year to claim benefits on a low income, will not work, as there is a 5 year wait for that.