Post
by Mr Rusty » Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:06 pm
This is the extract from the instructions to Entry Clearance Officers on the UK Visas website:
"The British/settled spouse/civil partners may claim Working Tax Credits and Child Benefit for his or her family if they are entitled to this under the Department for Work and Pensions legislation. There is no objection to the British citizen/settled sponsor receiving any public funds to which he/she is entitled in his/her own right. The important factor to consider is whether there will be a need for the sponsor to claim additional public funds to support the applicant. The fact that an applicant may not be eligible to claim public funds is not in itself sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Rules.
If the sponsor is in receipt of public funds, it does not mean that they will be unable to support the applicant, although clearly a person who is heavily dependent on the state because they don't have sufficient means of their own will find it difficult to support another person for any length of time. The question to be considered is whether additional recourse to public funds will be necessary if the applicant is granted leave to enter."
So the answer to the OP's question is "No". I don't know of any caselaw that affects this simple principle. There has been a case establishing that the applicants cannot rely on additional financial support from a third party, although a very recent judgement has said that accommodation can be provided by a third party:-
AB(Third-party provision of accommodation) [2008] UKAIT 00018
