ILR Set M 5 Years Route UC Benefit

[Liliana5]

Hello everyone

I’m due to apply for ILR Mid 2023 but despite my husband fully time job pays him nearly £20000 but we still receive a little benefit on his Universal Credit account.

He applied for UC when he lost his job during the lockdown but even when he found a new job he still received some UC much less of course but apparently he was still eligible to receive a little bit plus few pounds off the council tax bills too!

How is home office going to treat my application when they see he’s meeting the minimum salary threshold but that little benefit is still coming from UC and the council Tax reduction?

Thanks to anyone who’s taking the time to reply.

[zimba]

I guess he is NOT subject to any visa restrictions like no access to public funds, so why should this affect you ??

[Liliana5]

No my husband and our children are British and it’s only me who’s restricted to public funds which I’ve never received any benefit even when he lost his job during the pandemic and applied for UC. That was only paid to him and mentioned on his monthly report that I’m receiving £0 in benefit.

But I just want to know if our 5 years route application will be compromised by HO seeing he’s still receiving some benefit while he’s also getting paid £20000 a year in salary?

You know how cruel the HO is and I don’t want to lose my ILR under the 5 year route because of this so really looking for information to show we are still legally eligible for the 5 years route ILR and this won’t cause any issues.

[zimba]

This has no relevance to your application

[Liliana5]

Thanks for your reply and sorry for too many questions, I’ve read the appendix over and over and still find it very unclear, so just to clarify it for myself I have two questions;

- as long as we earn the minimum £18600 in employed salary we are still eligible to apply for ILR under the same 5 years route regardless of whether he gets further benefits or not?

- Would this still be possible if he was on part time job and only earned £10000 but adding his benefit would total over £18600 a year? Are people still eligible to apply for ILR at the end of their 5 years in such circumstances? this happened last year and put us under huge stress thinking we won’t be able to apply under the 5 years route anymore and he pushed himself hard to find another full time job which to be honest is not at all suitable and convenient for him but he had to take it to earn over £18600!

[CR001]

- as long as we earn the minimum £18600 in employed salary we are still eligible to apply for ILR under the same 5 years route regardless of whether he gets further benefits or not?

Yes, there is no issue here provided he earns the minimum income amount for a minimum of 6 months.

- Would this still be possible if he was on part time job and only earned £10000 but adding his benefit would total over £18600 a year?

You cannot use benefits towards meeting the income requirement. It can only be either of your salaries and must be for a minimum of 6 months. Benefits money is not his money, it is the taxpayers/governments money.

Are people still eligible to apply for ILR at the end of their 5 years in such circumstances?

See above.

this happened last year and put us under huge stress thinking we won’t be able to apply under the 5 years route anymore and he pushed himself hard to find another full time job which to be honest is not at all suitable and convenient for him but he had to take it to earn over £18600!

He needs to have a minimum of 6 months earning at the required level. You cannot use benefits to top up the financial requirement to meet it.

[JB007]

I guess he is NOT subject to any visa restrictions like no access to public funds, so why should this affect you ??

Because of taking CouncilTax Reduction( which is a Public Fund) with a NRPF partnert? That warning was put on this sticky. Renting in joing names with a NRPF partner and claiming Universal Credit, is also in that sticky.
claiming-benefits/universal-credit-clai ... l#p2049469

[Liliana5]

- as long as we earn the minimum £18600 in employed salary we are still eligible to apply for ILR under the same 5 years route regardless of whether he gets further benefits or not?

Yes, there is no issue here provided he earns the minimum income amount for a minimum of 6 months.

- Would this still be possible if he was on part time job and only earned £10000 but adding his benefit would total over £18600 a year?

You cannot use benefits towards meeting the income requirement. It can only be either of your salaries and must be for a minimum of 6 months. Benefits money is not his money, it is the taxpayers/governments money.

Are people still eligible to apply for ILR at the end of their 5 years in such circumstances?

See above.

this happened last year and put us under huge stress thinking we won’t be able to apply under the 5 years route anymore and he pushed himself hard to find another full time job which to be honest is not at all suitable and convenient for him but he had to take it to earn over £18600!

He needs to have a minimum of 6 months earning at the required level. You cannot use benefits to top up the financial requirement to meet it.

Thanks for an informative reply

[Liliana5]

I guess he is NOT subject to any visa restrictions like no access to public funds, so why should this affect you ??

Because of taking CouncilTax Reduction( which is a Public Fund) with a NRPF partnert? That warning was put on this sticky. Renting in joing names with a NRPF partner and claiming Universal Credit, is also in that sticky.
claiming-benefits/universal-credit-clai ... l#p2049469

Thanks for pointing this out. We live in a privately rented house and tenancy agreement is in my husband’s name only.

Would we be ok with the above ( our current financial condition) ?

[zimba]

I guess he is NOT subject to any visa restrictions like no access to public funds, so why should this affect you ??

Because of taking CouncilTax Reduction( which is a Public Fund) with a NRPF partnert? That warning was put on this sticky. Renting in joing names with a NRPF partner and claiming Universal Credit, is also in that sticky.
claiming-benefits/universal-credit-clai ... l#p2049469

Many in such positions have gotten ILR without issues, so all the evidence shows that such fine details and definitions are not being taken into account by the UKVI. I would only worry about this if turns out to be an issue with UKVI. The OP has no choice but to press on with their ILR application regardless of these details

[arshah]

I guess he is NOT subject to any visa restrictions like no access to public funds, so why should this affect you ??

Because of taking CouncilTax Reduction( which is a Public Fund) with a NRPF partnert? That warning was put on this sticky. Renting in joing names with a NRPF partner and claiming Universal Credit, is also in that sticky.
claiming-benefits/universal-credit-clai ... l#p2049469

Thanks for pointing this out. We live in a privately rented house and tenancy agreement is in my husband’s name only.

Would we be ok with the above ( our current financial condition) ?

I am in the same situation , i still dint understand , we are renting and tenancy agreement is under my partners name but he receives council tax deductions and both our names appear on council tax statements , my partner explain it to council and they said they cant remove my name as they put every ones name who resided in the property.

[Liliana5]

Hello everyone

I’ve started up a thread months ago about this subject and was kindly informed by members of the forum that it’s ok for my husband to receive UC and council tax reduction only on his name and our children (All British) and that UC statement also mentions that though we are in couple but I’m receiving £0.00 .

However, as I’m about to apply soon, do I also need to print out the last 6 months UC payment statements and upload with my application? Or only hubby’s bank statements and payslips is enough, though bank statements showing UC, Child benefit etc in it too?

Thank you and best regards

[JB007]

I’ve started up a thread months ago about this subject and was kindly informed by members of the forum that it’s ok for my husband to receive UC and council tax reduction only on his name ...

You were not told it was ok to receive Council Tax Reduction. You were given a link to this, which advised to take specialiast immigration advice.

Finally, council tax reduction (CTR) can be claimed with UC, but the rules are different. CTR is also a public fund; however unlike UC the Local Authority cannot separate the partner with NRPF from the award, and CTR is a single claim with a partner included. This may result in additional public funds being paid to the partner with recourse, which could then breach the NRPF condition. An exception could be if the amount of CTR is the same for the claimant even if the partner is included, for example if the claimant would still be passported to full CTR.

Also there is an additional problem if the person with recourse were entitled to a single person discount in their council tax, in which case CTR is calculated on 75% of liability. If the presence of the partner with NRPF results in the loss of the single person discount, CTR is then calculated on 100% of liability, which could result in additional public funds being paid to the claimant.

Again, specialist immigration advice should be sought before advising a claim for CTR,or indeed in any circumstances where there may be a concern about breaching the NRPF conditions attached to a partner’s leave.

[Liliana5]

Hi
My understanding was that if the tenancy agreement and council tax bill is in my husband’s name only, which in our case is, then I should be fine!

[Liliana5]

I am in the same situation , i still dint understand , we are renting and tenancy agreement is under my partners name but he receives council tax deductions and both our names appear on council tax statements , my partner explain it to council and they said they cant remove my name as they put every ones name who resided in the property.

How did you get on with your application? I’d be interested to know.

[Liliana5]

Sorry still not sure if I also need to print out the last 6 months UC payment statements and upload with my application? Or only hubby’s bank statements and payslips is enough, though bank statements showing UC, Child benefit etc in it too?

[JB007]

Hi
My understanding was that if the tenancy agreement and council tax bill is in my husband’s name only, which in our case is, then I should be fine!

Where in the article did it say that for Council Tax Reduction? From the link given-

Finally, council tax reduction (CTR) can be claimed with UC, but the rules are different. CTR is also a public fund; however unlike UC the Local Authority cannot separate the partner with NRPF from the award, and CTR is a single claim with a partner included. This may result in additional public funds being paid to the partner with recourse, which could then breach the NRPF condition. An exception could be if the amount of CTR is the same for the claimant even if the partner is included, for example if the claimant would still be passported to full CTR.

Also there is an additional problem if the person with recourse were entitled to a single person discount in their council tax, in which case CTR is calculated on 75% of liability. If the presence of the partner with NRPF results in the loss of the single person discount, CTR is then calculated on 100% of liability, which could result in additional public funds being paid to the claimant.

Again, specialist immigration advice should be sought before advising a claim for CTR,or indeed in any circumstances where there may be a concern about breaching the NRPF conditions attached to a partner’s leave.

On a salary of 20k he won't get full CTR.

Nor will he get the 25% single person discount as you live in the property too and you are also liable to pay Council Tax: unless there is an exemption e.g. you being a full time student

[Liliana5]

From what I see we received about 10% in CTR. Our yearly Bill is over £2.5k and we have around £240ish in reduction.

Are we going to be fine?

We have applied today so really hope we don’t run into problems as I know how cruel HO can be.

[zimba]

From what I see we received about 10% in CTR. Our yearly Bill is over £2.5k and we have around £240ish in reduction.

Are we going to be fine?

You have been advised before that this is extremely unlikely to have any effect on your application. You do NOT need to go back and forth for these minor details. UKVI will question this if it is really an issue for them. I suggest not wasting any time on this as advised before. UKVI very rarely checks with DWP or local departments on these issues and only if there is intelligence that there has been evidence of abuse or they are suspecting it. I do not see any issues in your case or wrongdoing so I suggest you move on with your application rather than wasting time on this.

Read the guide on this and you can see when such requests are made: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... ds-v18.pdf

[Liliana5]

Thanks, uploading documents right now.