Tier 1 general and council tax as per studying full time

[Jibo]

Good day All

Thank you for the way you answer people's question here and i wish i can help as well

I came to UK on a Tier 1 migrant visa but as a dependant and on getting to the UK myself and my wife who is the main applicant where unable to get a job so instead of just spending, i enrolled in school which i finished within 18 months.
At some point during the 18months i sent a council tax exemption to the council which i was granted because i was a full time student.
I recently came across a page on direct.gov.uk/citizens advice bureau which states one can be exempted for council tax or for discount purposes if a spouse, civil partner or a dependant of a student who is a non- British Citizen and who, under immigration rules, is not allowed either to work in the UK or claim benefit. It can be found here under discounts http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/you ... counciltax

My question
1. for tier 1 visa purposes, am i suppose to pay council even when i'm a full time student because the sites states when under immigration control

2. Can i claim back the council tax paid by my wife being the spouse of a full time student and not a british citizen or claims public funds as stated in the policy which states that spouse that is non british citizen or have a no recourse to public funds are not entiled to pay council tax if their wife or husband is a full time student since she wasn't working at that time.

pls i need help as our renewal is close and need to make a decision on if to make refunds ot not make claims

[Greenie]

a non- British Citizen and who, under immigration rules, is not allowed either to work in the UK or claim benefit

means - it's not able to work, and is not able to claim benefits. Your wife is not able to claim benefits, but she is able to work, therefore she is not exempt from paying council tax. When you got your council tax exemption - was is just a disount or a full exemption from council tax for your property?

[Jibo]

a non- British Citizen and who, under immigration rules, is not allowed either to work in the UK or claim benefit

means - it's not able to work, and is not able to claim benefits. Your wife is not able to claim benefits, but she is able to work, therefore she is not exempt from paying council tax. When you got your council tax exemption - was is just a disount or a full exemption from council tax for your property?

from the statement i believe either or means one out of the two and if the statement says ''is not allowed either to work in the UK or claim benefit'' it then means one satisfies the condition is one of the applies. ''Its just like saying you have to show me birth certificate or passport photo page for prove of age which means you provide one of the two; The 2nd scenario is you have to show me birth certificate and passport photo page for prove of age which means the two must be shown. But i just want to know if anyone has been in this situation before.

I've stayed in two local councils, in the 1st council i stayed i got discount but got a full exemption from the 2nd council but on coming across the particular part in the document, i called the first council and told them my wife is not a British citizen and has a no recourse to public funds on her passport although she can work but wasn't working at that time so we qualify on the grounds that she has no recourse to public funds so i got a reply from the council telling me to send my wife's photopage where her Nationality can be confirmed from and her visa page which says she has no recourse to public funds and also her NI number to confirm from HMRC if she was working at that time and they also said i should send my account details to know where they will pay the refund when they finish their checks with HMRC

Just concerned as per extension

Regards

[Greenie]

it's not an either or, both need to be satisfied, your wife cannot claim benefits but can work - therefore she is not exempt.

[Jibo]

ok thanks. I was only following what was written in the document

a non- British Citizen and who, under immigration rules, is not allowed either to work in the UK or claim benefit which equally means one of the two except if for this particular statement the either or means and.

[mulderpf]

Language issue.

It is NOT either or which means both need to be true. It is not the same as "either or". The NOT makes the big difference.

Saying "he canNOT cook either eggs or sausages" does not mean he cannot only do one or only the other, it means he cannot do both things (asking him to cook eggs will fail and asking him to cook sausages will fail). Saying "I don't think either Mark or James will come along" means I think both people will not be coming along. It does not mean I think one or the other will come.

[mulderpf]

Refer to http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/di ... ither.html - third section from the top

Not... either... or denies both possibilities:

I don't think either Mike or Lisa will be there.

He doesn't speak either English or French.

And further down...

...not either equals neither...

[Jibo]

Thanks so much for the clarification and lesson. Very Much appreciated because every day is a learning process but on several sites like for the councils where i currently stay it was written in different forms pls find below which confused me but i'll pay to make my extension clear

QUALIFYING CONDITIONS: NON-BRITISH CITIZEN SPOUSE OF STUDENT
A person who is the spouse or dependant of a student and who is:
a) not a British citizen and
b) prevented by the term of his/her leave to remain in the united kingdom from taking paid employment or claiming benefits.

[mulderpf]

Neither you nor your spouse (whichever way you are trying to spin this) are prevented from either working so you cannot claim exemption.

To put it in English that you will understand: if your visa does not allow you to work (and get money) and your visa does not allow you to claim benefits (and get money), you are exempt from council tax (as you have no means of getting money). So if you can either work or claim benefits from your visa, you cannot be exempt from paying council tax.

[jeyanthzj]

I know this is a very late reply, but came across this when planning to do a new post on this issue.

'either or' should be treated as 'either or' and the 'NOT' makes zero difference.
Here is the high court judgement for the question 2 by the OP.
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Adm ... /1200.html

See point 32 in the judgement which is
'For the reasons set out above, this appeal is dismissed. Ms Ayiku, as the non-British spouse of a student (residing in a relevant dwelling) and who is prevented by the terms of her leave to enter from claiming benefits, but is not prevented by those terms from taking paid employment, is exempt from having to pay Council Tax by virtue of the operation of Class N in the 1992 Order, as amended. '

My personal concern is does the above exemption count as public funds or not?
Based on other posts in this forum, I am reasonably certain that this does not count as public funds as this is an exemption rather than benefit.
Any insight on this point would be much appreciated.
If it is not counted as public funds, then I would recommend the OP to contact the council with this judgement and try for a full refund.

[JShah]

Hi,
I am on Tier1 G visa, planning to apply for ILR OCT 2013, my wife is dependent on me(Tier1 G Dependent), we have a baby born in UK, so during pregnancy my wife was treated free of charge(she had medical exemption Certificate as well) and also received free dentist treament coz of the Certificate. As mentioned we we r applying for our ILR n oct, so is this free NHS treatment is going to effect our ILR.
Plz urgent advice needed as we do not have enough time. Any help will be highly appreciated.

Regards

[Amber]

The Department for Health has its own rules on whether people who are not ordinarily resident in the UK can receive free NHS treatment. NHS treatment does not count as public funds for the purposes of the Immigration Rules whether it is paid or unpaid.