housing benefits for couple help please

[xanx83]

By all means see the CAB, try talking to the council first. I doubt they'll communicate with the UKVI.

Dear Amber

first i would like to wish you a happy new year, following are the update i received from my council regarding the HB.
family premuim 17.40
children under 11 65.22
couple with person between 18&pension 112.55.

it seems that they include my wife in the application although i state clrealy in the letter that i want the applicable amount for my self only. what shall i do? shall i just leave it or what .

sorry to bather u in ur weekend

regards

[Amber]

If you have done all you can then you could just leave it as it is though, could be breaching restriction. Otherwise you could go into the council office and talk to them.

[xanx83]

If you have done all you can then you could just leave it as it is though, could be breaching restriction. Otherwise you could go into the council office and talk to them.

when she apply for the ILR how will they know that she is breaching her condition. and im not sure if i should go to them as they are a bit stupid . i wrote it in the letter clearly that i want the application under my name only and the applicable amount for s single person and her we are the put a family. in your opinion what shall i do?

regards

[Amber]

You should explain the situation face-to-face with an experience adviser at the council. Ask them to run a calculation as a single person/lone parent and as a couple, if you're paid more as a couple, it needs changing.

[nehir12]

As your spouse is a Turkish national she has an exception and can thus claim public funds as detailed in page 21 of the guidance (click). This includes housing benefit and council tax benefit/reduction, no need to have a single applicable amount so just ignore what I wrote above.

Dear Amber,

Further to your explanation above, I would like to ask you about my wife case to be clarified. I am a Turkish citizen and have ILR. My wife, who is also Turkish citizen, is on spouse visa (27 months-old rule; gained before 7th July 2013). I have been receiving housing benefit based on low income.

Would that be problem in her application as I have been receiving housing benefit? I am the only receiver of the benefit, and my wife name is stated on the council letter. I looked at the HO guidance about Public Funds which says, as you also stated, Turkish nationals who are subject to immigration can receive benefits including housing benefit. Would also be the possible for my wife as her visa clearly states that "No recourse to public funds".

I would be appreciated, if you could clarify these points.

Thanks a lot

Regards

[Amber]

Turkish nationals can claim public funds as per the guide (click) at page 21.Therefore, no issue.

[nehir12]

Turkish nationals can claim public funds as per the guide (click) at page 21.Therefore, no issue.

Dear Amber,
Thanks for your reply. My solicitor told me that your wife is not getting any benefit so it should be fine. However, providing adequate accommodation might be an issue as you are receiving housing benefit. I send the link for the guidance you mentioned but I did not have any comment on it. Is this a new law so it is not known? What does it exactly mean "providing adequate accommodation"?

Thanks again

[Amber]

Your solicitor seems ill informed, adequate accommodate means, basically, you have a suitably sized room for your exclusive use. See here (click)

[M6J44]

moved to main thread

[M6J44]

Amber,

If you were at all possibly able to answer this it would be much appreciated.

Does the Yarce case that you refer to (adequate maintenance: benefits) [2012] UKUT 425 (IAC) mean that I am legally entitled to have my council permit a joint application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit where my wife is subject to immigration control with NRTPF's with the applicable amount assessed as a single person rather than as a couple? Can you explain the relevance of the Yarce case to this issue?

Thank you.

[M6J44]

Amber,

I don't know if you are not seeing my post or don't feel able to answer but i you were at all possibly able to answer this it would be much appreciated.

Does the Yarce case that you refer to (adequate maintenance: benefits) [2012] UKUT 425 (IAC) mean that I am legally entitled to have my council permit a joint application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit where my wife is subject to immigration control with NRTPF's with the applicable amount assessed as a single person rather than as a couple? Can you explain the relevance of the Yarce case to this issue?

Thank you for all your great help on forum.

[Amber]

The Yarce case, in principal means that, if a couple make a claim for public funds, where one member of that couple is subject to immigration control, and the award of public funds is actually not increased because of the member who is subject to immigration control. That person will not be judged to have breached their conditions. This is usually proven when a person, for example, makes a joint claim for JSA-IB, but the JSA awards only a single person amount. There is no additional funds paid, thus no breach. It's more difficult for HB as the local authorities don't have legislation covering such a scenario, unlike the DWP. The local authority have discretion, but don't uniformly use it.

[M6J44]

Thank you very much for your reply, Amber.

Probably won't do any good but I shall present the Yarce case to the local authority as you describe.

You don't also happen to know the answer to this do you? I've asked a number of times you may have noticed but still without reply.

Again, thank you - your help is more invaluable that you know.


In the situation where the council insist on HB / CTB claims being registered as a couple, do immigration officials base their assessment of whether or not the sponsored spouse has caused an increase in public funds as an average figure when taken over the full course of the two year probationary period?

Or would they simply say that since there was an increase in public funds for, in our case, 8 months that that is a breach of the public funds rule regardless of whether or not the overall burden on the public purse was reduced over the entire course of the probationary period as a result of the sponsored's salary over the remaining 16 months of that period? Do they take the broad or the narrow view?

[Amber]

I think it would be difficult for the UKVI caseworker to work out, or near impossible as they're not welfare rights specialists. I imagine they'd want to see the award notice and whether a single or couple applicable amount is awarded. For SET(M) if you're not claiming HB at the time of application you shouldn't need to mention it, therefore, there shouldn't be a problem.

[francis259]

Hello
i have been reading the post here, i have got some questions my partner (UK citizen) is claiming benefits i am subject to immigration control and cannot claim. i have been working full time (may 2013) but she has not informed the benefit organisation about my income until (feb 2014), i would like to know whats going to happen and if this would disqualify me from ILR.
she claims:income support, housing benefit, tax benefit, child tax credit (my name is on it but she is the claimer), carers allowance, child benefit (my name is on it but she is the claimer), disability & council tax benefit.
as at today when she informed the benefit organisation some of her benefits where put on hold and some where still granted.
please can you help me with some information
thank you

[nehir12]

Turkish nationals can claim public funds as per the guide (click) at page 21.Therefore, no issue.

Dear Amber,

Is there any change in the rule for Turkish citizens? You replied to my query in January 2014. There is no such information open to public anymore about exemption for Turkish spouse ILR application.

Thanks a lot

Regards

[Amber]

No change. Do click on the link.

[M6J44]

Dear Amber,

I posted this comment in another thread under username Siren (after I had previously lost my old login details so wanted to make sure you get the picture as well here but if it is thought I am needlessly repeating myself then feel free to delete this comment).

I write to update you on the outcome of my wife's ILR visa application.

I have written quite extensively on a couple or more threads here in the Claiming Benefits section requesting help and advice on how to approach the ILR visa when I - as my wife's sponsor - have claimed, during the two year probationary period, HB and CTB and the council refused to assess my claim as ‘single person’ (resulting in the increase in PF).

Here's one of the original posts (
claiming-benefits-f38/benefits-affecting-ilr-read-before-starting-new-topic-t26916-120.html#p674621 )

Well, thanks be to God after 4 months of waiting, my wife and I were delighted to return home after a short break to find that her settlement (ILR) visa has been granted.

In our thoroughly exhaustive (yes and exhausting!!) application, we detailed all the benefit I had received (HB, CTB, WTC) complete with letters from the council showing the increased amounts as a result of my wife's presence and decreased amounts after she began earning.

As previously stated, my wife worked as an unpaid volunteer for 7 months shortly after her arrival in the UK before being taken on PT by the organisation she was volunteering for. I work self employed as a sports arbitrage trader which, although is not gambling (it is risk free ie you cannot lose your money), does nevertheless involve betting. So we didn't have the most conventional or necessarily if one wanted to take it that way - convincing of income situations. However, despite our tenuous position and unfortunate reliance on PF's which did increase as a result of the wife's presence - with your help - we were still ultimately able to succeed in her ILR application.

I want to thank you, Amber (and John) in particular and all those who have contributed here on this forum for all your hard work and kindness instructing me and others with your very well informed guidance on the tricky juxtaposition of benefits and immigration - without such help our situation would have been so much more difficult and unthinkably frustrating even as much as it has been those things anyway.

So thank you for all your support. I hope this information is helpful to you and your collective knowledge in helping others in a similar situation unsure of how to proceed with benefits and immigration.

Wishing you all similar success,

Best wishes

Simon

[Amber]

Congratulations.

[M6J44]

Thank you, Amber!

For the record, I should add that although I was in receipt of HB and CTB for quite some time during the spouse visa probationary period, I was not in receipt of these benefits at the time of applying for the ILR after my income rose enough to mean we no longer needed then or were entitled to them.

However, crucially, after weighing up the pros and cons, we decided that even though the benefits questions are phrased in the present tense it would still nevertheless be best to be fully open and transparent about the benefits we had had during the probationary period and this decision appears to have been proved right.

Thank you.

Simon

[nehir12]

Your solicitor seems ill informed, adequate accommodate means, basically, you have a suitably sized room for your exclusive use. See here (click)

Dear Amber,

This is further to my conversation with you earlier, I have a question about my wife's application for extension. As she could not pass the Life in the UK test, we applied for an extension FLR (M). I wonder if her application will be considered on the same basis as settlement in terms of housing benefit which I have been receiving. Other thing is that when we apply to switch from FLR (M) to settlement, will we need to pay the full settlement fee or the difference between FLR (M) application fee and SET (M) fee.

Thanks a lot

Regards

[Amber]

The same adequate maintenance and accommodation will apply.

The fee will be the full fess unless you vary before a decision is made.