Access to public funds

[yellowbaby]

Please help.

I'm aussie on HSMP and have been in the UK for 2 years. I am due to give birth later this year. My partner is a british citizen. By the time of the birth, my partner and i would have lived together in a "defacto relationship akin to marriage for two years".

will i or my partner be able to claim or have acess to public funds, child tax credits, benefits etc...

will it affect my future application of ILR?

should i change my visa status to parternship one and will that be easier and faster to get ILR? As at the moment i have to wait another 3 years?

THanks for your help.

[JAJ]

Please help.

I'm aussie on HSMP and have been in the UK for 2 years. I am due to give birth later this year. My partner is a british citizen. By the time of the birth, my partner and i would have lived together in a "defacto relationship akin to marriage for two years".

Bear in mind that under new rules in force on 1 July 2006, your UK-born child will automatically be a British citizen at birth (based on the father) even though you are not married, and you are not a British citizen or permanent resident.

will i or my partner be able to claim or have acess to public funds, child tax credits, benefits etc...

Someone else will know more about that.

should i change my visa status to parternship one and will that be easier and faster to get ILR? As at the moment i have to wait another 3 years?

You'd have to wait 2 years to get ILR anyway on a partner visa.

Might be simpler to stay on HSMP provided there are no changes to HSMP that would affect your ability to obtain ILR.

Do you plan to get married? That might affect how quickly you could apply for naturalisation after ILR.

[John]

will i or my partner be able to claim or have acess to public funds, child tax credits, benefits etc...

Yes, but ..... :-

The claim for the Child Benefit must be made by your partner, the British Citizen, and not by you with your visa with the "No recourse to Public Funds" restriction.

Tax Credits? Yes can be claimed, and in respect of a couple living together the claim must be made jointly. At first glance that is a problem. However some "small print" in the Tax Credits legislation comes to your rescue. That is reg 3(2) Tax Credits (Immigration) Regulations 2003, as reinforced by para 6B of the Immigration Rules, allow such a joint claim by you and your British Citizen partner, and for you it does not count as a claim to Public Funds.

should i change my visa status to partership one and will that be easier and faster to get ILR? As at the moment i have to wait another 3 years?

Indeed you should ... so that you get your ILR after 2 years. Do appreciate that you will need to have passed the Citizenship Test before applying for your ILR.

Also appreciate that you and your partner not only need to have lived together at least 2 years ... you need to be able to prove it! You have good supporting evidence?

[yellowbaby]

thank you so much for your replies. I was thinking that we'd be really struggling and that i would need to head back to australia.

I don't know how people survive on £108 wkly on maternity leave.. plus partners income.

Very daunting and scary but you've really helped.

Thanks

[JAJ]

should i change my visa status to partership one and will that be easier and faster to get ILR? As at the moment i have to wait another 3 years?

Indeed you should ... so that you get your ILR after 2 years. Do appreciate that you will need to have passed the Citizenship Test before applying for your ILR.

Also appreciate that you and your partner not only need to have lived together at least 2 years ... you need to be able to prove it! You have good supporting evidence?

John - she says she and her partner will only reach the 2 year mark "later this year". Add processing time for the visa and she will probably reach the ILR threshold at the same time as she would have done under HSMP.

The real question is which route is simpler and less risky - switch to unmarried partner visa or stay on HSMP. And the cost?

[blessedlady]

thank you so much for your replies. I was thinking that we'd be really struggling and that i would need to head back to australia.

I don't know how people survive on £108 wkly on maternity leave.. plus partners income.

Very daunting and scary but you've really helped.

Thanks

yellowbaby

I think you're better off than I am. At least you have 108/weekly. Would you believe I have only 200/month.