Question on eligible public funded benefits for ILR holders

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear forum,

Firstly I am sorry if this question has been asked many times before. A friend of mine recently got approval for their ILR applications with their partner via Set (O) route. And they are still waiting for their ILR BRP cards to arrive, plus they haven't applied to register their UK-born child to be a British citizen, whose UK PBS dependant visa has expired before their parents' ILR application got approved. Their questions about claming benefits are as follows:

(1) SInce they are still waiting for their ILR BRP cards to arrive, could they start applying for public funded benefits?

(2) Only my friend is working, earning around 50k including salary and bouns etc per year, before any tax deduction. Their partner is not working, and they have 2 young kids (one is non-UK born and got ILR at the same time, and the other is UK-born). So what are the most appropriate benefits they could apply for (e.g., child benefits, universal credit etc) to support their family life in the UK? They do not have much money in the bank either.

(3) Since they haven't applied to register British citizenship for their UK-born child, given they just received ILR very recently, and this child's UK visa has expired, could they still claim child benefit for this UK-born child? Or should this child registers to be a UK citizen first?

Thank you.

[secret.simon]

Only my friend is working, earning around 50k including salary and bouns etc per year, before any tax deduction.

The median household disposable (amount of money households have available for spending and saving after direct taxes have been accounted for) income in the UK was £32,300 in the financial year ending (FYE) 2022.

A person earning 50K would have a disposable income of £38,024.20.

As your friend is the only earning member of the household, that is thus also the whole household's disposable income. The whole household earns more than the median UK household. It is unlikely that there will be many benefits available to a household earning that well.

Your friend and their spouse could look at sharing their personal allowance, etc, and do some tax planning, but they are unlikely to qualify for benefits given their relatively high income.

[nuaaxiayu]

Thank you Simon! I will pass your answer to my friend, much appreciated!

If possible, would you mind also answering their other questions above please? Thank you again.

[nuaaxiayu]

Hello,

Just a follow-up question regarding child benefits:

My friends haven't started applying to register British citizenship for their UK-born child, and this child's UK dependent visa has expired (which said "no public fund" on the child's BRP), could they still claim child benefit for this UK-born child? Or should this child register to be a UK citizen first?

[alterhase58]

If I understand correctly it's a parent (normally the mother) with ILR or British who applies for child benefit, not the child.

[nuaaxiayu]

Hello alterhase58,

Thank you for your prompt reply, so if I understand correctly, as long as both parents (including the mother) have ILR status, they could apply for child benefit for their UK-born child, regardless of the immigration status of this child (even this child's current UK visa has expired)? They are going to apply to register their child to be british citizen, but have not started yet.

[Amber]

Dear forum,

Firstly I am sorry if this question has been asked many times before. A friend of mine recently got approval for their ILR applications with their partner via Set (O) route. And they are still waiting for their ILR BRP cards to arrive, plus they haven't applied to register their UK-born child to be a British citizen, whose UK PBS dependant visa has expired before their parents' ILR application got approved. Their questions about claming benefits are as follows:

(1) SInce they are still waiting for their ILR BRP cards to arrive, could they start applying for public funded benefits?

They should wait until they have confirmation of status.

(2) Only my friend is working, earning around 50k including salary and bouns etc per year, before any tax deduction. Their partner is not working, and they have 2 young kids (one is non-UK born and got ILR at the same time, and the other is UK-born). So what are the most appropriate benefits they could apply for (e.g., child benefits, universal credit etc) to support their family life in the UK? They do not have much money in the bank either.

They are high income earners for child benefit so may have it reduce/offset but the partner as not working needs to protect NI history so should still claim child benefit. Other benefits depend on their circumstances.

(3) Since they haven't applied to register British citizenship for their UK-born child, given they just received ILR very recently, and this child's UK visa has expired, could they still claim child benefit for this UK-born child? Or should this child registers to be a UK citizen first?

The child’s immigration status is not really relevant for the parents to claim unless it’s for a child disability benefit. However, the child would technically be an overstayer and they should regularise their right to be in the UK ASAP. If the child was over 10 it could prove an issue for registration as British.

Thank you.

[nuaaxiayu]

Thank you Amber, much appreciated! Please find below the updates from my friends and further questions they may have:

(1) SInce they are still waiting for their ILR BRP cards to arrive, could they start applying for public funded benefits?

They should wait until they have confirmation of status.

Question: they have now received the ILR grant letter from HO, could they start applying for child benefits for their UK-born child? Or could they only claim for their non UK-born child who also has ILR now?

(2) Only my friend is working, earning around 50k including salary and bouns etc per year, before any tax deduction. Their partner is not working, and they have 2 young kids (one is non-UK born and got ILR at the same time, and the other is UK-born). So what are the most appropriate benefits they could apply for (e.g., child benefits, universal credit etc) to support their family life in the UK? They do not have much money in the bank either.

They are high income earners for child benefit so may have it reduce/offset but the partner as not working needs to protect NI history so should still claim child benefit. Other benefits depend on their circumstances.

Question: do you mean only the lower income parent should apply for the child benefits, not the higher earning parent? Or should both of them apply collectively for the child benefits?

(3) Since they haven't applied to register British citizenship for their UK-born child, given they just received ILR very recently, and this child's UK visa has expired, could they still claim child benefit for this UK-born child? Or should this child registers to be a UK citizen first?

The child’s immigration status is not really relevant for the parents to claim unless it’s for a child disability benefit. However, the child would technically be an overstayer and they should regularise their right to be in the UK ASAP. If the child was over 10 it could prove an issue for registration as British.

Question: the parents have now applied to register their UK-born child as british citizen and have just submitted the MN1 application form to HO, could they claim child benefits for this UK-born child while they are still waiting for a decision from HO regarding their child's British citizenship registration?
This UK-born child's expired UK visa says "no public fund" so not sure if it is still an issue for them to have child benefits?

Thank you again.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Amber,

Good morning, if convenient, would you mind helping answer the above follow-up questions, please?

Thank you

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Forum,

Could anyone kindly answer the above additional questions please?

Thank you.

[Amber]

Thank you Amber, much appreciated! Please find below the updates from my friends and further questions they may have:

(1) SInce they are still waiting for their ILR BRP cards to arrive, could they start applying for public funded benefits?

They should wait until they have confirmation of status.

Question: they have now received the ILR grant letter from HO, could they start applying for child benefits for their UK-born child? Or could they only claim for their non UK-born child who also has ILR now?

They should be ok claiming for the children

(2) Only my friend is working, earning around 50k including salary and bouns etc per year, before any tax deduction. Their partner is not working, and they have 2 young kids (one is non-UK born and got ILR at the same time, and the other is UK-born). So what are the most appropriate benefits they could apply for (e.g., child benefits, universal credit etc) to support their family life in the UK? They do not have much money in the bank either.

They are high income earners for child benefit so may have it reduce/offset but the partner as not working needs to protect NI history so should still claim child benefit. Other benefits depend on their circumstances.

Yes the non working parent should claim child benefit, any entitlement to other benefits would be subject to circumstances.

Question: do you mean only the lower income parent should apply for the child benefits, not the higher earning parent? Or should both of them apply collectively for the child benefits?

The non working parent claims child benefit.

(3) Since they haven't applied to register British citizenship for their UK-born child, given they just received ILR very recently, and this child's UK visa has expired, could they still claim child benefit for this UK-born child? Or should this child registers to be a UK citizen first?

The child’s immigration status is not really relevant for the parents to claim unless it’s for a child disability benefit. However, the child would technically be an overstayer and they should regularise their right to be in the UK ASAP. If the child was over 10 it could prove an issue for registration as British.

Question: the parents have now applied to register their UK-born child as british citizen and have just submitted the MN1 application form to HO, could they claim child benefits for this UK-born child while they are still waiting for a decision from HO regarding their child's British citizenship registration?
This UK-born child's expired UK visa says "no public fund" so not sure if it is still an issue for them to have child benefits?

The child is technically an overstayer if their leave expired, though extant leave isn’t required under section 1(3) BNA 1981, I assume the child is under 10. Claiming child benefit should not affect the child as they’re already an overstayer.

Thank you again.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Amber,

Thank you very much for your kind replies, I will pass these to my friends, much appreciated.

To avoid any possible issues in the future, would you suggest they wait until their UK-born child receives their British citizenship certificate, and then apply for child benefit for this child? In other words, they may just apply for child benefits for their ILR-granted non-UK-born child only. Would it be possible and the best solution?

Thank you.

[Amber]

Dear Amber,

Thank you very much for your kind replies, I will pass these to my friends, much appreciated.

To avoid any possible issues in the future, would you suggest they wait until their UK-born child receives their British citizenship certificate, and then apply for child benefit for this child? In other words, they may just apply for child benefits for their ILR-granted non-UK-born child only. Would it be possible and the best solution?

Thank you.

That’s their choice but shouldn’t be necessary.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Amber,

Thank you very much for your kind replies, I will pass these to my friends, much appreciated.

To avoid any possible issues in the future, would you suggest they wait until their UK-born child receives their British citizenship certificate, and then apply for child benefit for this child? In other words, they may just apply for child benefits for their ILR-granted non-UK-born child only. Would it be possible and the best solution?

Thank you.

That’s their choice but shouldn’t be necessary.

Dear Amber,

Thank you for your reply, my friends are actually a bit confused, as you said above that their UK-born child is now an overstayer, so claiming child benefit for this child would affect their British citizenship registration. Is it correct?

The question from them is that, could they claim child benefit for this over-stayed UK-born child, even the child's expired visa saying "no public fund"?

[Amber]

Should not affect….

[nuaaxiayu]

Thank you very much, Amber.