Q2A

Got an enquiry ........

I own my own home and claiming job seekers allowance and council tax benefit. I am getting married in a couple of months and my partner will move in with me shortly after.

He is not British citizen and currently has an on-going case with Home Office. He does not work and does not receive benefits and he doesn't plan to claim benefits(his family is supporting him)

what I would like to know is

1. when I tell council he moves in, what documents of his will I need to show them? (he has no set address)

2. when he moves in will my job seekers allowance and council tax benefit be affected?

Thank you

This is our reply.......

Hi Jumin, thanks for your email.

We first of all need to say that the situation with regards to immigration issues and claiming welfare benefits is really complicated and our best advice to you is to get expert help with this in your area as we can only give general advice. We'll tell you how we think your situation may be affected by your partner moving in with you, and then tell you where you can get clarification on this issue from people who are more expert in these matters near to where you live. The people we tell you about will be able to give you free, confidential and independent advice.

1. You've already realised that it's important that you tell your local council when your partner moves in with you as it's an important change in your circumstances. We'd say that they would probably at least want to see your partner's passport and/or any letter (s) from the Home Office which will tell them your partner's immigration status.

You could ring your local council or call in and ask what documentation they need to see:

Walsall Council, First Stop Shop, Civic Centre entrance, Darwall Street. Telephone:
0845 111 2855. Open: Monday to Thursday: 8.45am - 5.15pm, Friday: 8.45am - 4.45pm

2. We're assuming that your partner is subject to immigration control and is under a sponsorship/maintenance agreement with his family and is therefore not eligible to be paid any benefits. This means that you can continue to claim jobseekers allowance for yourself but you cannot include your partner in your claim so the amount of your benefit may remain the same. We think the situation with your council tax benefit will be similar: as your partner is subject to immigration control he can't be included in your claim because he isn't eligible for benefits so the amount of your council tax benefit may remain the same.

So, as we advised earlier, here's where you can go to get more expert help in your area:

Walsall CAB, 13, 9-144 Lichfield Street (opposite the Town Hall), Walsall. WS1 1SE.
Telephone advice: 01922 700600. Email advice: advice@cab.walsall.org.uk
mailto:advice@cab.walsall.org.uk. Open Monday - Friday 9am -5pm.

National helpline: Community Legal Advice, 0845 345 4 345, open Monday - Friday 9am
- 8pm, Saturday 9am - 12.30pm.

We're sorry that we haven't been able to give you a definite answer to your questions but we're confident that the organisations we've told you about will be able to do this. We hope your partner is able to continue to be supported by his family until his immigration status is regularised to help with your household finances, but if the arrangement does break down get advice from the organisations we've told you about.

Please contact us again if you think we can help you further, about this or anything else.

Best wishes from q2a.

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