Who here knows about benefits for non-uk citizens? Urgent!

[Shortandfat]

My niece, aged 27, is autistic. She has no closer family than me. She inherited from her parents and has a small house owned outright and a small trust fund (about 75k).

She is unable to work, she gets pip and ESA (not yet ported to universal credit).

She has a long term online boyfriend from Sweden who is also autistic and currently lives in Sweden working very part time on a special scheme (like a supported internship).

Niece wants to marry him.

I think he's not deliberately targeting her for her money but I am very concerned that if he comes over he may not be capable of work here long term and I am not sure:

• what will happen to her benefits
• whether he could claim benefits
• what type of visa he would need
• what might happen to her house and inheritance if they separated.

Can anyone advise? She is very naive and all swept up in the romance. They don't intend to have children and are rather sweet together, but I just feel like we need loads more information to safeguard her.

Have they met in real life?

Yes, twice. He stayed about 2-3 weeks each time.

There are so many questions I’d be asking long before wondering about immigration statuses here.

He wouldn’t qualify for a spouse visa in the UK. A quick google would have made this clear.

She should not be getting ESA with 75k in savings.
He should still be able to claim from his own country for a period.

My other condos that it can be very easy to manipulate autistic people.

He has no recourse to public funds - ie benefits.

I’m not sure about the visa etc sorry.

I have googled but I couldn't work it out. On what grounds? Does this mean they cannot marry?

she needs to be very careful

Also no access to free nhs services.

It will likely make a difference if in a trust fund, clearly family have set it up this way so that benefits aren't affected.

They can marry. They can't live in uk together. How is she able to claim ESA with £75k? Or is it in trust?

It's a trust fund with several nominal beneficiaries, so doesn't count for ESA. She absolutely needed it when orphaned age 16 and she has never been able to work. She pays for her PA carers.

You said it was in trust - apologies!

He’s not going to get a work visa - given he requires supported employment. He won’t qualify for a spouse visa because her income is too low.

Marriage may make her assets into marital assets.

It sounds infeasible. They’ve only actually met twice. How can they know they want to get married?

He won’t be able to live here on a spouse visa unless she earns £x amount (can’t remember how much, sorry).

He can come here on a spouse or fiancé visa as I think your DN will have enough money in savings to sponsor him. But he won't be able to claim any benefits himself.

Wouldn't they have a better life in Sweden? According to MN popular opinion, Sweden is a utopia of socialist idealism and everyone there is Living The Dream.

I would not want her living in Sweden and I don't think they would want that.

They can marry. Marriage and immigration are not the same question.

The UK has really strict rules about family visas. And immigration is likely to be extremely skeptical of it being a real marriage, given they have only met twice.

As she receives PIP and has no housing costs, it is very possible she could successfully apply under exceptional circumstances. They would need to first get married in Sweden, or apply for a marriage visit visa or fiance visa. He will have no recourse to public funds, though her benefits should not be affected unless he has other income.
Visas are doled out regularly for couples who have only met two or 3 times, it's not a barrier at all. Although, it's not necessarily something I would recommend on a personal level.

If it's in trust with other beneficiaries I'd be very surprised if it counted as savings for sponsorship

Editing opening as info has changed since I last needed to look at visas.
Start here OP, https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa then look at family visas.

I'd be seriously concerned about her assets - if she is unable to work entirely then she is extremely unlikely to be able to replace them. She could lose all the safety nets her family worked so hard to set up.

Everyone has the right to feel loved and be in love but she absolutely must take steps to protect herself. Keep your head OP, panicking won't help!

I really don't think she would get to Sweden to marry. She has to have carers to get on the bus in her familiar home area, and when she visits other family I have to take her to the train and collect her by car, she can't get herself to the station.

Would she need support about being in a relationship? Goodness knows, every relationship can be challenging. Does she have the skills to navigate those and have a healthy relationship? It might be worth considering that and looking at resources to support her/help her think about things as these challenges come up. Surely it's worthwhile for an appropriate person (carer? social worker, nurse, GP, family?) to discuss emotional, sexual, physical, financial and privacy boundaries and also family planning.

Honestly, I am not sure.

I think if her partner wasn't also autistic there would be no chance. I think they understand each other. However I also think they both have huge challenges and have a sort of "us against the world" idea of themselves.

She is very bright btw. No learning disabilities but loads of anxieties and planning problems.

Anyone else able to help?
I have worked out that theoretically, as she gets pip, she could apply for an exceptional circumstances visa to enable him to come over and marry, and that she has to show she has £133 a week to keep them both.

I am not clear if he will at some point become eligible for benefits if, as I suspect, he can't work much if at all, and whether he would get NHS cover. Could he eventually become a British citizen for example?

She has no idea about any of this. She is just thinking about her white dress and happily ever after. It's such a mess.
Let alone trying to safeguard her inheritance if she marries....