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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can BIL really do this?

26 replies

Peopleplease · 31/03/2017 15:47

I'm just curious really.

BIL was born in England to English Dad and Irish mum. The family moved to Ireland when he was 5.

He's changed careers and is trying to get into a career it's quite hard to get into and most job oppression are in England/UK. He's been mostly unemployed for 2 years now. He's 42.

His plan is to move to England and claim 'income support' - is that the correct name, its jobseekers benefit in Ireland.

Anyway - seeing as he has never worked in England and hadn't been resident, can he really just move and start claiming??

He does have a UK passport I think.

OP posts:
ImperialBlether · 31/03/2017 15:52

As an EEU national he can claim some benefits. I'm not sure what, though.

EffinElle · 31/03/2017 15:52

I'm just being nosey to see what the answer is, but I suspect it will be no as he hasn't resided here for x years.

nocake · 31/03/2017 16:04

If he has a UK passport then he has to demonstrate that he is "habitually resident" in the UK. If he has an Irish passport then he also has to be working or jobseeking.

WannaBe · 31/03/2017 16:07

I don't know if the law may have changed.... but...

I grew up in South Africa. Was a permanent resident there and a naturalised citizen, although I retained my British passport.

I was nineteen when i returned, having last resided in the UK over ten years before, and then only for four years.

I was entitled to claim whatever benefits I needed to claim (in my case income support to start with and DLA...

puddingpen · 31/03/2017 16:20

I am British but lived abroad. I moved back to the UK and claimed Job Seekers Allowance for a short time (until I found a job!), having never worked in the UK. I had to prove my poverty though and also my right to UK residency.

Hulder · 31/03/2017 16:24

From 2014, you have to have been living in the UK for 3 months, even if you are a UK citizen in order to claim any means tested benefit.

So short answer - no he can't, not straight away anyway.

Original poster
Peopleplease · 31/03/2017 16:24

He will be job seeking. To be fair to him he has been trying to find a job and most interviews he gets are in England so he has to fly over fairly often.

wannabe that sounds like his situation.

OP posts:
Jaysis · 31/03/2017 16:31

He's got dual citizenship so he is eligible for benefits as a british citizen. He is entitled to both an Irish and a UK passport if he wishes.

Some benefits may be dependant on being resident for a prior period or for having paid social insurance contributions in a prior job but that should be easy to check if he's eligible or not.

Penfold007 · 31/03/2017 16:40

The rules are different for U.K. and Irish citizens. Yes he can come to Britain and claim benefits.

CotswoldStrife · 31/03/2017 16:41

I can't help with the query, sorry, but that is a spectactular autocorrect of 'opportunities' in the OP! Grin

EweAreHere · 31/03/2017 16:45

If he has a British passport, he's entitled to British benefits if he moves back to Britain.

Penfold007 · 31/03/2017 16:47

He doesn't even need a British passport, there is a special agreement in place.

Original poster
Peopleplease · 31/03/2017 16:49

cotswold hadn't noticed that! Oops.

OP posts:
Obsidian77 · 31/03/2017 16:50

He does realise that "Income Support" is not going to be enough to live off? Also that he might not be eligible for anything at all for at least 3 months?
Entitlement to some benefits is contingent on you having paid enough National Insurance contributions in the last 3 years.
There's a lot of info on the govt website so I won't go into further details here.
I think things have changed a bit since wannabe was able to claim.

GreenPeppers · 31/03/2017 16:51

If he has a British passport, he will be entitled to British benefits as long as he is a resident in the uk, that means he needs to have live din the uk for more than 3 months.
After that, the usual rules apply.

If he isnt British, he can (still) come over and apply for some benefits as far as I know. He would need to be able to demonstrated he is really looking for work and he wouldn't be able to stay in the uk forever in those circumstances. No idea how long too long is though.
Obviously in 2 years time, things will be different and he might not be allowed to stay if he doesn't have British citizenship even if he has a job here. So I would assume he has the British citizenship (I don't know of anyone who would plan to come here atm with a long term plan)

FinallyHere · 31/03/2017 17:00

I imagine that the tricky part would be finding accommodation. Have often wondered what people do, to find somewhere to live, unless they have some savings to tide them over,

Astella22 · 31/03/2017 17:05

Jobseeker's Allowance - the dole as its known over here, is much more 'generous' in Ireland €188 a week. In the UK I believe it's only £73 a week. So it doesn't really make sense to move to the uk to claim this unless there is something more to his reason.

Original poster
Peopleplease · 31/03/2017 17:09

BIL doesn't think long term or look into things properly - that's why I'm curious.

His uncle lives in London so he could live with him for a short period of time. He doesn't really have savings and I imagine will live off his credit card. Not sure how he'll pay rent.

OP posts:
Theresnonamesleft · 31/03/2017 17:16

Depending on the area he also might fall under Universal Credits. So after the qualifying 3 month period, he would then have to wait another 6 weeks minimum. For new claimants who aren't moving from one benefit to another, the procedure is you go online and fill in a lengthy form, with the system crashing. You are then asked to go into an office to present documents from the past 6 months. You are then contacted again to go into the office for an interview. At this point, the 6-week countdown starts and you have already waited a week... the process may differ in other areas, who knows, but this is a friend's recent experience.
The rate is less than £80 a week. And of course, there's the cap so depending on rent this could reduce. Oh, and of course, out of the money he will also have to pay for a big chunk of council tax.

KatieScarlett · 31/03/2017 17:17

Tell him to look up the habitual residence test. He will need to pass that before he gets JSA.

KatieScarlett · 31/03/2017 17:17

Or UC

Hulder · 31/03/2017 17:30

He is a British passport holder so can claim British benefits.

Yes but not for 3 months!!!!!!

And then he would have to wait while his claim was processed. And housing wise he would have nothing to make him a priority.

Looked into this when DH returned from foreign climes. Turned out he was entitled to nowt anyway.

ProfYaffle · 31/03/2017 17:34

Citizens advice page

This is interesting:
"Irish citizens automatically have a right to reside in the UK as part of the common travel area. If you were habitually resident in Ireland or any of the other places in the common travel area before you came to the UK, you will automatically satisfy the conditions of the HRT."

Original poster
Peopleplease · 31/03/2017 17:48

Ok so it looks like he will be able to claim straight away.

OP posts:
Lingotria · 31/03/2017 18:12

If he has a British passport he's able to claim.

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