Can an asylum seeker in the UK claim child maintenance from their abusive ex-partner?

[AutumnEnglishRose]

Asking for a friend. The CMA could not answer my question.

The woman is a survivor of domestic abuse from the baby's father. He has ceased all financial support to baby for 6m +.
She wants to claim child maintenance from him via the CMA but is scared she cannot do this due to her immigration status (lack of).
She claimed asylum in the UK 1 year ago and her application is still being processed by the home office.

Can she apply via the CMA??

Please don't advise we call them, they don't have a clue and re-directed me to the Citizens Advice (who in turn sent me back to the CMA) :/

Thank you!

I meant CMS. Child Maintenance Service.

Yes she can.
Immigration status has no bearing on entitlement to child maintenance.
In addition Child maintenance is not considered a public fund and will not negatively effect an asylum application.
I handled a very similar case and the mother did end up getting child maintenance.
The biggest hurdle is that the CMA use Child Benefit as a means to evidence who the child is living with. So they might claim that she is "not entitled" to child maintenance unless she's getting Child Benefit.
You may have to hunt down the Child Maintenance regulations to show them this is untrue.

I don't know about the CMS, but if she was here on a spouse visa the domestic violence route might be better than asylum

www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-of-domestic-violence

This website has some useful information about immigration status and how little it matters in relation to Child Maintenance.

Hi

It depends if she is receiving asylum support (a living allowance for people seeking asylum who have no savings). The UK Government does not allow people seeking asylum to work, so most people with an asylum claim have no choice but to go on asylum support while they wait for their claim to be processed.

She cannot have an income and get asylum support so she needs to be very careful. If she receives child maintenance it would count as an income and they may stop her asylum support.

Maternity Action helpline would be good to call:

Call 0808 802 0029 open Mondays to Fridays, from 10 am to 1 pm, but due to staff holidays and absence, you may currently find it harder to get through. Please bear with us.

There's some information here about the 'destitution test' which has to be met to receive asylum support, and the Home Office could argue is not being met if she receives child maintenance: www.asaproject.org/uploads/Factsheet_1_-_section_95.pdf

@GretchenF thank you so much; she currently does not receive asylum support (I presume you mean section 4?) actually. For a wide range of complicated reasons. she is scraping by in other ways. So at least that wouldn't be a complicating factor.

Thank you for your reply and the info x