Sir Spangle

I'm moving back to the UK after 15 years away in the US, and my US wife will be arriving on a Family Visa. We have some savings, and we're using that as our proof of financial self-support for her Family Visa. Though I've been gone for 15 years, I have around 20 years prior to that where I made national insurance contributions through working in the UK.

From the research I've been doing my guess is I will not be able to claim any form of benefit e.g. unemployment, housing, council tax.

If that's true then okay, I'm not complaining, but I wondered if anyone was/is in a similar situation, and in fact was able to claim some form of benefit? If so, what was your circumstance?

durham_lad

The NHS will be free to you from the day you arrive, and if you are age 60 then free prescriptions and eye tests. In Scotland you would be eligible for a bus pass at age 60, and prescriptions are free to everyone in Scotland and Wales. Apologies if I am over-guessing your age but you say you have worked 35 years which is about the number of years I'd worked at age 60

Sir Spangle

Mid-50s, but close Thanks, yes I will be fine for NHS treatment, and we are paying the surcharge fee for my wife on the Family Visa.

My question is more about benefits one would need to claim for, for example: unemployment, housing, council tax, or other forms of income support. This is given we will arrive without any form of pre-arranged employment.

DaveLovesDee

You'd need to pass the Habitual Residence Test for those. Your wife wouldn't qualify for any of those benefits because she'll have No Recourse to Public Funds,, but you likely would after 3 months in the UK (or earlier if you're lucky).

SanDiegogirl

As said you'll need to be assessed for eligibility for any benefits.

As, presumably, you'll have 62,500GBP in savings (your basis for a spouse visa), then you'll be expected to use that to support yourselves in the UK until such time as you have employment (in earlier posts you said you were retired). Your wife will not be eligible for public funds.

Your NI contributions will go towards any State pension you may have acquired.

christmasoompa

As said above you'll have at least £62,500 in the bank, and that will disqualify you for most (all?) benefits. Universal Credit has replaced what used to be housing benefit, income support, working tax credit etc, and you're not eligible for that if you have more than £16k in savings.

Sir Spangle

Thanks all. FYI though Jobseeker's Allowance is not means-tested, it's available to you based on your NI contributions in the past. The 62.5k for the family visa would be irrelevant in this case. I'd dispute it's relevancy for other benefits too, given this is to show my wife will not be reliant upon benefits, and not me; as a UK citizen I need prove no requirement, but knowing how these things work probably will be a factor. The three month ordinary residency is something I need to look up.

Has anyone on here tried applying for JSA?

SanDiegogirl

Think some of the rules have changed for JSA:

New Style JSA is a contribution based benefit. Normally, this means you may be able to get it if you’ve paid and/or been credited with enough National Insurance (NI) contributions in the 2 full tax years before the year you’re claiming in.

Unless you have paid contributions in the past 2 years, I don't think you qualify......

christmasoompa

Anybody with over £16k in household savings is ineligible for most benefits. This has nothing to do with your wife’s visa app, it’s standard across the board for all benefit applicants.

As above, JSA will only be relevant if you’ve paid enough NI (and been employed) in the two years prior to applying. Full eligibility here - https://www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance/eligibility

SanDiegogirl

+1 .....