My USC wife and I (UKC) are in the process of applying for my Spouse Visa. My wife arrived in Scotland June 4th 2018. Since leaving education more than 30 years ago my wife has been in continuous US employment. For the last 20 yrs, my wife has been employed in the beauty business which, like the UK, is currently not functioning due to Lockdown.

The question we have is will my wife be permitted to claim Unemployment should she return to US and, due to Lockdown, is unable to find immediate employment?

Thanks for any guidance.

I would say no, because she hasn't been employed in the USA. I believe it is dependent on that.

Also, not sure about all states, but here in Arizona, hair and beauty salons are open again now.

Rene

I wouldn't bank on it. Also there are LONG backlogs in many states to even sign on.

Isn’t there some provision in the paperwork that the USC be able to support the spouse? Trying to claim unemployment would put the lie to that.

Unemployment typically is based on earnings over the prior year or so in the state in question. So normally the answer would be "no". But maybe some state(s) will use CARES Act funds to extend eligibility to a new resident with no recent in-state earnings. I think it's a real long shot though. And anyway those funds are only available until the end of July.

https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus/unemployment-insurance

Presumably the OP's spouse will have received the $1200 stimulus payment though, assuming they filed US taxes in 2018 or 2019.

They are probably using a joint sponsor.

Rene

Unlikely, in GA it's based on your last year of contributions - obviously state dependant.

You say she's been in continuous US employment for the past 30 years (20 of which in the beauty business), but also that she's been living in Scotland since 2018? In Scotland, is she working for an employer who is based in the USA?

Rene

It's State dependant.
In Texas, based on last year's income. She would have filed a tax return I presume?
Also,another hiccup possibly is if she was self employed , she may not usually qualify but here in Texas due to covid, unemployment is being paid out to independant contractors at least if their income was affected by coronavirus.

This is the federal CARES Act program I mentioned in post 5 and so applies to all states. Some states are using their own funds in addition to the federal funds, but I don't think that's the case across all states.

I'm aware of that. However, the issue is that normally self/employed or independant contractors cannot usually claim unemployment. From my experience here in Austin, most beauticians/hairdressers are self employed. In Texas, they are now allowed to work again so I'm guessing that the CARES money will no longer be available.

The extension of unemployment benefit to the self-employed is part of the CARES Act and so is not state-specific. So whatever state you are in, the self-employed are eligible for the federally-funded $600pw if your income has been eliminated/reduced by covid-19. Some states have been more efficient than others in getting this done. We don't know what state the OP is intending to move to but, yes, either the program will expire (end of July) or the state in question will open up before that date anyway. If it's the latter but your business continues to be impacted, you're still eligible for benefits until the end of July.

Sounds like this could be a year away.

I saw my Stylist last week. Not a problem.

Unemployment provisions from the CARE Act expire 7/31. I'd be stunned if they were extended based on the noises coming from McConnell.and his gang.

I agree with all the above advice, that the answer is almost certainly "no", but I would add that unemployment in the US is managed more like an account that you pay into - you can claim unemployement based on a qualifying period (maybe two years?) which covers you for, I think, 26 weeks of payments (it was longer based on temporary arrangements with the federal government after the great recession in 2008). So if you're out of work for 26 weeks, using up your entitlement of 26 weeks of unemployment pay, then find a job, but lose your job again after three months, you will find that you are only entitled to maybe three weeks of unemployment pay based on the three months of "contributions".