Daughter absolutely potless dont know where to turn

dktreesea

krisskross wrote: »

I am sure it will be sorted in the end, just a question of jumping through the required hoops. I don't see why this little family is entitled to anything from British taxpayers having never contributed a single penny, possibly in either country but I am sure they will receive enough to live on plus housing costs eventually.

I understood that one of the conditions to pass the habitual residency test was that one hadn't come here for the sole purpose of claiming benefits. If this s the case then they will fall at this first hurdle.

There would be absolutely heaps of young people here in Britain who have never paid NI or income tax and who are entitled to benefits. Thousands upon thousands of people. How about children leaving school at 18 who have never had a job? Or non British spouses and children of EEA nationals, entitled to benefits the day their arrive via their already resident spouse's claim?

That wee girl returning with her family is as British as you and me. Why should she be discriminated against just because she was moved to Spain (at 14 - presumably that was someone else's decision?) and six years later has now decided to move back?

duchy

I'd guess this will be a fairly short term situation as with three of you job hunting something will change and I guess it really doesn't matter whether it is your daughter or her boyfriend who finds a job first as the other partner or you can deal with childcare. What kind of work are they looking for ?

Elvisia

As far as I see it they are claiming benefits as a short term temporary measure while they look for work, in order to survive. It's impossible to job hunt if you have literally no money, I found getting to interviews on the bus was taking out a massive chunk of my JSA percentage-wise, so you do need all the help you can get. I assume the OP's daughter and son-in-law will be claiming benefits now and will be paying them back with their taxes they will earn in the future? When I left school at 18 I got JSA for a short while, and I then got a job and paid it back through my taxes.

ILW

Seems like blatant benefits tourism to me. Just not going to plan as the OP would have liked.

pink_princess

Has your daughter tried social services? They could offer temporary help.

Set them a target of how many agencies and employers they must contact a day also as a condition of them staying with you. They can be successful but may need a little push to get there.

Also can the dad door knock offering to wash cars, windows or do gardening etc?

Good luck to them x

dktreesea

ILW wrote: »

Seems like blatant benefits tourism to me. Just not going to plan as the OP would have liked.

How can the daughter possibly be a "tourist"? She's a returning British citizen. So it's okay for the rest of Europe to be able to claim benefits over here, including spouses not from the EU, but not returning British nationals?

dktreesea

I would agree to restricting access for benefits to everyone coming to the UK, including returning British citizens, provided the arbitrary actions of DWP decision makers were cut out of the equation. If the government, for example, said, for the purposes of claiming any sort of benefit, returning British citizens who had been away for more than x number of days, say 6 months (who really cares how long, as long as it is clear), shall not become eligible for benefits until they have been here for two years continuously, where "continuous means no more than 20 days per year out of the country, then I would support such a law.

If they also said EU citizens would also be restricted from claiming benefits for the same period, if coming here to settle, fair enough. People would arrive knowing they either had to find work or have sufficient funds to live on for two years.

But that's not what happens. One person arrives, a returning British citizen, and is habitually resident on the day they arrive, and a different citizen arrives, and is not only told they are not "habitually resident" but given no help or indications to determine when they would be considered habitually resident.

It is NOT currently a requirement to work in Britain in order to get benefits. Nor, except for pensions, is it a requirement to have paid national insurance. Not for British or EU citizens and their families. Maybe it should be - there are plenty of places in the EU where you can't get benefits unless you pay into the system (Spain) or unless you already work (Germany, a place where there is also no minimum wage and where, if you can't obtain work, the State arrange work for you. Only 1 euro an hour? Too bad, but because you work you get a top up. ) But it isn't a requirement right now.

The idea that a non British citizen can arrive here, as someone with an already resident spouse, and get benefits from the day they arrive, but our own citizens can be so arbitrarily locked out of any state support, makes me sick.

ILW

dktreesea wrote: »

How can the daughter possibly be a "tourist"? She's a returning British citizen. So it's okay for the rest of Europe to be able to claim benefits over here, including spouses not from the EU, but not returning British nationals?

Daughter may be, the two kids and hubby are Spanish citizens. I would say that on balance the Spanish taxpayers should be getting the bill.

clemmatis

dktreesea wrote: »

The idea that a non British citizen can arrive here, as someone with an already resident spouse, and get benefits from the day they arrive,.

They can't.

http://www.wmimmigration.com/spouse-visa-uk/

AnxiousMum

To the OP - did your daughter and her husband come to the UK with the intention of seeking benefits?
I mean - when we came - we lined up a job first for one of us. That can be done in this day and age with internet - online interviews etc. Did they bring ANY money with them at all? Surely they knew what the cost of living would be like - did they come with enough to see them and their kids through a couple of months? If no to any of those - they likely came with the intention of claiming benefits

Guess he should've been paying taxes etc in Spain rather than working cash in hand - they might've been eligible for something there then.