British and arrived in the UK and having benefits problems.

portly1

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

I have refused British citizens HB after conducting Habitual Residence Tests - mostly hen they pop back to visit friends or relatives are wanting to get treatment on the NHS and their intention is not to work but to pop back to their home abroad.

Just join a few local clubs and the library to demonstrate 'local roots'.

But then isn't that your opinion? You don't and can't really know this for certain. I presume it is because the claimant failed to put up a more robust case.

Are you actually allowed on this site, and considering you also work for a LA, to advise on how to play the system?

pstuart

Please don't feed the trolls.

MissMoneypenny

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

I have refused British citizens HB after conducting Habitual Residence Tests - mostly hen they pop back to visit friends or relatives are wanting to get treatment on the NHS and their intention is not to work but to pop back to their home abroad.

Just join a few local clubs and the library to demonstrate 'local roots'.

Quite a few of the rest of the world's citizens are doing that too (as well as those with a British passport) according to the government. Hence why they have a consultation running about charging those people who haven't paid into the UK system for 10 years. Some hospitals near Heathrow, have been asking for payment before they will treat anyone, for years.

Last year (or the year before perhaps) the government bought in new laws to refuse visas or renewing of visas, to those who used the NHS when they weren't allowed to. Quite a few people are getting caught out on this new law and are getting their visa refused until they pay thier NHS bill; while others are rushing to pay their NHS bills, so they don't get a visa refusal (and lose their visa application fees too - the visa fees have all just been put up).

One annoyed US citizen recently posting on UK-yankee.com, was uspset to find his spouse visa was refused until he paid his NHS bill of 100K. He had been visiting the UK to get his Leukemia treated and they caught up with him: he can't get back into the UK until he pays his bill in full.

Teahfc

TROLL all day long, desperate for help, signed up, posted, never returned.

NEXT

Angelicdevil

Teahfc wrote: »

TROLL all day long, desperate for help, signed up, posted, never returned.

NEXT

It's been less than 24hours since the original OP......

missapril75

von wrote: »

Sorry to contradict you missapril75 but about 6 years ago the DM could make an advance decision as to the date from which they would consider someone to have proved that they had spent an appreciable period of time in the UK to be treated as habitually resident.

Thanks for the additional info, von.

portly1 wrote: »

But then isn't that your opinion? You don't and can't really know this for certain.

Sometimes information comes to light "after the fact."

I once tried to make contact with the person who "returned to the UK permanently" only to discover they had returned to their home abroad after their UK visit.

justlooking2012

This same thing happened to my friends son, what we found ironic was the majority of people at the council and job centre who were telling him he was not entitled were African.

seven-day-weekend

Many of our Benefits are based on Residence, that is what the Habitual Residency Test is about! It is meant to ascertain that the person has come to live in the UK for the long-term forseeable future and not just to claim Benefits and is applied to everyone entering our country who wishes to claim means-tested Benefits, including returning British Citizens if they have lived abroad.

When we returned after eight years in Spain, we didn't need to claim any means-tested Benefits, so we just returned and got on with our lives. (I asked advice about this from CAB, they didn't know the answer for someone who was not returning to claim Benefits:eek:)

And how do you know the 'Africans' are not both a) habitually resident and b) British Citizens?