child benefit for british with british children but wife south african?

till_man

Can I claim child benefit if I'm British and my children are also British but my wife is south african?


On the child benefit form it says the child benefit is paid to the main carer and that would be my wife since she is a stay at home mum.

On her visa to uk it says no recourse to state funds. obviously don't want her to get deported or the visa to fail the next time I have to apply, since each application I make costs £850.

got made redundant at xmas last year and had to take a new job at much lower pay in jan so I could scrape through paying the bills.
my car broke down, then failed mot and then got not one but two punctures, followed by !!!!!! at BG condeming my boiler forcing me to buy another one which led to more damage to my house as the pipework was not suitable so way more expense then expected.


so now without the child benefit or figuring out some other source of income that would allow me an extra £1500 after tax I am going to be a little be screwed (used up the matched betting capital already to pay for the repairs and loans with the headline rates of about 5% come back offering me a rate of 22%:mad:).

mummyroysof3

I don't think it matters which parent claims it tbh.

wolfehouse

you can claim the child benefit in your name.
if you have not been resident in the uk there might be a waiting period
before you can claim (once residency is re-established- can't remember how long)


once your wife's status changes you can switch it into her name.

Mrs_Soup

I think I recall having to put both sets of parents details on the form anyway so just put yours first. The thing they ask for is the childs birth certificate and presumably they were registered here if they were born here so you would have these.

pmlindyloo

Found this

http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2014/01/07/provision-to-claim-child-benefit-without-breaching-the-public-funds-condition-by-primary-carers-of-british-children/

which suggests (if I have read it correctly) that the person with no recourse to public funds can claim CB on the basis that they are a member of a family of an EEA national.

till_man

thanks guys:D