Applying for Job Seekers Allowance or Universal Credit from abroad?

NedS

Dynamic_Edge said:

NedS said:

Dynamic_Edge said:

Having said that: I’m abroad now mainly because of personal reasons: my mother has passed away and I’ve gone abroad to bury her and for associated religious reasons etc.

does that change things in the eyes of UC?

Please accept my condolences for your loss.

If you had a claim for UC, then the work coach could apply an easement to allow you not to have to look for work due to your recent bereavement.

If you were to make a claim for UC, you would have to attend an initial ID appointment (plus any additionally required evidence appointments) and then an initial first commitments appointment, to agree and accept your work search commitments, and for the work coach to apply the easement. How would you attend those two appointments if you are abroad?

Thanks.

on the subject of appointments: in this day and age, can they not do these interviews etc remotely online? Seems very old fashioned of them to handle such things in person exclusively.

ID verification can be done online, but other evidence appointments and agreeing commitments with a work coach are face to face at the jobcentre.

Appointments were conducted by phone during Covid for obvious reasons, and you can imagine the amount of fraud that resulted.

Brie

Not sure about UC but JSA may not be worth the bother as (from what I've been told) the first 2 weeks don't get you anything.  OK so you'd get the next 2 weeks but you'll have at least 2 interviews with them and get about £100 total for your trouble.  Yes £100 in your pocket is better than nothing but you'll have to decide how much you want it.

peteuk

PLEASE NOTE - in your other thread, you were advised about claiming UC and the effects of your mothers estate and final wage upon such claim.   

As for JSA I’m not 100% expert but my understanding is it depends on your previous two years NI contributions.  So if you’ve been working oversea are you being paid by a UK company (and thus paying NI) or an overseas company?

But uppermost is availability to work, as previously noted. 

tomtom256

All new claims are pretty much being verified face to face with an appointment being booked within 7 days of making the claim to go through your commitments etc.
Fail to atttend the commitments and the claim gets closed.

NedS

As has already been stated numerous times, the OP cannot claim JSA or UC because they are abroad. There really is no discussion past that point:

https://www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad/universal-credit

You cannot apply for Universal Credit if you’re already abroad.

When they return to the UK, they can make a claim for benefit if they so wish and would then be subject to all the usual rules of entitlement, but for now they cannot claim.