Will claiming tax credits while on a initial Uk spouse visa affect our next application?

[samsong101]

Hello i have applied for working tax credits and child tax credits and started receiving them last week. My wife gets the child tax credits in her bank account and i get the working tax credits in my bank account. I had to apply as a joint application as i am married to my Thai wife and was wondering if it will affect the result on our next application? As i am a British citizen i am entitled to claim for the tax credits but was worrying that as the child tax credits go in my wife's account will it look bad on our next application? I was thinking of asking all the credits to be put in my account but on the tax credits application it asks who looks after the child, who is my wife as she doesnt work currently.My wife and daughter have been over here in the Uk for 6 months now and soon my wife will be looking for work as my daughter will be starting preschool. If anyone can help me with this it would be  appreciated as i spent so long saving for the first spouse visa and dont want to jeopardise the next stage( further leave to remain i think)

Thanks in advance

samsong

[olddoc]

I suspect you wife is not entitled to any government  financial assistance. 

 

Take urgent action to sort this issue.

[bobrussell]

This is one of the odd ones!

If you are entitled to claim tax credits you can. BUT it has to be claimed as a couple (if you are married!). This has come up before and the advice has always been there is no problem with FLR/ILR applications.

Perhaps might be better to have it all put into your account as it is you claiming them not someone subject to immigration control.

It is a bit confusing and I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. HMRC does not give clear guidance beyond saying an individual subject to immigration control cannot claim tax credits!

You can claim Child Benefit for the child even if he or she has limited leave to remain. Edited February 18, 2014 by bobrussell

[steady]

Bob Russell has got it right but I would also go further and say that it doesn't matter which account it goes into yours or the wife. The form clearly gives you the option about whose account is to be used.

[samsong101]

Thanks for the advice guys

 

[durhamboy]

Might there be a problem with the income requirement for FLR. With 1 child this is about £22,000 p.a. and as working tax credits are being claimed then isn't it unlikely that the OP meets this income requirement at the moment? Obviously this would change if his wife got a job.

[7by7]

From the OP it seems that the child is Samsong101's. In which case as she is a British citizen she is not subject to immigration control and so the income requirement at all stages, initial visa, FLR and ILR, is for a spouse only; currently £18,600.
 
Also, for both FLR and ILR the immigrant spouse's income, if any, can be used in addition to the sponsor's.
 
Tax credits and child benefit cannot be used towards the required income.
 
As Bob says, individuals subject to immigration control cannot claim tax credits or child benefit; but their British partner, if they have one, can; even if the child being claimed for is subject to immigration control.
 
However, as Bob also says, tax credits by a couple must be claimed jointly; so even if one partner is subject to immigration control not only can the couple claim tax credits jointly; they have to!
 
See Public Funds page 17.

A person subject to immigration control is not considered as accessing public funds if it is their partner who is receiving the funds they are entitled to.
Child and working tax credits are claimed jointly by couples. If only one member of a couple is subject to immigration control, then for tax credit purposes, neither are treated as being subject to immigration control.

[waz9235]

No problem having the money going into her account. I speak from experience and had the same concerns at the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[durhamboy]

 

From the OP it seems that the child is Samsong101's. In which case as she is a British citizen she is not subject to immigration control and so the income requirement at all stages, initial visa, FLR and ILR, is for a spouse only; currently £18,600.
 
Also, for both FLR and ILR the immigrant spouse's income, if any, can be used in addition to the sponsor's.
 
Tax credits and child benefit cannot be used towards the required income.
 

 

 

Ok assuming you are correct that the child is that of the OP - I think that if he was earning £18,600 pa he wouldn't qualify for working tax credits. I think that £17,000 pa is the max you can earn to get this benefit assuming they have no disability.

[7by7]

Using the HMRC quick questionnaire shows that a couple with at least one child under 16 can claim tax credits provided the total household income is below £26,000 pa.

 

Obviously, the closer their income is to £26,000, the less they'll get.

[mehmetde]

hello guys

 

hi, i am a british, my wife has got 2 years spouse visa, will expire on april 2015. i received a letter from hmrc tax credit, i fill it send them back, after i received tax credit with my and me wife name on it. today i called hmrc and i told to them, i dont want tax credit because when my wife will make application for indefinite leave to remain maybe home office refuse our application because claim tax credit, and hmrc told me no we cant stop it it`s your right to take it. so i am really wondering is it any problem or not?

[7by7]

As said above; tax credits for a couple have to be claimed jointly by that couple; even if one of them is subject to immigration control.

 

Therefore, even though an individual subject to immigration control cannot claim tax credits on their own, they can claim them jointly with their partner.

 

That her name is on the tax credit claim and/or payments will not be a problem.

[Saltghan]

Hi there I need some help if any one can help me it's very complicated situation,

Me and girlfriend have just had a baby together, I'm working and she stays at home to look after our baby. But here the complicated part, I would like to claim some benefits I'm entitled to like working tax credit and help with paying my rent cause I'm on a low income, but my girlfriend is married to someone else and is currently here in uk on sponsored married, the man is fine about it all so no worries there, but when making a claim it says want information about me and my partner, is there anyway by me making a claim could affect her visa or have Hmrc contacting imergration about she's with another man , and my girlfriend has her husbands surname still. Thank you guys if you can help

[7by7]

If your girlfriend is in the UK on the basis of her marriage to someone else and that marriage has broken down then, unless she has Indefinite Leave to Remain, she no longer has any right to be in the UK.
 
She should, technically, leave immediately, but in practice will be ok staying until her current visa expires.
 
Even if you making a claim does not have immediately effect , when her current visa expires she will definitely have to leave the UK or she will be here illegally.

 

Her husband may be fine about it; but UKVI wont be!

Unless the marriage broke down due to her being the victim of her husband's domestic violence and she can prove it with police, medical reports etc. in which case she can apply for ILR under the domestic violence rules.