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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Income support, JSA and tax credits  →  Thread

right to reside as dependant parent of EEA worker

nottsadvisor
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Welfare rights - Nottingham City Council

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My client is a Portuguese national with right to reside as a worker.  She has been living with her mother who, having lost JSA as a result of the GPOW, is now financially dependant on her.  They are currrently not in a tenancy and are sofa surfing here and there with freinds, although they hope that daughter can rent somewhere soon.  Prior to sofa surfing they lived with another relative on an informal basis but had to leave as he and his wife had a baby, so the room they were using was needed. 

Mum has never worked in the UK and looks unlikely to pass the GPOW as the DWP are applying it.  In any case it sounds as though mum is unfit for work. 

Am I right in thinking that the mother can have a right to reside as a dependant of the daughter in this situation?  Is that still the case even if she (the mother) could theoretically retrun to Portugal and claim benefits there?

chacha
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Benefits dept - Hertsmere Borough Council

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nottsadvisor - 21 May 2015 02:53 PM

Am I right in thinking that the mother can have a right to reside as a dependant of the daughter in this situation?  Is that still the case even if she (the mother) could theoretically retrun to Portugal and claim benefits there?

Yes she does have a right to reside by virtue of being a family member in the ascending line of the spouse of an EEA national, under regulation 7(1)(c) which covers “dependent direct relatives in his ascending line or that of his spouse or his civil partner”.

Martin Williams
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Welfare rights advisor - CPAG, London

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On the point of being able to return to Portugal and claim benefits there then the caselaw is clear that “dependency by choice” is perfectly fine. It does not matter that the dependency only exists because the parent is in the UK.