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

Income Support refused as EU national deemed to have failed HRT - DWP request Home Office document??

Liz S
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Welfare specialist and appeals officer - Herefordshire Council Welfare Rights Team

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Client is a victim of Domestic Violence and recently became Lone Parent, DWP have declined IS on the basis that they have not satisfied HRT but decision maker suggests applying to Home Office for ‘a document confirming destitute due to domestic violence’. We will be asking for a MR but in the meantime we have an exceptionally vulnerable client with no income.

Despite numerous calls to various teams within the Home Office later we are no further forward - the link suggested is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-benefits-for-visa-holder-domestic-violence.

As the DV issues can be evidenced in detail by police and social care professionals are DWP correct in insisting on a Home Office decision or is there another form that we need to have completed?

All advice and suggestions appreciated.

davidsmithp1000
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Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project

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Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think this need apply (web link you have given) if she’s an EU national, she need show the centre of her working life is in the UK (HRT), requesting ‘a document confirming destitute due to domestic violence’ would be for nationals outside the EU.

Maybe you need stress the point she’s an EU national - has she any history of working in the UK?

Liz S
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Welfare specialist and appeals officer - Herefordshire Council Welfare Rights Team

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Very limited history, previous claim of JSA some months ago for 12 weeks only but subsequent IS claims refused as deemed not a Jobseeker. We don’t have any of the paperwork yet to review the decision in detail but as we all know, a mandatory reconsideration is not generally a quick process….

Agree the link does not apply to this case, the Home Office suggestion by DWP appears to be somewhat of a red herring….

Simon
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Charlotte Keel Welfare Rights, Bristol CAB

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Sounds like a full exploration of her history in the UK is needed (including the status of her ex-partner if they are married) to ascertain whether she has a qualifying R2R for the purposes of IS. As an EEA national I don’t believe the DV issue is going to make a difference to entitlement.

chacha
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Benefits dept - Hertsmere Borough Council

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Hmm, not quite sure, rarity but I think I will agree with the DWP DM here. The quickest way for this person to get access to means tested benefits, bearing in mind I’m not an immigration specialist, would seem to be through the DV route.

Simply because of the difficulty of the EU route, as you all seem to agree with? So I don’t think they are insisting the DV route is the “only” way, just seems the quickest. After all, there is nothing stopping an EEA to make an application for leave to remain, but the DV temp leave is an avenue that is open to an EEA, finding themselves in this particular circumstance, with no evidence of any EU rights of residence.

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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I agree, while it is unusual for an EU national to be granted leave to remain under national law it is not unprecedented - happens to some trafficked people for example.

In a conventional DV concession case, the woman starts off with limited leave and no recourse to public funds.  If she then finds herself without any means of financial support she can apply for the leave to be varied to three months without any condition preventing access to public funds.  Until the Home Office grants such leave, she doesn’t have it but these cases are supposed to be fast-tracked.

An EEA national in an analogous position might still have a right to reside as the spouse of the violent partner, in which case she doesn’t need leave to remain, but proving it could be an issue.  And if the original basis of the person’s right to reside was less solid than a spouse (unmarried partner for example) the right to reside might end upon separation in any case.  So discretionary leave under the DV concession might be granted if the practical obstacles to proving a continuing right to reside cannot be overcome quickly.

Set against that is one very important factor that distinguishes an EEA national from a non-EEA national: as long as you become economically active you don’t need leave to remain at all.  So for discretionary leave to be granted I suspect there would need to be compelling reasons why the person cannot just exercise normal EEA rights.

No harm in asking though.