CTC & CB foe EU Nationals

The more I read the more I get confused… If an EU national starts work straight away when entering the UK (16 hours plus and genuine and effective work) can they claim CTC and Child benefit straight away or do they have to have worked 3 months before claiming the 2 benefits.

By default there is a three-month residence qualification for both Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit, but it does not apply if the claimant is an EU worker (nor does it apply if the claimant belongs to certain other economic categories as well, eg self-employed).

See Regulation 23(5) and (6) of the Child Benefit (General) Regs 2006 and Reg 3(6) and (7) of the Tax Credits (Residence) Regs 2003

So in theory a EU single parent could claim CTC and CB after 3 months but not JSA or HB…..so if the EU single parent eg was housed by a friend, they could (if they wished) survive on the CTC/CB alone.

Yes and a lot of them do.  Mind you, their right to reside as a jobseeker will end fairly soon if they don’t find work so they cannot relax.  You can only get ChB and CTC after three months if you have some kind of right to reside in the UK/Ireland.  Jobseeker status will keep you going for at least 91 days but after that you are on borrowed time.

This also ties in with your query on the UC board this morning: in a full service area it normally isn’t possible to make a new claim for CTC so an EU jobseeking lone parent would have to make do with Child benefit only while sofa surfing.