I have a client who is a German national and has an English partner. The client has been working in Germany for the last seven years but is ending her employment to move to England. She will be unemployed for one day before she leaves germany and will be unemployed on entry into the UK. Her partner will be claiming JSA.

Can any one tell me if she will be eligible to claim UK benefits, especially contribution based JSA or will she be able to export her benefit entitlement from Germany.

Many thanks

Jackie Bryant

Dear Jackie,

Your client can apply to have her German jobseekers allowance transferred to the UK for max. 3 months, if she is entitled to it in Germany. The general position in Germany is that she needs to have received JSA payments in Germany before they can be transferred to another EU country. She will need to obtain Form E303 from the German Jobcentre (Arbeitsamt) and hand it in in the UK.
As she has not worked in the UK before, she hasn't got the EU worker status and therefore would be liable to the habitual residence test. We deal with people coming from Germany quite a lot and out of experience no-one in her position has ever passed the test. She would therefore be unable to claim any benefits. She needs to work in the UK before having the right to benefits as she would then be exempt from the test. There is no guideline as to how long she has to have worked in the UK to be entitled. Sometimes a short spell of part-time work is sufficient. Hope that helps.
Antje Adler (German Advice Centre)

Can't help on the immigration side of things, but even if she WAS eligble it sounds like she voluntarily left work, which could mean a 6 month sanction here. And may affect her chances of getting the German equivalent.
Sorry - you probably wanted solutions, not more problems.