Client is UK national, one child. Was claiming as single, noe reconciled with partner so joint claim required.

She is failed asylum seeker from 2005 - didn't take further setps at that time due to mental health difficulties.

I have now fixed her up with an immigartion lawyer to try to regularise her stay if possible.

In the meantime, HMRC referred her for DCI interview - we put this off 3 times as no application had been lodged with Home Office and we wanted there to be an application in before she got her interview so that she did not fail the DCI interview.

HMRC have now disallowed claim due to non attendance at the NINO interviews. We have appealed but in the meantime could someone clarify;

1. Is is not the case that she will not get a NINO anyway as she does not have the right to work in the UK? If so, what do we do about her joint claim for CTC?

2. Can the amendment to the NINO requirement help her? I understood that a NINO is no longer required for a claim to benefits as part of a couple where one has a NINO but the other does not have a NINO and is subject to immigartion control?

Many thanks

Regarding question 2 the amendment to NINO requirements, I posted an answer from HMRC on this in the last Inside Track update here on Rightsnet:

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/toolkit_1059-9108-29938.html

Basically what they said was that they are still requiring a person to attend the evidence of identity interview.

For question 1, it would seem that once HMRC have established evidence of identity, they will process the claim using a temporary number.

Victoria
LITRG