Can anyone enlighten me? I'm confused - easy I know.

I have seen a family - the wife & child have limited leave to remain as refugees. The husband lives in another city and is waiting for a decision on his asylum claim.

From what I can see, we have to put the husband on the Tax Credit claim form but it will make life a lot more complicated. Am I right? Is there any way we can leave him out until his asylum claim is sorted, he has a NINO and he moves to live with his family?

Will the claim even be processed while the husband has no NINO?

I'd be really grateful for some help....

Suzy

hi - you've probably got sorted by now but just in case you haven't -
husband and wife not living as a household currently so it sounds like your client is a single parent household until they live together? just a thought - enlighten me if i'm wrong

The problem is that Tax Credits have a different test with regard to living together - it is not the same as the household test for IS etc. The test for tax credits is whether the separtion is likely to be permanent - check CPAG handbook for more details.

This is a problem in your case as it sounds like they are apart due to husband's immigration status and lack of NINO.

You say that wife has refugee status but this is limited - if you mean that it is only for a certain period of time this is irrelevant and she should not be subject to immigration control.

The lack of a NINO for the husband though is a big problem for a joint claim, plus the different test with regard to separation.

Thank you for your replies - I've just got back from my lovely rainy hols and found them...

The husband finally got his LTR and NINO which has certainly made things a bit easier. All we have to do now is wait months for the claim to be processed. But if I have understood correctly, the wife and child couldn't really claim TCs until the husband got his NINO - potentially leaving them with months on practically no money. What if she had lots of kids? What the *&%$@@ are they supposed to live on? And does anyone have any bright ideas as to what we can do about it?

Best wishes to all on yet another wet Monday!

Suzy

Why was the husband living in another city?