Hi, I have a Polish client who came to the UK last year when she married her British husband. She had a baby four months ago but her marriage has broken down and she is now in a women's refuge. Her husband is on remand at present. He was the claimant for Child Benefit but this has now stopped. She tried to claim Income Support as a lone parent but was refused on the grounds that she has no NINO, and has come to us for help.

Her passport states she has leave to appeal but without recourse to public funds for herself and any dependants and her visa expires 31 March 2004. Without much knowledge of visas, she tells me that she didnt apply for a married women's visa at the time as she was having a very difficult pregnancy, and her lawyer is currently working on having her visa extended due to the fact that she has a British-born child.

Can anyone advise on a way round the 'without recourse to benefits'? At the time when she agreed to this her husband was supporting her, but due to the marriage breakup she has no other means of supporting herself and is relying on Section 12 payments from Social Work.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Firstly, your client seems to have been refused IS not because she has been held to be a "Person Subject To Immigration Control" (PSIC), but as she hasn't got a NI Number.

There is a useful CPAG briefing on the need for NI numbers available in swopshop:

National insurance number problems

In addition, as she is a Polish national, although she would seem to be a PSIC, she would be able to access IS on the basis she is "lawfully present" here (see the rightsnet Q&A:
Which people "subject to immigration control" can access Income Support, income- based JSA, Pension Credit, HB/CTB?

Its not clear from your posting what kind of leave to remain she has, but if she has sought to extend her leave within 28 days of her present leave expiring, she should be OK (see R(DLA)1/01 on "variation of leave")

However, she may need to get confirmation from her solicitor that this has been done, and should get their advice as to how any IS claim may her affect her future ability to remain in the UK.