immigration query

Immigration is not my strong point here folks as ive never had to deal with any such queries, so apologies if im asking the obvious here.

I have had a client referred to me who came to live in the UK from Africa 7 years ago. I have been told that he does not have UK citizenship and his wife was not a UK citizen either. Neither had recourse to public funds. They have had 2 children born in the UK, although i am informed the children are not UK citizens either?? Both parents have never claimed anything (even child benefit) as both worked full time since arriving here and paid Taxes.
Unfortunately my clients wife passed away 6 weeks ago and due to grief he has resigned from work as he is unable to cope right now.

I am wondering if he can claim anything at all (JSA?ESA? CTC? CB?) I have read about the Zambrano ruling however as i have been told that as the children arent UK citizens (even though born here) then Zambrano wouldnt apply.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated here. Again, forgive my ignorance as i have never dealt with such a case before.

Thanks guys and gals

Was he here on a work permit or as a business person? Normally after 5 years you can apply for indefinite leave to remmai (or used to be able to) - but it may be too late now. You need to find an immigration specialist and have a look at his passport.

I can however say that unless he or his wife had indefinite leave to remain at the date of the children’s births, they are not British. Since 1983, the only people born in this country who are British are those whose parents either have the right of abode in the UK (includes most British citizens) or are settled in the UK, which means indefinite leave to remain.

I agree that in order to advise your client regarding benefits, you will need to find out accurately what his immigration status is.
It may be possible to claim contributory benefits if he (or where relevant his late wife) has paid sufficient national insurance contributions. Contributory benefits are not public funds as listed under s115 (1) Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and thus not affected by immigration status.  Would he satisfy the conditions for bereavement allowance for instance?
However you would still need to be clear about his status in order to work out whether or not he is able to claim other benefits which are classed as public funds.  Thus, he should still seek specialist immigration advice regarding his status and the implications of a potential benefit claim on his right to stay or remain in the UK.

contribution based ESA is not a “public fund” within the definition in the Immigration Rules. Furthermore, it is not a benefit which someone who is a “person subject to immigration control” (because they have leave subject to a condition that they have no recourse to funds) cannot claim.

If he is unwell due to grief etc (as it sounds like from original post) then he can and should claim cESA.

It is always worth considering whether people subject to immigration control can claim contribution based benefits….

See the rest of the points in this thread about establishing his status- until you do that then it is difficult to advise on whether he could claim any other benefits (ie whether he is (1) a person subject to immigration control or not and (2) even if he is whether he migh be within any of the exemptions whereby such people can occasionally claim).

Martin

In my view, its simple, he needs specialist immigration advice, which you cannot and should not give.

If not, this sort of case, has the potential to go very very wrong…... however well intentioned…..

But hey ho.

If you trawl hard enough, somebody will come up with an idea….