"No Recourse To Public Funds"

[AngelKiri]

I'm hoping someone out there has had a similar experience and can advise/suggest on my options.

I moved to the UK in April 2004 on an Ancestry Visa after having met & fell in love with my current British partner. We have been living in rented accomodation together since then and at first everything was fine, I was working full-time in Finance & he was working full-time in Media.

About a year and a half ago however, he became ill with a prolonged deep deppresion and has been on medication/sick leave since January 2005. He was made redundant from the TV channel he worked for in June 2005.

Around the same time I got involved in a pay discrepancy issue with my employer who ended up trying to dismiss me with manufactured evidence (ie: false information), but in the end, I was able to argue my case enough to have him agree to a Compromise Agreement with a lump sum payment and my agreement to not pursue it any further.

Due to the fact that my partner was ill, I had to take over all of the household chores, banking/bills etc as well as looking for another job.

Finally late July/early August I got a temporary job at different company with the possibility of becoming permanent. I was pretty happy there and found it challenging to be introduced to new aspects of Finance I hadn't previously been exposed to. Obviously they had confidence in my abilities as they put more and more daily tasks & responsibilities on me and asked me to assist other members of staff more frequently.

Well it culmunated in November when it was discovered that sometime during September I had made a mistake which had not been detected by my superiors. Basically, a client was in financial trouble back in Sept, I didn't pick up on it & gave them a credit line and in November the client was discovered to have gone bankrupt. Long story short, I was dismissed for that mistake and had no rights to appeal as I was still under Temporary hire. This was the first time in my life I had ever been fired without being able to argue the case, I was new, I made a mistake and it cost the company money. nothing I could do about it if they didn't want to give me another chance.

Well that was the start of my deppresion. I was still trying to keep looking for other work in Finance for a couple of months but getting further and further into despair from the lack of suitable jobs, trying to maintain a cheerful outlook while inside I felt a complete failure & just wanted to run and hide from everyone and everything. Having to be strong for my partner & keep everything running in the house. Seriously doubting wether I ever wanted to go back into Finance, maybe another field would suit me better. all kinds of self-doubts and guilt took hold and invaded my thoughts every hour of every day.

I finally saw our GP about it last month as I felt I may have been on the verge of a complete breakdown. I was having great difficulty controlling my thoughts & emotions, crying spontanouesly & getting angry for the smallest reasons. The doctor told me I have what is called "Reactive Deppresion" which is different to my partners as he has a recurring condition. My deppresion has been caused by events around me hence "Reactive". I have started a course of St Johns Wort and am to follow up with the GP in a couple of weeks time to see if there is any progress.

Since November 2005 we had no income save my partners "Sick benefits" (which is only a couple hundred pounds a month) & I spent the first few months of 2006 trying to quickly bring myself up to speed as to what the laws were here, what he and I would be entitled to for help and where to find the forms send them etc. I realised that being on a Visa I'd probably not be entitled to any benefits so I've been sending the forms in on his behalf.

I've managed to get Housing/Council Tax benefits (I fill out all the paperwork & send it in, considering I'm not used to their laws and legal terms here, you can imagine how many headaches I got!) which pays about 1/2 of our rent/council tax. We have also gotten an HC2 form entitling Mike and myself to free NHS Dental & free prescriptions.

I just got notice back from the application for Income Support (like Welfare in Canada) and was told his claim was declined because he is being judged as a single man living alone & would have enough money to support himself. Obviously he's not single, so I telephoned the office that the letter came from and I was told that due to the Ancestry Visa in my passport saying "No recourse to public funds" that I basically am a non-entity and am not recognised as his civil partner.

Well, (if your still with me after that long read!) I bet you can imagine my reaction after all I'd been through the past 2 and a half years! I tried explaining the situation, he very politely told me to eff off in beurocratic language and said that until the Home Office revised the terms of my Visa so that it no longer said those little words on it, I would not be considered to be civil partners with any legal rights to be recognised as such in this country.

I am hoping that SOMEONE out there has encountered this problem before and may be able to offer advice/guidance, is there something I can do with the Home Office to have those words dissapear off my passport? Some way that I can actually become a living entity, not just the means of mental/emotional & physical support which ultimately caused my own downfall by neglecting my own needs?

If you have any help/advice or similar experiences, please either post a reply or PM/email me, I will be forever grateful.

[tavcanada]

Wow, sorry to hear of your troubles of late. I think you may be "screwed" with your claim for benefits as a partner unless you apply for "unlimited leave to remain" in the U.K. and that is probably unlikely to be granted because of your current employment status. My kids and husband had Visas like yours when we first moved here (I'm a dual citizen) and they were able to get the "unlimited leave" Visas after they were here for a year. I guess your best plan is to contact the Home Office about your Visa status. Is your Visa temporary? Wish I could help more but the bureaucracy in this country, like most, is mind-boggling.

I hope you can find a way to support you and your partner and I hope that your depression can be treated and you will feel well enough to work again. Depression sucks, BTDT!

Laura

[mari-mac]

Hi AngelKiri, that sounds quite bad. Laura's right, if you can get a Settlement visa ("unlimited leave to remain") then there is no impact on public funds. I think you have to have been in the country for a certain length of time though. I got mine after my Ancestry Visa expired. I also needed a letter from my current employer to verify that I was working. So you might not be eligible at this time (but hopefully in the future!)

Because of that, I would be careful about making any claims - if you have claimed any benefits during the time, it will impact your ability to get a Settlement visa (if that's what you want).

Do any of the other Visa options (like Spouse, if you've been living togethr) have the same restrictions?

[Scootter]

Hi AngelKiri,

Very sorry to hear about your situation, I can completely relate as my wife has suffered with depression for more than 2 years now, and it is an incredibly hard thing to cope with.

Fortunately for me I got through my being made redundant as well, but it was close, so you have my sympathies.

With respect to your visa, I think you are indeed out of luck. Even with my 2 year marriage visa, there is no recourse to public funds.

I have been on an Ancestry Visa (with my ex), then a work permit (when we split) and a marriage visa for the past 2 years (wow it's been 2 years!).and all have the same restriction.

I think the rule maybe that any time bound stay has no limit to public funds, which I suppose makes sense on one front, but it really unfair on another as we don't have the right to not pay taxes whilst on a time bound stay, but that is the way it goes I suppose.

Again, sorry to not give you better advice, and I hope things work out for you in the end.

All the best,

Scott

[sleepy]

wow. what a story. i'm soooo so sorry to hear about your troubles.

unfortunately, having no recourse to public funds is a completely reasonable restriction on a non-citizen.

i think your only way out of this jam is to get a job as soon as possible, and then follow the quickest route to uk citizenship or permanent resident status.

but i guess that's obvious. i don't have any good advice.

it sounds like you're working very hard. keep it up! You'll get through it. I'm pullin' for you.

[AngelKiri]

Just want to thank everyone for their responses & support, I guess I'm pretty much in the position I was fearing. up the creek without a paddle & will just have to muck on through the crud to get back on track.

You all have been very kind and supportive, I wish there was some other option but I guess it's just part of the risk we take when moving to a new country. life's lessons and all that *shrug*

One of the previous posts mentioned me being blacklisted for applying for benefits but I didn't think this applied as I am applying for my partner but listing the fact that he has lived with me 2+ years. just thought HIS benefits would recognise the fact that he's in a civil partner type relationship, never occured to me that it could be taken as ME applying for benefits! Just want recognition that I am in fact human and partner can in fact be in a long term/commited relationship with me, not treated like a non entity in that respect! C'est la vie, les gouvernements des tous les paies va te fourrir n'importe comment ils pourait. sorry, spelling/grammar sucks in French now, out of practice & no accents on keyboard *lol*

Again thank you all for your responses, it means alot to me that you took the time out of your days to respond