Turn2us - to access benefits & grants.

Migrants (economic and refugee)

Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

If you are a migrant (economic or refugee), you must satisfy the rules about immigration status and residence and presence in Great Britain (GB) to qualify for most benefits.

The following benefits are affected by your immigration status.

• Attendance Allowance
• Carer's Allowance
• Child Benefit
• Council Tax Benefit
• Disability Living Allowance
• Employment and Support Allowance - contributory
• Employment and Support Allowance - income-related
• Housing Benefit
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Social Fund Payments
• Tax Credits

Your immigration status may be affected by claims to benefits. European Economic Area nationals are not excluded from benefits due to immigration status alone, but still need to meet residence and presence conditions - described later on in this sheet.

Entitlement to many benefits depends on satisfying residence and presence tests for that benefit.

There is a European community law that may allow periods of residence in another European Economic Area (EEA) country to count as residence in GB for those covered by European Community (EC) rules. Reciprocal agreements with some other non-EEA countries include similar rules.

If you or a member of your family have moved to the UK from another European Union (EU) member state and are an EEA national or a refugee or stateless person resident in an EEA state and are or were employed or self employed, you may be covered by more favourable European Community (EC) social security rules. The reciprocal agreement means you count as employed or self-employed if you have paid contributions under the UK national insurance scheme or an equivalent scheme of another EEA country.

For more information, see the Home Office UK Border Agency's website (link opens in a new window).

NB: In this section on benefits as they apply to economic and refugee migrants to the UK, Great Britain (i.e. England, Scotland and Wales) is sometimes referred to rather than the UK because the rules of entitlement vary for some benefits. In Northern Ireland (Social Security Agency (link opens in a new window)) and the Isle of Man (Department of Health and Social Security (link opens in a new window)) social security comes under separate, but very similar, legislation to the UK and periods of residence in these countries generally count for UK benefits. If you are a migrant living in Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man, you need to check the rules with a local benefits organisation or adviser. You can find one using our Find an Adviser tool.

Habitual Residence Test (HRT)

To claim most means-tested benefits you have to satisfy the HRT which includes having a right to reside.

Entitlement to the following benefits includes the habitual residence and right to reside test:

• Council Tax Benefit
• Income Support
• Income-based Employment and Support Allowance
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Housing Benefit (England, Scotland, Wales) and Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland)
• Pension Credit

Entitlement to the following benefits include the right to reside test:

• Child Benefit
• Child Tax Benefit

To pass the HRT you must be habitually resident in the common travel area with the right to reside and have a 'settled intention' to stay here. In most cases, you also need to be actually resident for a period of time. You may be accepted as habitually resident from your first day if you are returning to the country and you were previously habitually resident or you or a member of your family is a national of or worked in another EEA state.

Who is exempt from HRT?

You are exempt from HRT if you fall into one of the following groups of people:

• have refugee status, humanitarian protection or exceptional leave to enter/remain
• left Monsterrat after 1 November 1995 because of a volcanic eruption
• have been deported, expelled or otherwise removed from another country and are not a person subject to immigration control 
• are an EEA national classified as a 'worker' employed in the UK doing genuine and effective work or are self-employed. You can retain worker status if you are temporarily unable to work due to an illness or accident or are involuntarily unemployed and signing on at Jobcentre Plus or in vocational training
• are a family member of someone in the group above
• are an EEA national with 'a right to reside permanently in the UK' under article 17 of EC directive 2004/38. This covers people who have retired or are permanently incapable of work and their family members
• are an A2 national subject to authorisation working in accordance with the conditions of your accession worker authorisation document
• are an EEA national who has given up work in the UK due to permanent incapacity who either:

    - lived in the UK continuously for at least two years before giving up work, or

    - has a permanent incapacity that is due to an industrial injury or disease and results in entitlement to an incapacity or disability benefit

• are an EEA national who retired on or after retirement age and either:

    - lived in the UK continuously for at least three years and were employed in the UK for at least 12 months  

      immediately before retiring, or

    - your partner is British (or was British before marrying you)

• For Housing Benefit (England, Scotland and Wales), Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland) and Council Tax Benefit only, you are entitled to Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance .

Who has a right to reside?

• British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens with a right of abode
• People with a right to reside under UK immigration rules (but this status may include restrictions on claiming benefits - see above
• People exempt from the habitual residence test (see above)
• EEA nationals who register with the Jobcentre and claim Jobseeker's Allowance (this may be restricted to six months of jobseeking
• EEA nationals who are self sufficient.

This information has been produced by Broadway. 

Last updated: 1 May 2011