This chapter sets out who has no recourse to public funds, the definition of ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes, when a parent with pre-settled status can access benefits, access to benefits, homelessness assistance and other services, and how immigration status can be confirmed.
3.1 Who has no recourse to public funds?
The immigration status of a person who is not a British or Irish citizen will determine whether they are able to work or access public funds.
Section 115 of the Immigration Act 1999 specifies that a person who is ‘subject to immigration control’ will have no recourse to public funds.
A person will be ‘subject to immigration control’ when they have:
- Leave to enter or remain with a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition
- Adult dependent relative leave (for the first five years in UK)
- No lawful status in the UK
- A pending asylum application
- Leave to enter or remain as a result of a pending immigration appeal
Some further information about people who have leave to remain that is subject to a NRPF condition and people who have no lawful status in the UK is provided in this section. For more information about other groups that have no recourse to public funds, see the NRPF Network website.
3.1.1 Leave to enter or remain with NRPF
Most types of limited leave to enter or remain will have a NRPF condition imposed.
However, the NRPF condition will not be imposed when a person applies for leave to remain, or can be lifted after a person obtains leave to remain, if the Home Office accepts that the person is destitute or at risk of destitution and they are on one of the following immigration routes:
- Partner or parent on the family life route
- Private life route
- Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route
A person would need to make a change of conditions application to the Home Office to request that their NRPF condition is lifted.
In exceptional cases, the Home Office can lift the NRPF condition for a person who is on a different immigration route, such as a student or worker. For more information about when and how a person can request that their NRPF condition is lifted, see the NRPF Network website.
3.1.2 No lawful status
A person may be referred to as having ‘no lawful status’ or ‘irregular status’ if they:
- Overstay their visa
- Enter the UK illegally and do not obtain leave to remain
- Are ‘appeal rights exhausted’ after making an unsuccessful immigration or asylum application with no further right to appeal
For information about the restrictions that a person with no lawful status will be subject to, see section 6.5.3.
3.2 What are ‘public funds’?
The term ‘public funds’ when used in an immigration context is very specific and does not apply to all publicly funded services.
The Immigration Act 1999 and part 6 of the Immigration Rules specify that, for immigration purposes, ‘public funds’ are:
- Most benefits – as listed on the NRPF Network website
- Homelessness assistance under part VII of the Housing Act 1996
- A local authority allocation of social housing made under part VI of the Housing Act 1996
For details of the local authority housing assistance in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland that is also a ‘public fund’, please refer to section 11.1 (Wales), section 12.1 (Scotland) and section 13.1 (Northern Ireland).
3.3 Pre-settled status and benefit entitlement
There will be some instances where families with pre-settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme are found to be ineligible for means-tested benefits, such as universal credit.
Although a person with pre-settled status is not subject to a NRPF condition, they must meet a right to reside test in order to qualify for means-tested benefits.
A person with pre-settled status will only qualify for universal credit if they:
- Meet a right to reside test, or
- Following a court decision, can show that they are unable to live in dignified conditions without access to universal credit because no alternative support is available to them
For more information about benefit entitlement for people with pre-settled status, see the NRPF Network website.
Often parents with pre-settled status who have young children will be unable to work and, therefore, may not meet the right to reside test in order to qualify for universal credit. It can be particularly complex for a parent who has pre-settled status on the basis of being a family member of a European Economic Area national to establish their entitlement to benefits. When a parent does not have a qualifying right to reside, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should consider their individual circumstances before refusing universal credit. However, whilst there is no universal entitlement for pre-settled status holders, some parents may remain unable to access benefits until they obtain settled status, which they can apply for after five years’ residence in the UK. A parent will need to be signposted to an immigration adviser for advice and assistance about applying for settled status.
A person who has a pending EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) application or who has entered the UK as a joining family member of a person with pre-settled status will also be subject to similar restrictions when establishing their entitlement to universal credit or other means-tested benefits, and may only be able to access these if they can demonstrate a qualifying right to reside. For more information, see the NRPF Network website.
A similar right to reside test will be applied when a parent applies for local authority homelessness assistance, so families will generally be unable to access homelessness assistance if they are ineligible for universal credit. However, a separate eligibility decision should be made by the housing authority and, in some cases, interim accommodation may need to be provided whilst the parent’s eligibility is being investigated, as outlined in section 3.5.
3.4 Accessing benefits
In most cases, a parent’s immigration status determines whether they can claim benefits for their family. For example, a parent who has no recourse to public funds cannot usually claim child benefit for their child, and this restriction will apply regardless of the child’s nationality or immigration status.
Benefit entitlement can be complex for a ‘mixed household’, where one parent has access to public funds and the other parent or their children do not.
There are some exceptions which allow nationals of certain countries who have leave to remain with NRPF to claim specific benefits, such as child benefit.
A person who has leave to remain with NRPF can claim employment-related contributory-based benefits, such as contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance, statutory sick pay, maternity allowance and statutory maternity pay. For more information about accessing benefits, see the NRPF Network website.
Families that are unclear about their benefit entitlement will need to be signposted to a welfare rights adviser for specialist advice. For help finding a local adviser, see the NRPF Network website.
3.5 Accessing homelessness assistance
A person who is subject to a NRPF condition or who has no lawful status will not be eligible for homelessness assistance under part VII of the Housing Act 1996. When a person is found to be ineligible for homelessness assistance, they should be issued with a section 184 notice, explaining the local authority’s decision. The applicant can request a review of this if they believe it is incorrect. A request for a review will need to be submitted to the housing authority within 21 days of receiving the section 184 notice.
Housing officers will need to refer to the Homelessness Code of Guidance (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, June 2024) for full information about homelessness eligibility requirements and will need to be aware of the different ways that a person may be able to evidence their immigration status.
Under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996, the local authority is required to provide interim accommodation if it believes that an applicant may be eligible, homeless, and in priority need.
When a person is subject to a NRPF condition they will be ineligible for local authority homelessness assistance so the housing authority may reach a conclusion about the limit of its statutory duties under the Housing Act fairly quickly. However, the eligibility of a person who has pre-settled status or a pending EUSS application may take some time for the housing authority to establish, as the applicant can access public funds, but will need to demonstrate that they have a qualifying right to reside. In such cases, the housing authority may need to provide interim accommodation under section 188 of the Housing Act whilst it investigates the parent’s eligibility and other aspects of the homelessness application.
The rules regarding homeless duties for ‘mixed’ households are complex. Where a parent is eligible for homelessness assistance, but their family members have a different nationality or immigration status, the housing authority may not have a duty to accommodate the whole family.
Where a family’s entitlement to homelessness assistance is unclear or they wish to review a decision made by the housing authority, they can be signposted to a housing adviser. For help finding a local housing adviser, see the NRPF Network website.
3.6 Accessing other services
Only certain benefits and local authority housing assistance are classed as ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes.
When a parent or child has no recourse to public funds, this does not prevent a family from accessing other publicly funded services, such as social care, free school meals, some childcare schemes, or NHS treatment. A family should never be refused assistance for these services solely due to having no recourse to public funds.
However, some publicly funded services do have immigration-related requirements. For example, a parent or child may be required to pay for hospital treatment if they do not have lawful status in the UK.
For more information about a family’s entitlement to other services, see the NRPF Network website.
3.7 Confirming immigration status
The Home Office is currently in the process of ending the use of physical status documents and intends for most people who have leave to enter or remain to transition to digital status by the end of December 2024. After this date, no one will be issued with a biometric residence permit or card or be given an endorsement (ink stamp) in their passport. Vignettes in passports will be phased out in 2025.
A person who has a digital status (or eVisa) can access this via the view and prove service on gov.uk. They can obtain a code to enable services to access this directly.
For more information about the roll-out of digital status, see the NRPF Network website.
The guidance Using your UK Visas and Immigration account (Home Office, September 2024) specifies that some organisations, including local authorities, can automatically access information about a person’s immigration status.
When a family requests accommodation and financial support from children’s social care, the local authority can obtain information about the parent’s immigration status and any pending immigration applications directly from the Home Office in one of the following ways:
- Enter the parent’s details on NRPF Connect to view their digital status on the Recourse to Public Funds checker or to request an immigration status check
- Contact the Home Office Status, Verification, Enquires and Checking email service at: ICESSVECWorkflow@homeoffice.gov.uk
When a family would otherwise be homeless or living in unsuitable accommodation, or the parent has insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, interim support can be provided under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996 or section 17 of the Children Act 1989, as appropriate, whilst the parent’s immigration status is being established. For more information about accessing homelessness assistance, see section 3.5. For more information about providing interim section 17 support, see section 4.2.
