On Jobseekers Benefit, want to go travelling

Computer2222

Hi,

I've been on JSB for two months now (after working for the last 7 years) and I've decided I'd like to do some travelling for 6 months before returning to Ireland and getting a job. When I come back in 6 months time will I still be eligible to claim JSB? I'll be claiming just so I have money while job hunting and hope to be on it for as little as possible. Or am I barred because I've left the country? Thanks in advance for any replies.

mp22

You should be able to sign back on when you return,call into your local office and ask them for advice.

Speedwell

There is this thing called "habitual residency" that you must satisfy to get benefits, and you will likely lose it. My husband (who had just lost his job) went to the US for just seven months to help my close out my affairs and get me brought over, and upon his return was denied jobseekers' benefits (or any benefits at all). Because he is a dual Irish/UK citizen, they bent so far as to give him the same benefits as EU immigrant jobseekers for six months. After that they tried to tell him he had to leave the country, despite him showing them his Irish passport (pig ignorant). Consult an immigration solicitor, not the dole office itself.

Computer2222

Speedwell wrote: »

There is this thing called "habitual residency" that you must satisfy to get benefits, and you will likely lose it. My husband (who had just lost his job) went to the US for just seven months to help my close out my affairs and get me brought over, and upon his return was denied jobseekers' benefits (or any benefits at all). Because he is a dual Irish/UK citizen, they bent so far as to give him the same benefits as EU immigrant jobseekers for six months. After that they tried to tell him he had to leave the country, despite him showing them his Irish passport (pig ignorant). Consult an immigration solicitor, not the dole office itself.

Thanks for the reply. I am an Irish citizen (no dual citizenship) if that makes any difference. I've been reading about habitual residency requirement and I think I would be able to prove I am habitually resident when I come back. I will still have bills and health insurance in Ireland. Also I'll be moving home for a while where my family live. It would be great if, upon my return I could continue to claim my Jobseekers Benefit (I'm entitled to claim for 9 months but will have only claimed c. 3 months). I would hope to pick up a job fairly soon after returning (hoping November/December isn't a horrible time for job hunting).

Speedwell

Computer2222 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I am an Irish citizen (no dual citizenship) if that makes any difference. I've been reading about habitual residency requirement and I think I would be able to prove I am habitually resident when I come back. I will still have bills and health insurance in Ireland. Also I'll be moving home for a while where my family live. It would be great if, upon my return I could continue to claim my Jobseekers Benefit (I'm entitled to claim for 9 months but will have only claimed c. 3 months). I would hope to pick up a job fairly soon after returning (hoping November/December isn't a horrible time for job hunting).

If it helps, I have just read on the UK immigration site that Irish citizens, who have the right to live and work in the UK (by UK rules as well as EU rules), can put in a claim for benefits requiring habitual residency after three months, instead of two years as in Ireland. You would have to find a way to live for three months in the UK (possibly claiming EU migrant status and qualify for jobseekers' benefits on that basis), and show that you have retained or renewed your center of life in the Common Travel Area, and that you intend to reside in the Common Travel Area for the foreseeable future (yes, this could mean you could move back to Ireland). My husband says they are a bit lax about enforcing the three month bit in Northern Ireland itself, but I'm not a great truster of government mercy in general Look into it yourself, too, if it is practical for you to live in the UK (it wouldn't be practical for my husband as I am an American immigrant and he wouldn't meet the income rules).

wokingvoter

HRC only applies to means tested payments. If you leave in May and come back say November December you will still be in Benefit and your JSB will still be there for you.
Even if you don't come back till 2017 you will get Benefit as long as you had 39 credits or contributions(13 need to be contributions) in 2015

Speedwell

wokingvoter wrote: »

HRC only applies to means tested payments. If you leave in May and come back say November December you will still be in Benefit and your JSB will still be there for you.
Even if you don't come back till 2017 you will get Benefit as long as you had 39 credits or contributions(13 need to be contributions) in 2015

Good to know, thank you.

endofrainbow

Speedwell wrote: »

There is this thing called "habitual residency" that you must satisfy to get benefits, and you will likely lose it. My husband (who had just lost his job) went to the US for just seven months to help my close out my affairs and get me brought over, and upon his return was denied jobseekers' benefits (or any benefits at all). Because he is a dual Irish/UK citizen, they bent so far as to give him the same benefits as EU immigrant jobseekers for six months. After that they tried to tell him he had to leave the country, despite him showing them his Irish passport (pig ignorant). Consult an immigration solicitor, not the dole office itself.

Add your reply here.

Why would op need to consult an immigration solicitor. He is an Irish citizen...not an immigrant.

Speedwell

endofrainbow wrote: »

Add your reply here.

Why would op need to consult an immigration solicitor. He is an Irish citizen...not an immigrant.

Habitual residency happens to be something that immigration solicitors know best about. It absolutely applies to returning Irish citizens as well as immigrants. The question is one of what exactly the OP will be considered when he returns (someone with continuity of residence, or someone whose residence has been interrupted for a long enough period that it affects habitual residency). For Jobseekers' Benefit, which is not means-tested and which reportedly might not require habitual residency, the question might not matter, but an immigration solicitor would have a better idea than would some random individual in the dole office who isn't responsible for handing out right or wrong information.

eastbono

Just to confirm Jobseekers Benefit does not require an applicant to complete an habitual residence form and in most instances Republic of Ireland nationals who return after 2 years abroad on visas and apply for jobseekers allowance and have to complete habitual residence forms are deemed habitually resident. An immigration solicitor doesnt deem a person habitually resident for social welfare purposes...that is done by a person in the social welfare office.

Speedwell

eastbono wrote: »

Just to confirm Jobseekers Benefit does not require an applicant to complete an habitual residence form and in most instances Republic of Ireland nationals who return after 2 years abroad on visas and apply for jobseekers allowance and have to complete habitual residence forms are deemed habitually resident. An immigration solicitor doesnt deem a person habitually resident for social welfare purposes...that is done by a person in the social welfare office.

No, the immigration solicitor does not make the decision, but they seem to be more reliable on the law than are the social welfare people. In case you didn't notice that they told my Irish-citizen husband to "go back to the UK" and refused his application on habitual residency grounds. So no, returning ROI nationals are not, it seems, exempt from habitual residency. But it is good to know that Jobseekers' Benefit (not to be confused with Jobseekers' Allowance) does not require a habitual residency test.