Naturalisation and JobSeekers benefit

nightrave

Hi guys. My wife will be applying for naturalisation soon. Last year my company closed down the office and I was unemployed for about 5 months. I was claiming job seekers benefit and when I was asked at the social welfare office if my wife is working and whether I want to claim it for her as well I said yes.

In the naturalisation form she is filling out there is a question:
HAVE YOU RECEIVED A SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PAYMENT OR OTHER STATE SUPPORT IN THE PAST 3 YEARS?

Should she answer yes and write it was jobseekers benefit? Or because I was claiming it for her, it was me who received it and she should leave this out?

CiniO

I would love to know answer to this question as well.

By my logic, social assistance payment would be Mike jobseekers allowance, while jobseekers benefit is rather social insurance payment.

But I'd like someone to confirm.

Dandelion6

Better to acknowledge it and explain. They always check these things with the Department of Social Protection anyway. If they don't think it's important, her answer won't matter, if they do, she'll get a vaguely threatening letter demanding to know why she didn't disclose it.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Speedwell

Not necessarily. It IS taken into account, but it is just one of many factors. However, my husband is claiming a jobseeker benefit and not including me on it for this very reason (of course, I am working so there is no reason anyway why he should).

CiniO

I found this:

Social assistance payments are for people who do not have enough PRSI contributions to qualify for the equivalent social insurance payments. An example would be a person who becomes unemployed, applies for Jobseeker's Benefit but fails to qualify because he or she has insufficient PRSI contributions. He or she can instead apply for Jobseeker's Allowance, which is a similar payment but is not based on the number of PRSI contributions paid. Jobseeker's Benefit is a social insurance payment but Jobseeker's Allowance is a social assistance payment.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/irish_social_welfare_system/social_assistance_payments/social_assistance_in_ireland.html

So according to this, Jobseekers Benefit is not social assistance payment.