Public funds

I will be applying for a fiance visa, moving to the UK to marry.  The online application asks if your sponsor in the UK (my fiance) is receving public funds. My sponsor lives with a roommate who is unemployed, and my fiance receives a small housing benefit to help pay the rent.

When I move to England to live with my fiance, the unemployed roommate is going to leave.  I have a bank account, with which I can support myself for 6 months, plus my sister will be giving me a small allowance,  so I will be able to contribute enough money toward rent so that my fiance will no longer need a housing benefit.  My fiance says that once I move in, he is no longer going to be eligible for housing benefit because of my money, and also because he has started working more hours since we got engaged,  so I shouldn't worry about the housing benefit when applying for my visa.


However, when I fill out the application, we won't be living together yet, and my fiance will still be getting his benefit (unless the extra hours he's been working each week have bumped him over the income limit already; not sure about that yet, so I'll assume for now that he's still eligible for the housing benefit). So what do I say where it asks if my fiance is getting public funds?  I don't want to lie (is this something immigration can check on?), I also don't want to get my visa denied because immigration thinks my fiance and I are going to be trying to get a housing benefit after I move in, which we are not.

If I tell the immigration officer that my fiance is going to stop receiving public funds after I move in, how do I prove that once I move in, he is going to report my bank account information to the city council. How many people receiving benefit cheques would say "Thanks, but I don't need this anymore, you can have your cheque back"?

I don't want to get in trouble for lying; I also don't want to put unneccessary information on the form that might cause me to be denied my visa.

You're right.  Find out if he's even still eligible.  If not, tell him to stop claiming it. 

If he is still claiming the benefit when you send your application in, you'd best tell them about it.  This is far too important to risk messing up with a little lie like that. 

Besides, he's allowed to claim all the benefit he needs to, even when you're here and married.  You just can't claim it or live off of it.

Hope that helps! 

I don't think it's that big a deal.  Just mention that he currently gets a small housing benefit and that it will stop once you move in.  If that's the only benefit he's getting, you probably won't be asked about it at all.  And they sort of trust you to be honest with regard to your benefits--pretty much every UK half of these couples was getting a single person's council tax benefit/discount before their US partners moved over.  And all of the UK halves have had to report their new US spouse, thus losing their discount.  It's on an honour system, really....though I do think the official people find out eventually, what with the paper trail we all leave behind!  Wishstar's right--he's entitled to all the public funds he wants--but you aren't.

It might raise concerns about whether your fiance has the ability to support you if necessary but if you explain everything in a covering letter I'm sue it will be fine, it is not like he is totally dependent on benefits.