Throughout 2014 there have been a number of changes to the Immigration Rules designed to restrict or remove the benefits accessible within the UK for residents of other EU states. This has been described by Secretary of State Iain Duncan Smith and Home secretary Theresa May as being a move to stop the UK’s generous welfare system from being a “magnet” for citizens of other EU member states and put an end to the mass migration it has attracted and the millions of pounds doled out ‘for people to sit on benefits’ (Daily Mail, 19 January 2014).
New Habitual Residence Test
The first of these changes came early in the year with the introduction of the new habitual residence test in January 2014. The original habitual residence test has been in place since 2006 and required new entrants into the UK, and nationals returning to the UK, to prove that they have been habitually resident in the Common Travel Area for an for an ‘appreciable period’ before they are eligible to claim benefit. This requirement also included those arriving in the UK seeking work in order to ascertain a link with the UK employment market. This ‘appreciable period’ was undefined and was decided discretionally on a case by case basis.
The new habitual residence test came into force as of 1 January 2014 and was designed to give much needed clarity to the old test. Under this test, any new entrants into the UK who wish to claim income-based job seeker’s allowance are subject to a fixed period of 3 months of habitual residence in the Common Travel Area before they are eligible.
Minimum Earnings Threshold
The second of this package of changes came about on 1 March 2014 in the form of the Minimum Earnings Threshold (MET). The MET is a two-tiered process that enables more thorough enquiry into the ‘worker’ status of those EEA nationals wishing to claim income-based jobseeker’s allowance. The MET was set at £149 a week. This amount is based on the level of earnings needed to make Class 1 National Insurance Contributions and is equivalent to working 24 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage.
In the first tier of this process, any cases where the applicant’s last three months of earnings satisfy the MET, applicants are automatically awarded ‘worker’ status when they claim Job Seeker Allowance. If earnings do not satisfy MET, the case moves on to tier 2. Here, the decision maker will individually examine each case to determine if the applicant’s work or self-employment is satisfactory and genuine.
EEA Job seeker Amendments – July 1, 2014
The most recent in this package of amendments took force on 1 July this year. There are three main amendments to the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006. The first of the amendments aims to clarify the length of a period of residence as a ‘jobseeker’ and the extent to which it is possible to enjoy repeat periods of residence as a jobseeker. This period is now defined as:
182 days, minus the cumulative total of any days during which the person concerned previously enjoyed a right to reside as a jobseeker, not including any days prior to a continuous absence from the United Kingdom of at least 12 months.
(The Immigration (European Economic Area) (Amendment) Regulations 2014)
The second amendment is the addition of paragraph 8. This paragraph allows the 6 month period permitted as a jobseeker to be split across multiple occasions. The new paragraphs 9 and 11 states that if the 6 month period as a jobseeker has been used, the jobseeker must have a continuous 12 month period of absence from the UK in order to be eligible for jobseeker status again, or provide compelling evidence of a genuine prospect of employment from the outset.
Although these amendments are aimed at clarifying old rules and protecting the UK’s welfare system, concerns have been raised at their validity within EU law and at the impact it may have on those at the end of a marriage in difficult circumstances, those caring for ill or elderly family members who are not eligible for carers allowance, those having just completed a short period of employment outside of the UK, and young people who have been travelling overseas or volunteering. These impacts are yet to be reported on.
