UK immigration status fears prompt carer to cancel benefits she is entitled to

"A low-paid carer from Ghana has cancelled all the benefits she is legally entitled to, including the disability allowance one of her children receives, owing to fears about her immigration status after the policy changes announced by the home secretary. The radical changes to legal migration announced by Shabana Mahmood on 20 November will penalise those who are living and working legally in the UK, but who claim benefits."

"This includes housing benefit and universal credit because she is on a low income, along with the disability living allowance (DLA) of 103.10 a week her eight-year-old daughter, who is autistic, receives to assist with personal care and mobility. Previously, many people were able to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years. The government announcement has extended the timeframe before many can apply for this."

"The carer is among those on what is known as the 10-year route, whereby people have to pay thousands to renew their temporary leave to remain every 30 months for a decade before being eligible for ILR. Under the proposed changes the period before they can apply has been extended to 20 years. The government has also proposed that those who have accessed benefits for more than 12 months will face a 20-year wait, extended from the current five years under certain visa routes."

A low-paid Ghanaian carer has cancelled all in-work benefits she was legally entitled to, including housing benefit, universal credit and the disability living allowance her autistic eight-year-old daughter received, because of fears about her immigration status after legal migration changes. The changes extend the period before eligibility for indefinite leave to remain, converting a 10-year route requiring periodic costly renewals into a potential 20-year wait and proposing a 20-year penalty for benefit use exceeding 12 months. The carer had completed nine of ten years, saw community legal warnings on TikTok, and plans to increase care work to about 60 hours weekly.

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