• Child Benefit
• Child Tax Credit*
• Council Tax Support
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support*
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance*
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance*
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit

* Note it is no longer possible to make a new claim for Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or income-based Jobseekers Allowance, or child tax credit (except Child Tax Credit if you are a refugee claiming this for a past period).

For all the benefits listed above, you must have a right to reside when you claim and continue to have a right to reside as it is an on-going requirement. This means your benefit could stop if you lose your right to reside.

The requirement to have a right to reside applies to the claimant.  If you live with a partner and claim Universal Credit you must make a joint claim and therefore the right to reside requirement applies to both partners.  If you have a qualifying right to reside, but your partner does not, Universal Credit is paid to you as a single person, but your partner’s income and capital are still taken into account.

Satisfying the other benefit conditions

If you have a right to reside, your entitlement to benefit will depend on you also satisfying the other conditions for the benefit.

For child benefit this includes the requirement to have lived in the UK for three months before the start of your claim (unless an exemption applies to you).

For means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit, as well as having a right to reside you also need to be ‘habitually resident in fact’ in the common travel area unless you are in one of the exempt groups below.

You are exempt from the Habitual Residence Test for means-tested benefits if:

• You are a refugee or have humanitarian protection.
• You lived in Ukraine until the end of 2021 and left in connection with the Russian invasion in February 2022 and you have leave in the UK or you are British or Irish.
• You left Afghanistan in connection with the collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021 and you have leave in the UK.
• You left Sudan in connection with the violence that escalated from April 2023 and you were living in Sudan before then and you have leave in the UK or you are British or Irish.
• You have been granted leave outside the Immigration Rules - including Discretionary Leave and Destitution Domestic Violence Concessionary Leave.
• You are not subject to immigration control and have been deported, expelled or removed from another country to the UK.
• You are an EEA national who has a ‘worker’ or ‘self-employed’ status  in the UK, including if you have retained that status.
• You are a family member of someone in either of the above two groups. 
• You are an EEA national with a permanent right to reside due to having ceased work because you retired or became permanently incapable of work – or you are the family member of such an EEA national and were when they stopped work.

The main circumstances in which you have a right to reside that will satisfy the right to reside test for the above benefits are if:

• You are a British or Irish citizen; or
• You have leave to enter or remain in the UK other than ‘pre-settled status’ or leave to enter the UK as a holder of an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit or Travel Permit. However, check that your leave does not mean you are defined as a ‘person subject to immigration control’. For example if you have indefinite leave to be in the UK, including if you have Settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme you have a qualifying right to reside and you are not defined as a ‘person subject to immigration control’; or
• Both the following apply to you:

1. you have pre-settled status or you have an outstanding application to the EU Settlement Scheme for settled or pre-settled status; and

2. you have a free movement right to reside in the UK. The main free movement residence rights are described on the next page of this guide. Note that if your only free movement right is as an EEA jobseeker (or family member of an EEA jobseeker) this only satisfies the right to reside test for child benefit and child tax credit. 

If you do not know your immigration status, including if you do not know whether you have applied for, or have been granted, leave to be in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme, or you are not sure if you may be eligible to do so, you need to get immigration advice before you claim any benefits, or you are included in someone else’s claim.

To get a benefit that requires a right to reside you will need to show you have a free movement right to reside while either:

• you have pre-settled status; or
• you have an outstanding application to the EU Settlement Scheme for settled or pre-settled status (or an outstanding appeal or administrative review of a refusal)

You can only have a free movement right to reside while either of the above apply to you. Whether or not you do have a free movement right to reside will depend on your other circumstances.  It is possible to have one or more free movement rights to reside. 

The main free movement rights to reside are listed below.  Click on the links for more information.

• Worker - You may have a right to reside as a worker if you are an EEA national and you are currently in paid employment in the UK. Your work must involve activities that are ‘genuine and effective’.   
• Retained Worker status - You may have a right to reside as a retained worker if you were previously working in the UK doing work that was ‘genuine and effective’ and since you stopped working you have been in circumstances in which you can retain worker status.
• Self-employed - You may have a right to reside as a self-employed person if you are an EEA national and you currently work for yourself in the UK. Your work must involve activities that are ‘genuine and effective’.   
• Retained self-employed status - You may have a right to reside as a retained self-employed person if you were previously doing self-employed work in the UK that was ‘genuine and effective’ and since you stopped that self-employed work you have been in circumstances in which you can retain self-employed status.
• Family member - You may have a right to reside as a family member of an EEA national with any of the residence rights in these bullets except a derivative right to reside, if you are defined as their family member.
• Self-sufficient person - You may have a right to reside as a self-sufficient person if you are in the UK with sufficient resources to not be an unreasonable burden on the UK social security system.
• Jobseeker - You may have a right to reside as a jobseeker if you are an EEA national in the UK and you are currently looking for work.  Note that this right to reside will only satisfy the right to reside test for child benefit and child tax credit. 
• Derivative right to reside - You may have a derivative right to reside if you are the main carer of a child who goes to school in the UK if the child’s mother or father is an EEA national who has had a right to reside as a worker in the UK at any time while the child was living in the UK.
• Permanent right to reside - you may have a permanent right to reside if:*
  • you have lived in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years with one or more of the residence rights in these bullets except a derivative right to reside; or
  • you are an EEA national who stopped work due to having retired (if you had lived in the UK 3 years and worked for the last year) or due to being permanently incapable of work (if you had lived in the UK 3 years) – or you are the family member of such an EEA national and were when they stopped work

* If you have pre-settled status, and have lived in the UK for 5 years, or you satisfy the requirements to have a permanent right to reside in less than 5 years due to retirement or permanent incapacity, in most cases you can apply for settled status. 

'Genuine and effective' activities

For your work to give you a right to reside as a worker or as a self-employed person, it must involve activities that are ‘genuine and effective’. This depends on all the circumstances of your employment or self-employment, but in particular:

• How many hours you work each week;
• How long you have been doing the work;
• How regularly you do the work; and
• How much you earn

There are no fixed amounts for any of these factors, and they must all be considered together and with other aspects of your work - for example whether you are employed on a permanent contract.  If you are refused benefit because your work is not accepted as ‘genuine and effective’ get advice.

Circumstances in which you can retain worker or self-employed status

You can have a right to reside as an EEA national with ‘retained worker status’ if you were previously a ‘worker’, or an EEA national with ‘retained self-employed status’ as an EEA national if you were previously self-employed, and since then one or more of the following have applied continuously:

• you are temporarily unable to work due to an illness or accident;
• you are involuntarily unemployed and you registered as a jobseeker with the DWP. (For example you were made redundant and then you claimed universal credit on the basis of looking for work or you claimed Jobseekers Allowance). If you were employed or self-employed less than one year, you only retain worker or self-employed status on this basis for six months. If you were employed or self-employed for one year or more, you retain worker or self-employed status for as long as you continue to look for work;
• you stopped work (or stopped looking for work while retaining worker or self-employed status under the bullet point above) due to late pregnancy or giving birth. You can retain worker or self-employed status on this basis for 1 year from when you stopped work for this reason; or
• you are in vocational training (connected to your previous work, if you are voluntarily unemployed).

Note: you have a right to reside as a worker if you are still under a contract of employment even if you are not working (for example you are on sick leave or maternity leave), whether or not you are being paid. This means you have worker status and do not need to show you have retained worker status.

Family member

 You are defined as a family member of an EEA national if you are their:

• spouse or civil partner; or
• child or grand-child (or their spouse/civil partner’s child or grandchild)  and you are either aged under 21 or dependent on them for material support; or
• parent or grand-parent (or their spouse/civil partner’s parent or grand-parent) and you are dependent on them for material support.

Examples of when you may be dependent on your adult child or grandchild or (if you are aged 21 or over) on your parent or grandparent include if you live in their home or if they pay for your food and utility bills.

If you have pre-settled status but you cannot work (for example because you are ill or disabled), and you do not have a free movement right to reside, and you cannot meet your basic needs (including food, accommodation and heating), it may be arguable that you should be entitled to Universal Credit or Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit. These arguments are currently being considered in the courts. Get specialist advice on the latest legal position and help to make these arguments.

Showing that you have a qualifying right to reside can be complex, particularly if you need to rely on your free movement rights. Unfortunately many claimants are incorrectly refused benefits and need to challenge these refusals. If you think you have been wrongly refused benefits you should challenge the decision and get independent advice. You may be able to get help from an organisation that specialises in advising European nationals and their family members or you can contact a general advice organisation such as Citizens Advice or a law centre. 

Turn2us is unable to offer advice on individual situations.

To find an adviser in your area, you can use our Find an Adviser tool

Organisations providing advice and information for European nationals and family members

The AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) - a specialist legal charity.

Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit - an organisation providing advice, support and representation to people subject to immigration control.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) - a charity providing legal advice, support and campaigning for justice in immigration, nationality and refugee law and policy. 

Settled - an independent charity helping EU citizens to stay in the UK after Brexit, offering free advice and support services. 

Work Rights Centre - a charity helping migrants.