Destitution means that you do not have adequate accommodation and/or you cannot meet your other essential living needs because you do not have sufficient income. If you claim destitution, you may be eligible for a waiver of the Home Office fee.
What you need to know before submitting your request
You will be eligible for a fee waiver if you cannot afford to pay the Home Office fee because you:
- do not have a place to live and you cannot afford one
- have a place to live but cannot afford your essential living costs like food or heating
- have a very low income and paying the fee would harm your child’s wellbeing
You will need to provide evidence that you are destitute. If you are still residing in Service Family Accommodation and the rent is being covered by the serving partner, or if you are in receipt of local authority support, but have limited income, you may still be eligible for a fee waiver. However, merely because you have limited income, does not automatically mean you will be considered as destitute by the Home Office.
Before you begin your request for a fee waiver, you should read the guidance which includes information about who is eligible for a fee waiver, what destitute means, how to request a fee waiver and the documents you must send in to support your request. For full details on fee waivers click here.
If you make a fee waiver request through the online service and you qualify, you must also apply for your leave to remain application online. You may start your leave to remain application online, but it should only be submitted after you have received a decision on your fee waiver request.
If you make a fee waiver request before your current leave expires, and then you make an application for leave to remain, the date of that application will be deemed the date you submitted the fee waiver request. If you make a fee waiver request and you have no leave or your current leave has expired and then submit an application for leave to remain, the date of application will be the date you submit that application for leave to remain, not the date you submitted the fee waiver request.
You must provide evidence that you qualify for a fee waiver. This will be different depending on your circumstances, but might include documents such as letters local authorities, or bank statements.
You will be asked for details and evidence about yourself, any dependants you plan to include in your application for Leave to Remain and anyone else in your household or who helps you with money, accommodation or meeting your essential living needs.
There is no charge for making a request for a fee waiver.
You can only make a fee waiver request if you are making an application to remain in the UK on the basis of family life or private life for the following routes:
- as a partner or spouse, under the 5 year route, where you do not need to meet the minimum income threshold because your partner is in receipt of one or more specified benefits
- as a parent, under the 5 year route
- as a partner, parent or dependant child based on your family life or private life in the UK, under the 10 year route
- on human rights grounds, including where you were previously refused under the family route but granted “Discretionary Leave” or “leave outside the Rules”
- to extend your leave as someone who was refused asylum or humanitarian protection and given “Discretionary Leave” instead
- to extend your leave as a person who was previously granted leave as a victim of trafficking or slavery.
To apply for a fee waiver of the Home Office fee, you must complete the online fee waiver request form.
What happens next
If you qualify for a fee waiver, you will be told by letter, which is now usually sent by email. This letter will include a personalised code that you enter in your application for leave to remain that shows which fee waiver you have qualified for when applying for your leave to remain application.
If you qualify for a fee waiver, you will also not have to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).
Application for change of conditions of leave to allow access to public funds because your circumstances have changed
If you are granted Limited Leave to Remain under either the 5 Year or 10 Year Route to Settlement, you will be issued with a condition of ‘no recourse to public funds. Having no recourse to public funds means that you do not have access to a range of benefits that are given to people on a low income.
If so, it means you will not be able to claim most benefits, tax credits or housing assistance that are paid by the state.
However, there are exceptions for some benefits and if you are in any doubt, you should contact the department or agency that issues it. This will often be the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Public funds include a range of benefits that are given to people on a low income, as well as housing support. These are:
- income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- income support
- child tax credit
- universal credit
- working tax credit
- a social fund payment
- child benefit
- housing benefit
- council tax benefit
- council tax reduction
- domestic rate relief (Northern Ireland)
- state pension credit
- attendance allowance
- severe disablement allowance
- personal independence payment
- carer’s allowance
- disability living allowance
- an allocation of local authority housing
- local authority homelessness assistance
If you can provide evidence that you are destitute or on serious financial difficulties, or where it can be shown that there are other compelling reasons relating to the welfare of your child and you require financial support, then you may apply to have your conditions of Leave to Remain varied.
To apply for a change of conditions of leave to allow access to public funds:
For the application form, click here. If you already have leave granted on the basis of your family or private life and your financial circumstances have changed.
You can apply for a change to your conditions if:
- your financial circumstances have changed since being given permission to stay in the UK and you are no longer able to provide food or housing for yourself or your family
- your child is at risk because of your very low income
- you had financial problems when you first applied but you did not provide evidence of this and you now want to provide this evidence
You can only change the conditions of leave which will allow you to access public funds to which you may be entitled with this request.
Eligibility
Click here to check your ability before you apply. You are eligible to apply for a change of conditions if:
- you have leave to remain under the 10 year partner, parent or private life route, where the applicant claims that refusal of that application for leave to remain would breach their rights (or the rights of other specified persons) under ECHR Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life)
- you have leave to remain on the basis of other ECHR right
You can also be eligible to apply if you have leave to remain under the 5 year partner/parent route. If you are accepted, you would be considered to have moved on to the 10 year route to settlement and as such any future applications for leave will be considered under the 10 year route.
However, when you come to reapply, if you feel that you again meet the criteria under the 5 year route you should be aware that any leave you had previously accumulated under the 5 year route will not count towards your new 5 year period.
For example, if you previously had 4 years leave to remain under the 5 year route to settlement but applied for a change of condition code and were moved on to the 10 year route, when you next apply under the 5 year route you will need to complete a new period of 5 years in order to then apply for settlement.
You will qualify for an amendment to your conditions of leave only if:
- you are destitute
- there are particularly compelling reasons relating to the welfare of your child on account of your very low income
- there are exceptional circumstances in your case relating to your financial circumstances
- you are at risk of becoming destitute
A person is destitute if:
- they do not have adequate accommodation or any means of obtaining it (whether or not their other essential living needs are met)
- they have adequate accommodation or the means of obtaining it, but cannot meet their other essential living needs
- they are at risk of destitution if either or both of the above are imminent
If you are eligible to apply you will find guidance on how to complete your application and the evidence you need to provide within the online application. However, if you are in any doubt, please contact NFF for advice and assistance.
What happens next
If you meet the requirements for a change to the conditions of your leave to allow you to apply for public funds you will be told by letter or email. This may include a request that you give biometric information (fingerprints and photograph). You would need to do this at a Service & Support Centre (SSC). Information on how to do this will be provided in the decision. The Home Office will then issue you with a new biometric residence permit.
This application is free of charge.