Access to welfare benefits

Public funds include a range of welfare benefits that are given to people who require financial or housing support because they are on a low income. The government website provides a list of which benefits are considered public funds for immigration purposes.

Public funds do not include benefits based on any National Insurance contributions you have made. National Insurance is deducted from your salary in the same way as income tax and is based on your earnings. If you have paid National Insurance contributions through your work, you may be entitled to some benefits even if you have the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) on your status.

For more information on public funds, and what you might be entitled to claim, please visit the government website.

If you have permanent permission to be in the UK, such as indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or settled status via the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), then you will not have a restriction on your right to access welfare benefits or public funds.

If you are a refugee or have been granted permission to remain on humanitarian grounds, you will also have access to public funds. It does not matter whether this is a five-year visa, a permanent visa, or a visa for a shorter period.

If, when making your human rights application, you have been granted a fee waiver, you are unlikely to have the NRPF condition added to your immigration status. This is because you have proven to the Home Office that you are destitute, or would soon be destitute, without assistance. For more information on human rights applications see our page ‘I do not have legal status in the UK. What are my options?’

Most other temporary grants of permission to remain in the UK – for example, a spouse visa, a student visa or a work visa – will have an NRPF condition attached.

For European nationals and their family members who have been granted pre-settled status under the EUSS, it can be a little more complicated. Your status should not have the NRPF condition. However, when applying for benefits, you will need to show that you have a qualifying right to reside before you are considered eligible. You will have a qualifying right to reside if you can show any of the following:

• you are working; or you have retained your worker status because, for example, you are on maternity leave
• you are a self-employed person; or you have retained your self-employed status because, for example, you have an illness or have had an accident that temporarily prevents you from working
• you are a family member of a European national who is exercising a qualifying right to reside
• you are a family member who has retained the right to reside
• you are the primary carer of a child who is in education, and whose parent is a European national who has worked in the UK.

For more information on whether you have qualifying right to reside, you can contact the AIRE Centre for advice. Alternatively, see the NRPF Network for more information.

For Hong Kong nationals in the UK on the BN(O) route, your permission to be in the UK will usually come with the NRPF condition. The NRPF Network website provides information on how to access the destitution fund available for people with a BN(O) visa from Hong Kong. For more information on this visa see our page on Hong Kong Londoners.

If you do not have any immigration status, you cannot access any welfare benefits that are considered public funds. You may, however, be able to access support from charities and other organisations. See our section Where can I get help if I have NRPF? for more information.

If you are in the UK with a status that was granted on the basis of human rights or your family, or under the BN(O) route for Hong Kong nationals, you can apply for your NRPF condition to be lifted if there has been a change in your financial circumstances. 

An online application will need to be made to the Home Office..

You can apply for a change to your conditions in any of the following circumstances:

• your financial circumstances have changed since being given permission to stay in the UK, and you can longer provide food or housing for yourself or your family; i.e., you are destitute
• you are at risk of being unable to afford food or housing for yourself or your family in the very near future; i.e., you are at risk of becoming destitute imminently
• the welfare of your child is at risk because of your very low income
• there are exceptional circumstances relating to your financial situation
• you had financial problems when you first applied but you did not provide evidence of this; and you now want to provide this evidence.

In October 2023, the Home Office confirmed they can consider an application to lift an NRPF condition for any type of status, not just on the basis of human rights or family life, or under the BN(O) route, but in addition to the change in your financial conditions you would need to show that you cannot reasonably be expected to return to your country of origin. If you are in this position, we recommend getting legal advice or contacting your local law centre for advice.  

More information about removing the NRPF condition can be found on The Unity Project website.

Information on where to get advice and support if you have NRPF and/or want to apply for this condition to be lifted is available on our page Where can I get help if I have NRPF?

If you have the NRPF condition, do not have any immigration status, or have limited entitlement to benefits you may be able to access some support from other avenues.

The following charities and organisations may be able to offer you support or further advice:

• The Unity Project provides advice and assistance in applying to lift the NRPF condition
• Project 17 supports those with families experiencing poverty to improve their access to local authority support
• the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants provides legal advice to migrants and people seeking asylum
• Latin American House provides housing, benefits and employment advice to Latin American and other Portuguese and Spanish speaking migrants in London
• Southall Black Sisters provides an NRPF fund for destitute migrant victims of gender-based abuse
• the Trussell Trust website has a map with local food banks in London. You can also call one of their free national helplines for advice and support
• financial support due to the increase in the cost of living.

Further information about possible alternative support can be found from the following links:

• support options for migrant families
• new self-help guide on “Section 17” support for children in need and their families.