To be able to get Young Carer Grant the client needs to meet the residency conditions.
The client must be both:
If the client falls into an exempt category they only need to be ordinarily resident in Scotland.
If the client got Young Carer Grant last year and now lives in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you need to read the 'Reapplying for Young Carer Grant outside Scotland' section of this guidance.
If the client's address is not in Scotland, you should contact the client to confirm if they are ordinarily resident in more than one place and if they have an address in Scotland. If they do not have an address in Scotland, you can decline the application.
The client is ordinarily resident in Scotland if they:
A person can be ordinarily resident in more than one place.
For example, a client could have a home in England and Scotland and have a settled purpose for each. They could have a family home in England and a home in Scotland where they live during the working week.
The client would be considered as ordinarily resident because they have a settled purpose for living in Scotland.
Ask the client for proof of their ordinary residence in Scotland if either:
You still need to ask for proof if the address on the application does match.
To be habitually resident the client must have:
Confirm the client meets the residency criteria if the documents they sent prove both:
Ask the client for more supporting information if the documents they sent do not prove both:
Use the 'Further evidence request' letter to ask for a document that proves both 'ordinary residence' and 'habitual residence'.
You can accept a current Student Awards Agency Scotland letter as proof that the client is:
Some people are exempt from meeting the habitual residence criteria.
They only need to show that they are ordinarily resident in Scotland.
Clients are exempt if any of the following apply:
If a client indicates they may fall into any one of these categories ask for evidence, like documentation from the Home Office.
Also ask for proof of their ordinary residence in Scotland.
A client may contact us to say that they fall into one of these categories but they do not have any of the documents listed. These cases should be escalated to your Line Manager.
Clients who arrive under the Afghan Resettlement Schemes should receive Indefinite Leave to Remain. However, there’ll be situations where they’ll receive a temporary status on arrival which will then be updated. As such, there are a number of types of proof we will accept.
Not all clients from Afghanistan will qualify for the Afghan Resettlement Schemes.
Potential evidence for proof of eligibility:
Those arriving under the ARAP scheme will tend to have either:
Those arriving under the LES scheme will provide a passport with an endorsement: "Settlement - AF".
Those arriving under the ACRS scheme should have either:
Background to the schemes
This guidance should be used in relation to changes made to legislation from 22 March 2022 where certain groups of people who have come to the UK as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 may have a special visa issued by the Home Office. This allows them to access the Scottish benefit system without having to satisfy the existing habitual residence and past presence tests.
This document is intended as an operational guide on how to process applications from someone in those groups.
In the case of Low Income Benefits, do not need to apply the past presence test. However, the habitual residence test usually applies to the following benefits:
Further reading:
At present there are two main government schemes the client could benefit from if they had to leave Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion of 24 February 2022. These are:
To be eligible for the Ukraine Scheme, the applicant must:
Family member includes:
People arriving under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme will be either:
This means it’s possible the client could be of any nationality.
People arriving under either scheme will:
These schemes currently operate on a concessionary basis. Leave to remain is granted outside of the Immigration Rules on compelling compassionate grounds, with the intention of adding the schemes to a new appendix in the Immigration Rules in the near future.
British citizens and people who have right of abode in the UK who:
will also be exempt from having to satisfy the Habitual Residence and Past Presence Test.
An individual can be considered “resident” in Ukraine at that date even if they were living in another country at the time.
For example, a student resident in Ukraine was living and studying in another country immediately before 1 January 2022. They returned to Ukraine after 1 January 2022 but then left Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion which took place on 24 February 2022.
In this situation, the student can be considered resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022, as required, despite living in another country at the time.
Clients with right of abode in the UK will have either:
It will be harder to identify British individuals as they do not have to show immigration documentation in order to qualify for benefits in Scotland.
You only need to consider this if the child has failed the Habitual Residence Test or Past Presence Test.
In this scenario you should:
Not every individual who qualifies under these schemes will arrive directly from Ukraine. The country listed in ‘Moved to UK from?’ is likely to be Poland or neighbouring countries.
On arrival from Ukraine, non-UK nationals will have either:
If citizens do not have a current passport, they will be issued with an IS116 document. This includes all children, who will have individual IS116 documents.
You can see examples of an IS116 document in the section titled ‘The IS116 document received on arrival in the UK’.
Their passport should be stamped by Home Office Immigration to confirm their leave to remain status and entitlement to access to public funds, known as Recourse to Public funds.
A vignette will also be inserted into an individual’s Ukrainian passport. A visa vignette is a sticker that is added to a passport or travel document when an entry clearance application is approved.
It will be endorsed ‘Ukraine Scheme’ and ‘Recourse to public funds’. You can view examples of UK visa vignettes.
Applicants with a valid Ukrainian passport are able to make their visa application online.
After applying, applicants will be given 6 months Leave Outside the Immigration Rules (LOTR). They will need to contact the Home Office to request their biometric residence permit within 90 days of arrival in the UK.
Some passports have been stamped incorrectly, stating that the individual does not have Recourse to Public Funds. This only relates to stamps issued after 24/02/2022.
In most cases a Code 1A stamp is used, which confirms Leave to Enter the UK until a given date.
In some cases where Code 1A stamps were not available, Code 1 stamp were used with the ‘no recourse to public funds’ scored out in ink.
For Code 1 stamp cases, we are in the process of establishing an escalation route into the Home Office to confirm cases where the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPC) is not crossed out. In the meantime if you come across one of these cases, please refer to the Decision Support Team for support.
If an applicant does not have a passport, they will have been issued a paper version of the visa vignette at the Visa Application Centre. Their Biometrics will have been confirmed there, along with the IS116 document.
The Home Office will send a letter once their biometric residence permit is ready to be collected from a Post Office.
These individuals get 36 months Leave to remain when their biometrics are confirmed.
The IS116 document is issued to individuals arriving from Ukraine without a passport.
All individuals will be issued this document, including children of all ages.
The front of the document will detail:
The reverse of the IS116 document will detail the:
Individuals arriving in the UK under any of the routes listed in this guidance do not have to satisfy the past presence test and the habitual residence test if they meet the following criteria:
An individual can be considered “resident” in Ukraine at that date even if they were living in another country at the time.
For example, a student resident in Ukraine was living and studying in another country immediately before 1 January 2022. They returned to Ukraine after 1 January 2022 but then left Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion which took place on 24 February 2022.
In this situation, the student can be considered resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022, as required, despite living in another country at the time.
This is so that they can access disability benefits from when they arrive in the UK.
You should have already confirmed that the client is Ordinarily Resident in Scotland.
You can decline an application if the client is not:
The client does not have to prove they have access to public funds.
Create a letter to tell the client they are not eligible for Young Carer Grant.
From 21 October 2020, clients who were paid Young Carer Grant last year and now live in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or Gibraltar can apply again.
1. Check the address on the application is either in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or Gibraltar.
Countries included in the European Economic Area are:
If the address is not in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or Gibraltar, send a letter to tell the client they’re not eligible for Young Carer Grant.
2. Check the client has already been paid Young Carer Grant before. If they’re applying for the first time, send a letter to tell them they’re not eligible for Young Carer Grant.
3. Check identity and residency documents have been sent with the application.
If they have not, call the client to ask them to send the documents you need.
If you cannot call the client or were not able to speak to them, send a letter to ask for the documents.
4. Check the client’s details on the system match the application. Check their:
5. If the details match, update the system to confirm their identity and residency has been confirmed.
You can decline the application if:
1. Update the client record with a note.
2. Attach the notification.
Send a letter to tell the client they are not eligible for Young Carer Grant.
If the client did not include documents with their application, ask them to send one document from each list.
The document must not be expired. The client needs to send a copy of one of these:
The client needs to send a copy of one of these: