Temporary absence from the Common Travel Area - overview

Rules on temporary absence apply both to new applications – as carers require a number of weeks of past presence in the Common Travel Area (CTA) on application – and ongoing entitlement.

A temporary absence from the CTA is defined as one which, at its beginning, is expected to last no more than 52 weeks. (The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 7(2)(a)) The absence ends when the person returns to the CTA.

A person is absent from the CTA if that person is absent for the whole day from midnight to midnight. A person who is present in the CTA for only part of a day, is considered to be present for that whole day. This is when leaving or returning to the CTA.

Rules around when a carer can be treated as present in the CTA during a temporary absence are affected by whether or not the carer is absent with a cared for person for whom they are receiving the Carer Support Payment component of Carer Support, or an additional cared for person for whom they are receiving Carer Additional Person Payment.

A carer can be temporarily absent from the CTA and treated as present for the first:

• 4 consecutive weeks of absence for any reason (The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 7(1)(a)) 
• 13 consecutive weeks where that period of absence was for the specific purpose of caring for a cared for person, or additional cared for person, who is also absent from the CTA for any reason where that cared for person remains in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit, or (The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 7(1)(b))
• 26 consecutive weeks where the absence is for the specific purpose of caring for a cared for person, or additional cared for person, who is getting medical treatment(The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 7(1)(c)). 
• 26 weeks with the cared for person or the additional cared for person where the absence is caused by a crisis where the UK Government has issued guidance to leave a country, or arranged an evacuation of British nationals from a country, and it would be unreasonable to expect the individual to return from that country.(Carer Support Payment Regulations – Reg 7(1)(d))

The 26-week period only applies where the absence is for the medical treatment of the cared for person/additional cared for person for either:

• a disease; or
• bodily or mental disablement

which started before the cared for person/additional cared for person left the CTA. (The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 7(1)(c)(i))

During the period of temporary absence from CTA, the treatment must be either:

• undertaken by or
• under the supervision of

a person appropriately qualified to carry out that treatment. ‘Medical treatment’ means medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment. This includes any course, diet or other regime (The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 7(2)(b)).

An individual who goes abroad for a holiday and falls ill after leaving UK, where that illness does not relate to a pre-existing condition or disability:

• is not absent for the specific purpose of being treated, and
• would not satisfy the requirement that the treatment was for an incapacity or disablement condition which began before leaving the CTA.

Where a client has multiple periods of absence from the CTA

Each absence from the CTA is considered separately. For example, an absence of up to 13 weeks for any reason cannot be immediately followed by another absence of up to 26 weeks for medical treatment. The individual must be present in the CTA between such absences. This can be for just part of one day – although the person must actually be present in the CTA for that time. For example, transfer within an airport without crossing the UK border, would not satisfy a test of presence.

The maximum period that someone can be treated as present in the CTA when they are not is 26 weeks.

Temporary absence from the CTA before 15 March 2026

Where a carer was receiving Carer Support Payment before this was replaced by Carer Support on 15 March 2026, any period of temporary absence from the CTA that was counted as presence for the purposes of the Carer Support Payment award will be counted as presence for the purposes of their Carer Support award.

Examples of multiple periods of absence:

Shauna is a carer for her mother, Rowena. Shauna travels to New Zealand to care for Rowena while they visit relatives there. They leave on 01/02/2026 and stay until 31/05/2026. Shauna’s 6 weeks of temporary absence up to 15/03/2026 while she was getting Carer Support Payment is counted for her Carer Support award from 15/03/2026 onwards and so her award is ended on 03/05/2026, 13 weeks after she left the Common Travel Area (The Carer’s Assistance (Miscellaneous and Consequential Amendments, Revocation, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 – Part 6, Reg 10.  The Carer’s Assistance (Miscellaneous and Consequential Amendments, Revocation, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2025,).   

Where an individual is no longer treated as present in the CTA

Where an individual is temporarily absent from the CTA for longer than they can be treated as present, their Carer Support will end. This would be a ‘temporary stop in entitlement’ to Carer Support.

Their entitlement will end but if they become entitled again within 26 weeks of the determination to end it, their award can be reinstated without them having to re-apply. If the absence from the CTA continues past the 26-week temporary stop in entitlement period, a new application would be required when the carer returns to the CTA (The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, reg 23).

CSP Regs, reg 23 as amended The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023

Applying the past presence test on application, or in reinstating Carer Support after a temporary stop in entitlement

To be entitled to Carer Support a carer must have been present in the CTA for 26 weeks of the last 52 weeks. The 26-week period can be a combination of actual presence in the CTA and periods for which they were temporarily absent but treated as present in the CTA.  

We need to consider whether a carer has been present in the CTA for 26 of the past 52 weeks when they apply for Carer Support, or when considering if Carer Support can be reinstated after a temporary stop in entitlement to the Carer Support Payment component.

Example:

Ayesha is a carer for her father, Ibrahim. She is living in Hamilton and has been getting Carer Support for 14 weeks. She goes to Pakistan with her father for 10 weeks to care for him while they visit family. They then return to Hamilton for 6 weeks before going back to Pakistan for a further 23 weeks as a relative has fallen ill. Ayesha’s Carer Support ends after the first 13 weeks of their second visit as it is not for Ibrahim to receive medical treatment, so she is no longer treated as present in the CTA. On her return to Hamilton after 23 weeks in Pakistan, she contacts Social Security Scotland to ask for Carer Support to be reinstated as she is back in the CTA and still caring for Ibrahim, and his disability benefit is in payment again. Ayesha’s Carer Support can be reinstated as she has 26 weeks of past presence in the last 52 weeks (14 weeks of presence, plus 10 weeks treated as present, plus 6 weeks present, plus 13 weeks treated as present, with 10 weeks absent).