Temporary absence from the Common Travel Area

Rules on temporary absence apply both to new applications and ongoing entitlement. A temporary absence is defined as one which is expected at its beginning to last no more than 52 weeks. 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 present for that whole day. This is when leaving or returning to the UK.

Where an award has been made, CSP should continue to be paid for the first: 

• 4 consecutive weeks for any reason;
• 13 consecutive weeks where that period of absence was for the specific purpose of caring for a cared for person who was also absent from the CTA for any reason and remained in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit; and
• 26 consecutive weeks where the absence was for the specific purpose to care for a cared for person who obtained medical treatment

The same periods, for the same reasons, can also be applied retrospectively when considering whether an applicant satisfies the past presence test. 

Absences from the CTA which fall into these categories should be treated as presence for these purposes. The absences can be consecutive; an absence of 13 weeks for any reason can be followed by a medical absence (for the cared for person) of 26 weeks and CSP can remain in payment.  

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

• a disease; or
• bodily or mental disablement 

which started before the cared for person left the CTA. 

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.

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