Care worker gives up child's disability benefit amid fears over migration rules

A low-paid care worker from Ghana has cancelled all the benefits she is entitled to, including disability allowance for her daughter, because of her fears about her immigration status.

- Diane Taylor

Radical changes to legal migration, announced on 20 November by Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will penalise those who are living and working legally in the UK if they claim benefits.

In what is thought to be the first case of its kind since the announcement, the care worker, who has three children, has asked officials to cancel her in-work benefits.

These include housing benefit and universal credit because she is on a low income, along with the disability living allowance of £103.10 a week her eight-year-old daughter, who is autistic, receives to help with personal care and mobility.

Under previous rules, many people were able to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years. However, the government announcement would mean that this timeframe is extended.

The care worker is among those who are on what is known as the “10year route”, where they have to pay thousands of pounds to renew their temporary leave to remain every 30 months for a decade before being eligible for ILR.