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Benefit restrictions for migrants to be fast-tracked before 1 January (18 December 2013)
Date: 18/12/2013
Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce that proposals to limit benefits to new migrants from Bulgaria and Romania will be introduced to coincide with the 31 December deadline when border restrictions will be lifted on two EU member states.
Mr Cameron is expected to say that from 1 January 2014, new migrants will have to wait three months before claiming Jobseeker’s benefits in the UK.
The changes are expected to be fast-tracked through Parliament before the Christmas recess on 20 December.
The three-month wait for benefits for new migrants was announced in November but no specific date in the New Year was set for its introduction.
This prompted a Tory rebellion – an Amendment to the Immigration Bill was tabled, but the government announced last week that the Bill would not be read in the House of Commons at the report stage until the New Year – meaning the Amendment would not be read, as border restrictions would already have been lifted on 31 December.
Around 70 MPs were pushing for the existing restrictions on working in the UK for Bulgarians and Romanians to continue until 2018.
A debate in the House of Commons about the new benefit restrictions for migrants is now expected to take place on Thursday.
Other measures David Cameron has announced include a six-month limit on new migrants receiving benefits – unless there is a “genuine” prospect of them obtaining employment in the UK.
Housing benefit claims may also be restricted to new migrants – and migrants who have been removed from the UK may have to wait for 12 months before returning, under the Prime Minister’s proposals to tackle benefit tourism to the UK.
Recent research has shown, however, that migrants are less likely than UK nationals to claim benefits – and since 2000, migrants coming to the UK to live and work have contributed £25 billion to the UK economy.
Duncan Lewis Immigration Solicitors
Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of immigration and asylum solicitors and can advise on a wide range of immigration issues, including:
• Benefits for migrants
• Citizenship
• Housing
• Right to work in the UK
• Marriage in the UK
• Illegal entry to the UK
• Detention
• Student visas
• Visa fraud.
Contact Duncan Lewis immigration solicitors on 020 7923 4020 – or for urgent legal advice on immigration or asylum in the UK, call the Duncan Lewis Emergency Hotline on 0203 7275 2036.