SOCIAL SECURITY and the BENEFITS SYSTEM:
No one resource can promise to tell you all you need to know. But click on the links below and we'll try.
The following points are worth remembering:
- The JobCentre Plus is where you go to ask for help with social security and benefits, and where you will get financial help and/or advice if you are entitled to be in the country
- You must expect to provide the same ID and documents, including your passport, as you would do if looking for work
- You can get Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) based on contributions you made in the UK or many other countries
- If you haven't contributed enough, there is a JSA safety-net for those with very low (or no) incomes
- JSA is paid under a strict agreement that you are available to work (usually immediately) and that you will look for it - and that you can prove you have looked!
- Usually you have to be 18, but if you have a child the rules will be bent to help you
- There are special arrangements for starting work if you are caring for somebody, perhaps a child or somebody who is sick, and have to organise yourself
- The JSA is not the right benefit if you are sick or cannot work for some other reason
- You will have to meet with advisors on a regular basis and sign declarations to say that you are genuinely not working but still trying to find work. At this time they may tell you about jobs they have found and for which you could apply. If you don't apply there has to be a good reason for not doing so
- You will be given special help if you have a partner or a child (or sick or old relative) to care for
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