No Recourse to Public Funds on a Spouse Visa

Where the condition comes from

It is written into the grant itself. Paragraphs D-ECP.1.1 and D-LTRP.1.1 of Appendix FM both say that any grant of permission under them "will be subject to a condition of no recourse to public funds". GOV.UK states the effect: "The NRPF condition means you will not be able to claim most benefits, tax credits or housing assistance that are paid by the state."

It sits alongside the financial requirement rather than duplicating it. The requirement asks whether the household has enough income; the condition says which parts of the state's support are closed while the person holds that permission.

What it does not do is restrict work. Permission as a partner carries no restriction on employment, self-employment or study. The exception on this route is the fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner grant, which paragraph D-ECP.1.1 makes "subject to a prohibition on employment" separately.

What counts as a public fund

GOV.UK publishes the list. It is closed, and worth reading rather than guessing at.

Benefits open to new claims

Universal Credit; State Pension Credit; Personal Independence Payment; Attendance Allowance; Carer's Allowance; Disability Living Allowance; Housing Benefit; Health in Pregnancy Grant; and Social Fund payments — Maternity Expenses Payment, Funeral Expenses Payment, Cold Weather Payment, Winter Fuel Payment and Budgeting Loan Payment in England and Wales, with the Northern Ireland equivalents including the Sure Start Maternity Grant.

Benefits closed to new claims

Severe Disablement Allowance; income-based Employment and Support Allowance; income-based Jobseeker's Allowance; Income Support; Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

Other

Child Benefit; social housing and homelessness assistance; Council Tax Reduction schemes; discretionary payments made by a local authority under section 1 of the Localism Act 2011; and the Northern Ireland discretionary support payment.

Social Security Scotland benefits

Child Disability Payment; Adult Disability Payment; Carer's Allowance Supplement; Scottish Child Payment; Funeral Support Payment; Job Start Payment; Child Winter Heating Assistance; Winter Heating Payment; payments from a Welfare Fund under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015; Carer's Support Payment; Pension Age Disability Payment; Pension Age Winter Heating Payment; and Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance.

What is not a public fund

This is the half of the guidance most often missed, and it is stated as a principle before it is stated as a list:

"Public funds do not include benefits that are based on National Insurance contributions... People with no recourse to public funds who have paid the necessary National Insurance contributions or have relevant periods of employment or self-employment can claim contributory benefits and statutory payments."

The list GOV.UK gives:

• New Style Jobseeker's Allowance
• Guardian's Allowance, if in receipt of Child Benefit
• New Style Employment and Support Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• State Pension
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Bereavement Support Payment
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

Two of those are worth pausing on. Statutory Sick Pay is up to £123.25 a week for up to 28 weeks. Statutory Maternity Pay is 90% of average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower, for a further 33 weeks — 39 weeks in all. Neither is blocked by the condition. Our entry on maternity and sick pay covers the qualifying conditions.

The National Health Service is not a public fund either. Access comes from the healthcare surcharge paid with the application. Children can attend state schools regardless of the condition.

The sponsor is not subject to the condition

A British or settled sponsor has no such condition on them, and can claim in their own right. Two points follow.

First, several of the benefits that appear on the public funds list — Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Disability Living Allowance — are the same benefits whose receipt by the sponsor removes the £29,000 income requirement altogether under paragraph E-LTRP.3.3. There is no contradiction: the exemption depends on the sponsor receiving the benefit, and the sponsor is not the person with the condition. The benefit must be received by the sponsor, not by the applicant and not by a child.

Second, a joint claim is where care is needed. Home Office guidance addresses this, and a partner subject to the condition should confirm the position with the paying department — the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, Social Security Scotland or the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland — which is what GOV.UK itself advises: "If you are in any doubt, you should contact the department or agency that issues the benefit."

On free school meals, GOV.UK says that from the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year a child qualifies where the household receives Universal Credit, regardless of household income, and that families with no recourse to public funds may still be eligible — a question for the school or local authority.

Having the condition lifted

A change of conditions application asks the Home Office to remove the condition. Home Office guidance sets three grounds, any one of which is enough:

• Destitution. The applicant does not have adequate accommodation or any means of obtaining it; or has accommodation but cannot meet their other essential living needs. There is no fixed monetary threshold — it is assessed on the individual circumstances.
• A relevant child's welfare. Reasons relating to the welfare of a relevant child which outweigh the considerations for imposing or maintaining the condition, with the child's best interests treated as "a primary, although not the only, consideration".
• Exceptional circumstances affecting the applicant's income or expenditure.

The evidence expected is documentary: financial circumstances, accommodation, income and outgoings, and — for the child welfare or exceptional circumstances grounds — supporting evidence for the ground relied on.

Apply through the GOV.UK change of conditions application. There is no fee.

Where permission was granted under paragraph D-ECP.1.2 or D-LTRP.1.2 — that is, where exceptional circumstances applied — paragraph GEN.1.10 allows the decision-maker to grant without the condition in the first place, by reference to paragraph GEN.1.11A.

Where the relationship has broken down because of abuse

A different route applies, and it is faster than a change of conditions. The Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession — renamed from the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession — grants 3 months of leave outside the rules, on conditions permitting employment and with no prohibition on recourse to public funds. Since 16 February 2024 it covers not only partners under Appendix FM and Appendix Armed Forces but also a victim in the UK as the dependent partner of someone on a work or study route.

The concession exists to make the substantive application possible. That application is for settlement under Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse, on form SET (DV), with a fee waiver available, and it does not require any qualifying period to have been completed.

Apply for the concession through the GOV.UK application. Our entries on the Victim of Domestic Abuse route and relationship breakdown cover it in full. Refuge's National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247; GOV.UK also publishes helplines for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Employment rights are unaffected

The condition does not touch the rights that come with working. The National Minimum Wage applies, as do employment rights generally, and the statutory payments listed above are outside the definition of public funds.

Related entries

• The public funds condition in general
• The financial requirement
• The Victim of Domestic Abuse route
• Child Benefit
• Maternity and sick pay

Questions and answers