No recourse to public funds

Your immigration conditions prohibit you from accessing 'public funds', which means certain specific welfare benefits and local authority housing. However, using the National Health Service, sending your child to a state school, being exempt from the Council Tax, and paying 'home' fees for study, do not count as accessing 'public funds'. See our info on Public funds for a full list of what is included.

If you claim public funds, despite having a 'no recourse to public funds' condition, you:

• will be breaching the conditions of your immigration permission; and
• may have problems obtaining an immigration extension in the UK; and
• may be barred from coming back to the UK for at least 12 months (and, in some cases, five or ten years), under many categories and not just as a Student.