{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-habitual-residence-past-presence-and-temporary-absence-amendment-regulations-2025/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-habitual-residence-past-presence-and-temporary-absence-amendment-regulations-2025/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2025/884",
  "legislation_title": "The Social Security (Habitual Residence, Past Presence and Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2025",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-habitual-residence-past-presence-and-temporary-absence-amendment-regulations-2025",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nPart 2 of these Regulations enables certain persons to access income-related benefits upon arrival in Great Britain in the following situations, provided that they meet the other relevant entitlement conditions—\nwhere His Majesty’s Government has provided public information to advise British nationals to leave a country or territory or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory; or\nwhere a person has permission to stay under immigration provisions which have been sanctioned by His Majesty’s Government as safe and legal immigration routes for humanitarian reasons.\nThat Part amends the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1792), the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/213), the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/214) and the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/376) (“the income-related benefit regulations”).\nThe income-related benefit regulations provide that a person is ineligible for benefit where they are a “person from abroad” (for the purposes of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 and the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006), “a person not in Great Britain” (for the purposes of the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002) or “a person treated as not being in Great Britain” (for the purposes of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013), that is to say, where the person is not habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland, subject to a list of exemptions.\nRegulations 2 and 3 insert two new categories into the list of persons who are exempt from having to satisfy the habitual residence test for income-related benefits.\nThe first new category of exempt person is those who have leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted in accordance with immigration rules made under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 (c.77), a right of abode in the United Kingdom within the meaning given in section 2 of that Act, or do not require leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom in accordance with section 3ZA of that Act and where the person was residing in a country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave a country or territory or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory.\nThe second new category of exempt person is persons who are granted leave under immigration provisions which have been sanctioned by His Majesty’s Government as safe and legal humanitarian immigration routes.\nPart 3 provides that payments of income-related and contributory benefits can continue to be paid if a person is in a country or territory outside Great Britain pursuant to other temporary absence provisions and His Majesty’s Government has provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory and where—\nthe Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to expect the person to return, or have returned to Great Britain; and\nthe person did not enter that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory.\nThat Part amends the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1967), the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/207), the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1792), the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/213), the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulation 2006 (S.I. 2006/214), the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/794), the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/376), the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/378) and the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/379).\nRegulations 4 to 12 insert a new category of permitted temporary absence for income-related and contributory benefits. This new category extends permitted temporary absences for income-related and contributory benefits to a period not exceeding 6 months (for the purposes of Universal Credit), or 26 weeks (for the purposes of the other benefits covered by these amendments), beginning with the first day of the absence from Great Britain. This applies to persons who, during a period of permitted temporary absence outside Great Britain, were in a country or territory immediately before His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave a country or territory or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory and—\nthe Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, or the relevant authority in the case of Housing Benefit, considers that it would be unreasonable to expect the claimant to return to Great Britain within the period of permitted temporary absence applicable to that person; and\nthe claimant did not enter that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory.\nThe new category of permitted temporary absence also applies in state pension credit when determining whether a person is treated as being or not being a member of the same household as the claimant.\nPart 4 of these Regulations enables certain persons to access disability and carer benefits upon arrival in England and Wales in the following situations, provided that they meet the other relevant entitlement conditions—\nwhere His Majesty’s Government has provided public information to advise British nationals to leave a country or territory or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory; or\nwhere a person has leave under safe and legal humanitarian immigration routes.\nThat Part amends the Social Security (Invalid Care Allowance) Regulations 1976 (S.I. 1976/409), the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2740), the Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2890) and the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/377) to exempt the same group of people from the past presence test. This is the test which normally has to be fulfilled in order to claim Carer’s Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment. The past presence test normally requires that an individual has been present in Great Britain for a specified period of time to be eligible for those benefits. The amendments also have the effect of removing the habitual residence requirement for entitlement to disability and carer’s benefits which would otherwise apply to these persons.\nPart 5 of these Regulations provides that payments of disability benefits can continue to be paid temporarily if a person is in a country or territory outside Great Britain pursuant to other temporary absence provisions and His Majesty’s Government provides public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory.\nThat Part amends the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/377), the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2740) and the Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2890). Regulations 15 and 16 insert a new category of temporary absence for disability benefits not exceeding a period of 26 weeks beginning with the first day of the absence from Great Britain. This applies to persons who, during a period of permitted temporary absence outside Great Britain, were in a country or territory immediately before His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave a country or territory or begins the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory and—\nthe Secretary of State for Work and Pensions considers that it would be unreasonable to expect the person to return to Great Britain within the period of permitted temporary absence applicable to that person; and\nthe person did not enter that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory.\nA full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/884/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T21:13:00.565494+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}