As a single mother, I hit rock bottom when the Home Office took my benefits away

I was relying on churches, friends and charities to survive.

As soon as I read the words ‘No Public Funds’ on my visa renewal, my heart stopped.

In September 2021, my stay had been approved for another two and a half years, but these three words (or ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’, as it’s officially known) meant that the financial support I was receiving to raise my two children would immediately stop – and all without an explanation as to why, too.

I’m a single mother and one of my children is autistic. How could I look after them, pay rent, provide food and ensure that my child receives the special support he needs, all by myself?

Unfortunately, those of us living here on a visa know all too well that our lives could be completely turned upside down at the drop of a hat. Thankfully, things are better for me now – but it’s something that needs to urgently be addressed.

I come from a country in East Africa and I arrived by myself in the UK when I was in my 20s, seeking asylum because my country of origin wasn’t safe for me anymore. I had no choice other than to escape.

When I fled, I had no idea that I would end up in the UK – I would have gone anywhere that was safe. Whether that was here or somewhere else didn’t really matter to me.

But when I arrived in 2004, I had no idea about how the immigration system worked, or how to get a visa. I claimed asylum straight away, but it took years and years for me to get the right papers because I was given bad advice by solicitors who only saw me as a source of income.

It didn’t take long before I became homeless. For months, I managed to survive only thanks to the help of my church, charities and friends.

It was hard. At the best of times, I was sleeping at friends’ houses; other times I would spend hours on night buses, or in churches, waiting for the morning to break. Sometimes charities would refer me to hostels, but every day it was a different place, and it wasn’t safe – once I had to share a room with a drunk man.

Somehow, I slowly started to get my life back on track. I had two children, who are British. Then the migrant rights charity Praxis helped me to get a visa for myself and – crucially – access to public funds, so I could properly support my children. This included housing support, disability allowance and free school meals.

I was relying on churches, friends and charities to survive

Finally, me and my two children were able to live in our own home that was warm and safe, and we had enough to eat again. It felt so good – my children were so happy. Up until that point, we had always lived in shared accommodations, and having our own bathroom or a whole flat for ourselves felt incredible – and most importantly, safe.

So it came as a huge shock when I found out that my right to public funds was taken away. I wasn’t given any reasons as to why that happened – I just received a standard letter from the Home Office telling me.

I felt like my life was disintegrating, but I refused to give up. With the help of a lawyer via Praxis, I challenged the decision to strip me and my children of support straight away.

While I was waiting for the outcome of this challenge, I had to call the Department of Work and Pensions to ask that they suspend my children’s lifeline. Essentially, I had to ask to stop my benefits because I wasn’t entitled to them anymore.

For me, these were dark months filled with fear. All the savings I’d put aside for my children’s education were used up just so we could have something to eat. Once again, I was relying on churches, friends and charities to survive.

I quickly slipped into debt with the council. I was always in fear – I became extremely anxious, I was worried that any letter I received would be a new bill to pay, or a notice of debt. My friends helped to pay for my bills, but I couldn’t keep on borrowing from them, and I didn’t know how I could keep up.

Three months after my right to public funds was taken away – and thanks to my solicitor – the Home Office finally conceded and the support I’d been relying on to look after my children was reinstated.

There was no explanation at all – they didn’t say why they changed their mind and revised their decision.

I feel settled again and I’ve now even enrolled at a college, where I’m studying to become a teaching assistant. In the future, I want to be able to earn enough to look after my sons, while supporting other children who have special needs.

But in two years, I will have to renew my visa again and I’m really worried I’ll suffer the same fate as I just did.

The Government should abolish No Recourse to Public Funds, especially when children are involved

Anyone with this condition attached to their visa cannot get most kinds of support from the Government – like child and housing benefits, disability allowance or Universal Credit – no matter whether they work a low-paying job or experience some sort of crisis, like an accident at work or a pandemic.

And without a safety net to catch you, it’s really easy to fall into poverty, and very hard to get out of it again.

Denying people a safety net – especially when there are children involved – is barbaric, but the Home Office routinely tells families that they don’t deserve it.

It’s really common for people like me to have to reapply for a visa again and again every 30 months for 10 years, until we can get permission to stay permanently. And every time, we face the threat of having that safety net ripped away from us. What will happen if the Home Office decides to remove my benefits again? What am I going to do? 

For now, I’m really glad that we’re still in our house, and that my children have enough to eat.

Yet it feels like a never-ending struggle.

As part of the No Recourse to Public Funds policy, the Government can take away vital support for children, just because of their parents’ immigration status – right at a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing.

In my teaching assistant course, they teach us that every child matters – but what I see in reality is that only children whose parents have the right papers do. If a child’s family is struggling but they can’t access support, they’re never going to be safe.

The Government should abolish No Recourse to Public Funds, especially when children are involved. All children deserve to be safe, well fed, and warm during the winter.

Yet thousands of children are slipping into poverty every day because of this Government’s immigration policies.

Praxis is campaigning to ensure that everyone can access a safety net when they need it, regardless of their immigration status. You can find out more about this work on their website here.

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