how to claim jsa whilst looking for work abroad?

[star*]

hi i am looking for any make sense info if possible?

my husband lost his job late august and made a claim for JSA contribution based early in september, and we have found out he has the chance to look for work in northern sweden and is almost guaranteed a job over there, the local employment office in sweden where he would be based have sent us criteria information on still claiming uk jsa and as far as we are aware he meets the criteria and that of the criteria in the uk.

so today he went to sign on and asked for an U2 form (used to be an E303 form), he explained the situation and was blankly told no you cant have the form your not entitled to it, you wont have paid enough NI contributions ( how she knows this without looking is beyond me?) and then told my husband he had better start looking for work in the uk or she will make sure he loses his benefits!!!

he has been actively looking work and has had numerous interviews.

my husband just wants a new start for us all, where we live work is so hard to come by, any advice or solid info from anyone would be much appreciated.

[estellyn]

It sounds like the adviser didn't understand the criteria. Next time ask to speak to their manager. I always had huge problems with arranging the export of benefits, as many staff didn't have a clue about it.

[star*]

well thats the impression my husband got too, the lady didnt even look at him and was rude, we've emailed the relevant jobcentre office, i havnt seen anything about NI contributions affecting your claiming abroad? is this true

[estellyn]

well thats the impression my husband got too, the lady didnt even look at him and was rude, we've emailed the relevant jobcentre office, i havnt seen anything about NI contributions affecting your claiming abroad? is this true

 

As far as I'm aware he only needs to have paid enough conts to get cont based JSA - which you say he's been awarded - so that should be enough. There are no seperate contribution conditions for exporting benefit. I think he needs to have been claiming for a period of time - 4 weeks comes to mind, and has to register with the jobcentre of the new country within a time limit.

[antone]

Yup, if he meets the contribution conditions for JSA© in the UK, he would normally be allowed to export up to three months of his remaining entitlement (bearing in mind that JSA© is only paid for 26 weeks) if he is seeking work outside the UK but within the EU and EEA.

 

DWP web page on the subject. The adviser at the Jobcentre should be asked (politely ) to check on their intranet guidance and refer to a supervisor if they are not sure.