Members may be contacted by constituents complaining that “illegal immigrants/refugees” in Britain receive significantly more financial assistance from the Government than UK pensioners, citing an email.
The email alleges that “if you cross the British border illegally you get a job, a driver’s license, pension card, welfare, credit cards, subsidised rent or a loan to buy a house, free education and free healthcare.” It also suggests that “illegal immigrants/refugees living in Britain” are entitled to financial assistance worth up to £29,900 per year, in contrast to pensioners who, it says, receive only £6,000 a year in benefit.
The email contains text from a protest email which has been circulating in Australia for some time now, but which may have originated in Canada. Versions also circulate in the United States, and elements even appear in protest emails as far afield as India. The UK version has been adapted, somewhat crudely, for a domestic audience by someone or some organisation unknown. The figures quoted bear no relation whatsoever to the situation in the United Kingdom.
As long ago as October 2007 the Refugee Council of Australia advised Australians to ignore an almost identical email to the one now circulating in the UK, describing it as “blatantly inaccurate and intended to create resentment towards refugees and fuel disharmony.” The Australian Department for Immigration and Citizenship has also attempted on more than one occasion to refute the claims in the email, but it continues to circulate, in various guises, and receives regular attention on talk-back radio shows and internet discussion forums.
This note gives details of the email, and looks at its origins. It also gives information on actual entitlements for immigrants and pensioners in the United Kingdom.

Actual entitlements for people from abroad and UK pensioners
“Illegal immigrants” are people who have entered the UK unlawfully, or who have stayed here for longer than they were allowed without making another application. They do not have the right to work. Since they are in the UK without legal status, they are liable to be removed if they come to the attention of immigration authorities.
People who require leave to enter or remain in the UK, but who do not have it, are ‘persons subject to immigration control’ within the meaning of section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and as such are not eligible for social security benefits, except those which depend on National Insurance contributions, such as contribution-based JSA. However, it is highly unlikely that a person in the UK without legal status will have a sufficient NI contribution record to gain entitlement to contributory benefits.
“Refugees” – i.e. asylum seekers whose application for asylum has been successful – are able to claim social security benefits and tax credits on the same basis as UK nationals, but may find it difficult to gain entitlement to contributory benefits since these depend upon the person having a sufficient contribution record.
The figures in the final column of the table in the email bear no relation to any UK out-of-work benefit rates. The current rate of income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, for example, is £65.45 a week for a single person aged 25 or over, or £102.75 for a couple. People in receipt of out-of-work benefits may also receive Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, but the table does not mention assistance with housing costs.
Asylum seekers – i.e. persons waiting for a decision on an asylum application - are not entitled to mainstream non-contributory social security benefits including income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support and Housing Benefit. Instead, they may be eligible for accommodation and/or financial support from the UK Border Agency.
Cash support for asylum seekers is less generous than social security benefits; for example, a single person aged 18 or over currently receives £35.52 a week and a couple £70.34 a week.
Further information on entitlement to benefits for people coming to the UK from abroad can be found in Library Research Paper 08/65, Impacts of Immigration.
The full Category A Retirement Pension is currently £97.65 a week. Pensioners whose total income – including their Retirement Pension – is less than the Pension Credit Guarantee Credit may be able to get their income ‘topped-up’ to that level. The Pension Credit Guarantee Credit for a single pensioner is £132.60 a week, and £202.40 for a couple, butfurther additions may be payable for disability and/or carers.