Quote:
Originally Posted by crookesey
It seems strange that all manner of EU citizens can come to the UK, claim child allowance for kids back home but dont have to apply for a UK residence permit and waive their rights to things such as healthcare, tax allowances etc in their own country.
Why is Spain so different in its approach to its fellow EU brothers and sisters?
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Not so sure it is. EU citizens may - not must - apply for a residency permit when they move to another EU country. In practice, as we have found here, having such a permit makes life a lot easier when it comes to registering vehicles, getting a mobile phone contract and so on.
EU citizens working in the UK are obliged to register. After a qualifying period which I believe is one year of making the usual tax and NI payments they are entitled to benefits.
If I were working here I would be eligible for Czech social/welfare benefits but as this is a comparatively poor EU member state they would be negligeable compared to what a Pole or Latvian would receive in the UK.
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about what economic migrants do and do not receive. What is scandalous is the high number of fraudulent claims for non-existent 'dependants' in the home country. Apparently there are thousands of such cases under investigation in East Anglia alone.