The UK financial support system and Visas

[Leon R]

I wasn't sure if this should go here or in finance but I wanted to understand this a little further to make sure I am not wrong..

I was talking to a friend of mine who was displaced to the UK during the Ukraine conflict along with her son and she now lives in the UK under the UPE scheme.

This is coming to an end and she is looking at options with her new partner with one being extending the UPE and the other being them getting married and living together.

She told me she currently works part time (21 hours) and has universal credit in the amount of £1300 - £1400 per month, as long as they remain living apart and under UPE she remains able to claim this UC and the UPE is free for 24 months.

If they get married and move in together and go down the family VISA route she will no longer get the UC and the cost of a family VISA is £1,407 plus £1,407 for her son and then £5,175 and £3,880 for the Healthcare surcharge so £11,869 total after which the ILR rules kick in.

Is this based around long term thinking of they will then remain in the UK? Just seems crazy to me that you would encourage people to continue to claim UC rather than encourage them to start paying in to the UK system.