Criteria to pass the residence test
To pass the Income Support residence test, you must meet one of the following:
have lived in Jersey without any breaks for the past five years immediately before the date that you claim Income Support
have lived in Jersey without any breaks for at least five years at a time in the past, moved away for less than five years and then lived in Jersey continuously for longer than the time spent away
have lived in Jersey for at least ten years at any time in the past, without any breaks
Jersey-born adults only: lived in Jersey for a total of at least ten years at any time in the past. The ten years can be made up of a number of separate periods living in Jersey, with gaps in between
adult child of a parent with 'entitled' residential status: lived in Jersey for a total of at least ten years at any time in the past. You must have moved to Jersey before the age of 20 and your parent must have 'entitled' status. The ten years can be made up of a number of separate periods living in Jersey, with gaps in between
Time spent in prison doesn’t count towards a total period of residence, but it doesn’t create a break in your residence record.
You can contact us for more information.
Ordinary residence
Ordinary residence is when you:
live permanently in Jersey
only leave for holidays or other short trips
don’t have another home in a different country which you return to on a regular basis
Breaks of up to one month per year are allowed to cover holidays and other absences.
If you work in Jersey for eight or nine months of the year but you go back to another country each year, you won’t have ordinary residence in Jersey.
Proving you pass the Income Support residence test
You can prove you pass the residence test through your residential status, your wage records or by providing other information.
Residential status (housing qualifications)
If you qualify as 'entitled', you’ll generally pass the Income Support residence test.
In most cases we won’t need to ask you for any further information, but if you’ve spent a period in prison as part of the time to obtain your 'entitled' status, you might need to.
Wage records
We receive records of wages paid on a monthly basis for everyone working eight hours or more per week.
If our records show that you have been working for the last five years without any breaks, we won’t need to ask for any further information as this will confirm your residency for Income Support.
If you’ve worked in Jersey in the past for a period of ten years without any breaks, we will check this against our records and we won’t need to ask for any further information as this will confirm your residency for Income Support.
Time spent as a detached worker doesn’t count towards your total period of residence (a detached worker is someone who is employed by an employer based outside Jersey and who continues to pay social security (or equivalent) contributions and income tax in another country).
Benefit records
Our records will show if you’ve been receiving Income Support for the last five years without any breaks, so we won’t need to ask you for any further information.
Other information
If you can’t prove your residence using employment records or Income Support, you’ll need to collect evidence from people and organisations you’ve had regular contact with during your period of residence in Jersey.
These could include:
school records
employer records (if you were working fewer than eight hours a week)
doctor, dentist, hospital specialist or other medical professional
religious leader or charity worker
landlord
lawyer or advocate
police, prison or probation officer
social worker, hostel manager, counsellor or health visitor
gym, club or association membership
It’s likely you’ll need to get evidence from more than one source to confirm your residence in Jersey.
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