Habitual Residence Condition
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
The term "habitually resident" is not defined in Irish law.
It generally means that you:
You must be habitually resident in Ireland to qualify for the following payments:
This condition took effect from 1 May 2004 and applies to any person applying for these social welfare payments, regardless of their nationality.
If you apply for a social welfare payment which includes an increase for a qualified adult or qualified child, only you, the applicant, must be regarded as being habitual resident in the State.
To be entitled to a payment, you must meet all other qualifying conditions.
To satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition (HRC) you must:
and
The five factors are:
You will only be regarded as being habitually resident if you satisfy both parts of the condition.
People who have a right to reside in Ireland include:
To find out more about registering your immigration permission, visit the Irish Immigration service website.
For more information on the right to reside please see the HRC Operational Guidelines.
There are limited circumstances where there is no need to carry out a HRC assessment on payments where you ordinarily need to satisfy the HRC to qualify.
These circumstances arise where a payment is considered a Family Benefit or Social Advantage payment:
You can read more about Family Benefits and Social Advantage payments here.
If you must satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition for a payment, you may be asked to fill out the HRC1 form.
Application Form: Habitual Residence Condition (HRC1)
DownloadIf you are not satisfied with the decision made on your case, you have the right of review and the right of appeal.
If you wish to have your case reviewed, you can submit additional evidence to the department and ask for the decision to be reviewed. You can also bring an appeal against the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.
Further guidance on how to appeal a decision about your social welfare claim is available here.
The department has published comprehensive Operational Guidelines on the Habitual Residence Condition:
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