SFE Migrant Worker - unemployed due to COVID 19

I have been made involuntarily redundant from the 2nd of December due to COVID 19.

I had contacted SFE & they said to get a letter from Job Centre Plus. My job centre has been closed since March & I have been searching for alternative employment since March. When my job centre finally got back to me, they said they can’t register me unless I apply for job seekers allowance & due to me being a student I can’t apply for JSA.

I’m due to send SFE a January payslip, but my last payslip is two weeks before January. This is incredibly stressful because I need my maintenance loan to pay my rent, severely struggling to find alternative work as I’ve been searching for the past 8 months to no avail and I’m running low on money 😢😢😢

Hi, you need to be working to receive Migrant Worker funding. If you can provide evidence to show you were made involuntary unemployed then our assessors can look into this further.
Thanks, Isaac

I have a letter confirming my redundancy, but I want to make sure to take the necessary measures to receive my funding as a lot depends on it. I want there to be a guarantee because I already have so much anxiety over it.

I am already aware that I need to be employed hence why I am asking in the first place, but surely the COVID 19 pandemic is a good reason why it’s so tough to find alternative work? As a student I cannot get Universal Credit or JSA. So I’m very dependent on my maintenance loan.

I want to know what exactly I have to send to be considered for the loan. Whether it be rejections, job applications etc. Do I have to send screenshots of those? Do I get a letter from my previous manager or HR stating that I was made redundant because of the pandemic? How long should the cover letter be? I have a substantial amount of evidence showing that I have been searching for employment.

Thank you for replying.

Another question, why is the COVID 19 pandemic not being treated as a valid reason to receive funding? Especially if the migrant student involuntarily lost their employment. I’m sure that there are many people in my position too, searching for alternative employment & being unsuccessful.

Also since I have been in employment up until December, wouldn’t it be okay to send that evidence as well as the job seeking evidence to receive my January instalment? Especially since my last payslip is two weeks before January in my case.

I’m going to be working up until December next month. I’m referring to my next maintenance loan instalment which will be due January 2021. I will be unable to send a January dated payslip due to my redundancy. So what I’m essentially asking is if I will still be able to get my January payment if I send all the evidence of my job seeking as well as my payslips dated up until December 2020 that’ll prove that I’ve been in employment during the academic year.

Also that PDF that you linked doesn’t have any information on migrant workers so I’m unsure whether it applies to me

Hello, thankfully I finally found a job! Since I’ve to send SFE a January payslip what do I send? My old job contract terminates on the 2nd of December & my new job starts this week.