The Social Security (Residence and Presence Requirements) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 take effect on Wednesday 18 March 2026. The instrument applies to Scotland and proceeds by affirmative procedure. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
The regulations create a standing general crisis exemption so people forced to leave an overseas emergency can access devolved benefits on arrival, rather than relying on repeated emergency regulations. The trigger is either UK Government advice to British nationals to leave a country or a UK‑organised evacuation, and the exemption also covers those admitted under Home Office ‘safe and legal’ humanitarian routes. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
Eligibility under the crisis route is tightly defined. A person must have been residing in the affected country immediately before the UK Government issued ‘leave now’ advice or began an evacuation, must have left that country, and must arrive in Great Britain or the United Kingdom (as specified for each benefit) within 26 weeks. They must also have a right of abode, not require leave, hold leave under the Immigration Rules, or hold discretionary leave. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
For those granted status under a UK ‘safe and legal’ humanitarian route, the exemption from habitual residence and past presence tests is open‑ended; no separate time limit applies to that category. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
Time limits differ by scheme. For legacy allowances administered under GB regulations-Invalid Care Allowance/Carer’s Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Personal Independence Payment-the crisis exemption runs for up to 130 weeks from the date the public advice was issued or evacuations began. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
For Disability Living Allowance (1991 Regulations), the crisis exemption is age‑banded: up to 130 weeks for claimants aged 16 and over, 52 weeks for those aged 6 months to under 16, and 39 weeks for infants under 6 months. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
Scottish disability and carer benefits adopt shorter windows. For Disability Assistance for Children and Young People, the exemption lasts up to 52 weeks for children aged 6 months or over and 39 weeks for those under 6 months. For Adult Disability Payment and Pension‑age Disability Assistance, the window is 52 weeks. Carer Support Payment also applies a 52‑week limit. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
Temporary‑absence rules are standardised for crisis situations. Where a claimant becomes stranded in a country later covered by UK ‘leave now’ advice or evacuation, they are treated as present for the first 26 weeks of absence, and an overall 26‑week cap now applies across the relevant temporary‑absence categories. A safeguard applies: the person must not have travelled to the affected country after the UK advice to leave. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
Best Start Grants (Pregnancy and Baby, Early Learning, School Age) and Best Start Foods add the crisis and humanitarian categories to their lists of people exempt from the habitual residence test, enabling immediate access where other conditions are met. Young Carer Grant is amended on the same basis. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
In practice, case managers will need to verify three dates: when UK public advice or evacuations started, when the person left the affected country, and when they arrived in Great Britain or the UK. Immigration or right‑of‑abode status must also be confirmed. The exemptions remove only habitual residence and past presence tests; all other entitlement conditions continue to apply. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
The Scottish Government referred the draft instrument to the Scottish Commission on Social Security on 8 October 2025 with a shortened scrutiny period, noting the Department for Work and Pensions’ general crisis response regulations laid in July 2025 as a parity consideration. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)
Overall, the package provides a durable mechanism so that future responses to overseas crises do not rely on ad hoc emergency regulations, while setting clear time limits and evidential tests to manage entitlement consistently. (socialsecuritycommission.scot)