We currently live in California but my husband had been collecting unemployment benefit for about a year from Utah because that is where he was laid off.
I'm from the UK, (I'm in the US legally), and while he was on unemployment he came to visit me twice for a total of 5 weeks. The money he used to get there and while he was there was all gifts or my own money (we were engaged at the time).
He continued to claim unemployment benefit because he's a freelance artist and can actually work from home, and most of the jobs he was applying to were all work from home/contract/freelance work.
He didn't miss an interview, he didn't miss a job offer. He has his phone with him to receive calls.
He legitimately didn't know he was in the wrong.
His unemployment ran out in March of this year, and we've been living off of his parents (my legal sponsors) and whatever freelance work he can get.
We have zero.
We were out of town looking for work when the letters came in, he had two weeks to appeal, but we were still out of town, so a decision was made and he was found accountable to about $2,500 of unemployment fraud. It was a shock to us. They wanted the money back and double as a penalty.
Then a few days later we got a letter telling us he was under review for criminal charges regardless of whether we pay back or not.
We phoned and my husband decided to appeal the decision based on the fact that he was ready able and willing to work (he would have flown home, he could work from where he was staying, he was applying for jobs in the UK as well as the USA, etc). The guy he talked to said that they would only press charges if it was a 'substantial' amount.
What's a substantial amount? Seriously.
So, I'm panicking, as you can imagine. We didn't know he did anything wrong by leaving so we weren't expecting anything like this.
Should he even appeal or should he just set up repayments (or a waiver because we're close to bankruptcy)? Is he honestly possibly going to serve jail time for visiting his fiance? The whole thing is sickening.
Any help or advice or guidance on this would be amazing.
I'm from the UK, (I'm in the US legally), and while he was on unemployment he came to visit me twice for a total of 5 weeks. The money he used to get there and while he was there was all gifts or my own money (we were engaged at the time).
He continued to claim unemployment benefit because he's a freelance artist and can actually work from home, and most of the jobs he was applying to were all work from home/contract/freelance work.
He didn't miss an interview, he didn't miss a job offer. He has his phone with him to receive calls.
He legitimately didn't know he was in the wrong.
His unemployment ran out in March of this year, and we've been living off of his parents (my legal sponsors) and whatever freelance work he can get.
We have zero.
We were out of town looking for work when the letters came in, he had two weeks to appeal, but we were still out of town, so a decision was made and he was found accountable to about $2,500 of unemployment fraud. It was a shock to us. They wanted the money back and double as a penalty.
Then a few days later we got a letter telling us he was under review for criminal charges regardless of whether we pay back or not.
We phoned and my husband decided to appeal the decision based on the fact that he was ready able and willing to work (he would have flown home, he could work from where he was staying, he was applying for jobs in the UK as well as the USA, etc). The guy he talked to said that they would only press charges if it was a 'substantial' amount.
What's a substantial amount? Seriously.
So, I'm panicking, as you can imagine. We didn't know he did anything wrong by leaving so we weren't expecting anything like this.
Should he even appeal or should he just set up repayments (or a waiver because we're close to bankruptcy)? Is he honestly possibly going to serve jail time for visiting his fiance? The whole thing is sickening.
Any help or advice or guidance on this would be amazing.