This case note looks at two decisions of the English and Northern Irish Courts of Appeal in relation to the right to reside requirement for access to certain social security benefits. In brief, in the context of the expansion of the EU in 2004, the UK – unlike most other member states – allowed access to the UK labour market for the nationals of the Accession countries subject to a worker registration requirement. At the same time the UK government strengthened the existing habitual residence test by requiring that, in order to be considered habitually resident, a claimant must have a ‘right to reside’ within the UK. The definition of the right to reside test and its compatibility with EU law was considered by the English Court of Appeal in Abdirahman while the validity of certain restrictions on access to social security benefits stemming from the worker registration scheme and the right to reside test were considered by the NI Court of Appeal in Zalewska.