Seeking asylum in the UK

You must apply for asylum if you want to stay in the UK as a refugee. To be eligible you must have left your country and be unable to go back because you fear persecution.

Applying for a different reason

Apply for a visa if you want to come to the UK for another reason (for example to work, study or remain with family). If you’re already in the UK and want to remain with family living here, apply for a family of a settled person visa.

You should apply when you arrive in the UK or as soon as you think it would be unsafe for you to return to your own country. Your application is more likely to be denied if you wait.

After you apply you’ll have a meeting with an immigration officer (known as a ‘screening’) and then an asylum interview with a caseworker.

You’ll usually get a decision on your application within 6 months.

You can get up to 2 years in prison or have to leave the UK if you give false information on your application.

Waiting for your decision

You’ll be told after your screening what you must do while you’re waiting for your asylum decision, for example report to a caseworker regularly (known as ‘reporting meetings’).

You must tell the authorities if your situation changes.

You will not usually be allowed to work while your asylum claim is being considered.

Help you can get

You can get help with:

  • getting legal representation for your asylum claim
  • living in the UK while you wait for your decision

Register your asylum claim

You register your asylum claim at a ‘screening’. This is a meeting with an immigration officer where you tell them about your case.

You’ll have your screening at the UK border if you claim asylum as soon as you arrive. You can also be screened once you’re in the UK if you become eligible for asylum.

At your screening you’ll:

  • be photographed
  • have your fingerprints taken
  • have an interview to check who you are and where you’re from

You’ll be asked why you want asylum. You can bring written evidence to support your claim if you want, as well as your identification documents.

You’ll need to say if you or your dependants are taking any medication and give any relevant medical information.

You can ask for a male or female interviewer, but your choice might not always be available.

Screening at the UK border

You must tell a Border Force officer that you want to claim asylum.

Your application will be registered and you’ll be screened - ask for an interpreter if you need one.

Screening in the UK

You must make an appointment with the asylum screening unit if you’re already in the UK.

You must bring:

  • the documents you need for your application
  • any dependants (partner and children under 18) who are claiming asylum with you

You may be asked to come back another day if you show up without an appointment.

You do not need to make an appointment if you have nowhere to live - you can go to the screening unit from 7:30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Arrive early to make sure there’s enough time to complete your screening.

You cannot get financial help for travel to or from the asylum screening unit.

How to make an appointment

Make an appointment for screening by phoning the screening unit.

Asylum screening unit appointments line:

Telephone: +44 (0)20 8196 4524
Monday to Thursday: 09:00 -  16:45pm; Friday: 09:00 - 16:30. Find out about call charges

They’ll call you back and ask simple questions about you and your family. You will not be asked why you’re claiming asylum. The call may take up to 30 minutes.

You’ll be asked if you need help with housing.

You can ask to have an interpreter at your screening.

Tell the appointment service if your situation changes before your appointment date, for example if you can no longer stay where you are living.

Staying in the UK

To stay in the UK as a refugee you must be unable to live safely in any part of your own country because you fear persecution there.

If you’re stateless, your own country is the country you usually live in.

This persecution must be because of:

  • your race
  • your religion
  • your nationality
  • your political opinion
  • anything else that puts you at risk because of the social, cultural, religious or political situation in your country, for example, your gender, gender identity or sexual orientation

You must have failed to get protection from authorities in your own country.

Your claim might not be considered if you:

  • are from an EU country
  • have a connection with another country you can claim asylum in, for example if you’ve claimed asylum in an EU country before arriving in the UK

After your screening

After your screening your case will be given to a caseworker.

You’ll be sent an asylum registration card (ARC) to your UK address, unless you’ve been detained.

If the Home Office cannot send you an ARC immediately, they’ll send you an appointment letter telling you what to do next.

You might also be sent a ‘preliminary information questionnaire’. If you get one, fill it in and return it by the deadline - the address and deadline are written on the letter that comes with the questionnaire. If you cannot fill it in, call the Home Office asylum team. Their phone number is on the letter.

The Home Office will assume you’ve withdrawn your asylum claim if you get a preliminary information questionnaire and do not return it by the deadline.

Caseworkers

You’ll have an asylum interview with your caseworker. They’ll make a decision about your application.

They’ll also explain the asylum process and tell you what to do while you wait for an asylum decision, such as go to regular reporting meetings.

You may be detained if you do not go to your reporting meetings.

Tell your caseworker if you have any special needs, for example if you have a disability or need medication.

Your ARC

The ARC shows you’ve applied for asylum. You can use it to:

  • show who you are
  • show whether you have permission to work
  • get health or education services

You must take your ARC with you when you go to your reporting meetings.

If you have not received your ARC or you’ve lost it

Contact Migrant Help to let them know. You’ll need to give them your Home Office or port reference number.

Migrant Help

Telephone: 0808 800 0630
Monday to Friday: 09:30 - 15:00.
Find out about call charges

Being detained

You may be detained at an immigration removal centre while you wait for a decision on your application.

You’ll either be:

  • released if you get permission to stay in the UK
  • held until you’re removed from the UK if you do not get permission to stay

You can also be detained and removed if it’s decided that another country is responsible for offering you asylum.

You may be able to appeal against the decision.

When you will not be detained

You will not usually be detained if you’re:

  • a child
  • elderly
  • a family with children
  • pregnant
  • accepted as being a victim of trafficking
  • able to provide independent evidence of torture
  • suffering from a mental or physical condition that cannot be managed, or presents a risk to others, in an immigration removal centre

Asylum interview

Your asylum interview will take place soon after your screening.

Your application will usually be rejected if you do not go to your asylum interview.

You’ll get a letter telling you when and where to attend and if any of your dependants also need to be interviewed.

The interview

You’ll usually be interviewed alone, without your family members. An interpreter will be provided, if you need one.

The information you provide will be treated in confidence and will not be disclosed to the authorities in your own country.

Use this interview to explain:

  • how you were persecuted in your country
  • why you’re afraid to go back to your country

You may be asked questions about difficult topics but it’s important that you explain what has happened to you and your family.

You must tell the caseworker everything you want them to consider or it can count against you.

Bring all the evidence you have of your persecution. You may be asked to send further evidence to your caseworker after the interview, if they think it might help your application.

You should also bring your birth certificate, passport and medical records if you have them.

Your caseworker will make notes in a document called an ‘interview record’. You’ll get a copy of this at the end of the interview.

Legal representative

You can bring a legal representative to this interview, for example a lawyer or solicitor. Find out if you can get help paying for legal advice about asylum.

Your interview will take place even if your legal representative is not there. You cannot ask for more time to get a legal representative.

You can ask for this interview to be tape recorded if you do not have legal representation. Ask your caseworker at least one day before

Get a decision

Your application will usually be decided within 6 months. It may take longer if it’s complicated, for example:

  • your supporting documents need to be verified
  • you need to attend more interviews
  • your personal circumstances need to be checked, for example because you have a criminal conviction or you’re currently being prosecuted

Ask your legal adviser if you want an update on your application.

You’ll be given or refused permission to stay in one of the following ways.

Permission to stay as a refugee

You and your dependants may be given permission to stay in the UK for 5 years if you qualify for asylum. This is known as ‘leave to remain’.

After 5 years, you can apply to settle in the UK.

Permission to stay for humanitarian reasons

You may get permission to stay for humanitarian reasons if you do not qualify for asylum. This means you need to stay in the UK for your protection.

You and your dependants may be given permission to stay in the UK for 5 years. This is known as ‘leave to enter’ or ‘leave to remain’.

After 5 years, you can apply to settle in the UK.

Permission to stay for other reasons

You may get permission to stay for other reasons if you do not qualify for permission to stay as a refugee or for humanitarian reasons.

How long you can stay will depend on your situation.

You may be able to apply to extend your stay or settle in the UK towards the end of your stay.

No reason to stay

You’ll be asked to leave the UK if you do not qualify for asylum and your caseworker decides there’s no other reason for you to stay.

You may be able to appeal against the decision.

You’ll have to leave if you do not appeal in the time allowed, or if your appeal is unsuccessful. You can:

Help you can get

You can get help from asylum helplines run by charities.

They can help with:

  • explaining your asylum claim, for example getting a solicitor or lawyer to represent you
  • living in the UK while your claim is being considered, for example getting asylum support, housing problems, dealing with agencies or finding English language classes and schools

Legal advice

You can get legal advice to help your asylum claim.

Housing and money

You may also be able to get housing and money (‘asylum support’) to support you and your family. This will only start from the day of your screening if you qualify.

Help returning home

You may be able to get help with returning home.