FAQs

• What are the possible outcomes of an asylum claim?

  This answer to this is not straightforward because it depends on whether the claim was pre-Borders Act or post Post-Borders Act. It is important to note that currently, this two-tier system for granting refugee status has been paused. Seek advice if you are unsure about your grant of status.

• What if my initial asylum claim is refused?

  If an asylum claim is refused, you should have the automatic right to appeal. This means that a case will go to a Tribunal where a judge will consider evidence from the applicant and from the Home Office and then decide whether the Home Office was right to refuse the claim.

• What is a fresh asylum claim?

  If an asylum claim has been refused and you have no further rights of appeal, further submissions may be submitted if there has been a change in case law making it unsafe to return to your country of nationality or you obtained new evidence directly relating to your case, for example, court orders, arrest warrants. You must demonstrate how you obtained the new evidence information.

  This new evidence must not have been considered in any previous asylum applications and taken together with previous evidence submitted, must create a realistic prospect of success. If you had the opportunity to submit this in a previous asylum claim and did not do so without good reason, the Home Office may use this as a reason to refuse an application.

  If it is accepted, you will either be granted refugee status or humanitarian protection. If refused, it can be without a right of appeal if the further submissions are considered not to amount to a fresh claim, or it can be with a right of appeal if it is believed that the further submissions do amount to a fresh claim, but do not meet the threshold for international protection.

• How is Human Rights considered in an asylum claim?

  In deciding an asylum claim, the Home Office will consider an applicant’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) including any medical (Article 3) or family (Article 8) factors that would lead to a breach of the ECHR if an individual were to be returned to their country of nationality.

• What are Safe and Legal Routes?

  It is not possible to claim asylum from outside of the UK. However, the Home Office outlines that refugees should use safe and legal routes to resettle in the UK. There are limited nationality-specific resettlement programmes available for applicants of certain nationalities, including:

  – Routes for Afghan nationals and their family members, including for those previously employed with the UK government, vulnerable individuals, and those at risk.
  – Routes for Ukrainian nationals and their family members, including those who have a UK-based family member with qualifying immigration status and those who have a sponsor in the UK who will provide them with accommodation for a minimum of 6 months.
  – Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) Visa – this is not a specific protection status, rather it makes it easier for Hong Kong BN(O) individuals to migrate to the UK.

  Third-country resettlement programmes also exist for individuals who cannot return to their country of nationality and currently live in a third country. Individuals are usually selected through the UNHCR and a limited number of individuals per year travel to the UK under these routes.