An asylum seeker in North America or the UK: what is required based on international rules. You must say you seek asylum and need international protection from persecution. Click here for more.

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Screening in the UK

You must call the asylum intake unit if you’re already in the UK.

They’ll call you back and ask simple questions about you and your family. You will not be asked why you’re claiming asylum during this telephone call.

You’ll be asked if you need help with housing. You might also be asked questions relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The call may take up to 30 minutes.


 Asylum intake unit appointments line

Telephone: 0300 123 4193
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm
Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Find out about call charges



An asylum seeker is a person who fled their home country because of war or other factors harming them or their family, enters another country and applies for asylum, i.e. international protection, in this other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who was affected by forced displacement and may become considered a refugee. The terms asylum seeker and refugee are often confused.

Asylum has two basic requirements. First, asylum applicants must establish that they fear persecution in their home country. Second, applicants must prove that they would be persecuted on account of at least one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group.

Asylum
Protection that is offered to persons with a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, as well as those at risk of torture or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
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Claim asylum in the UK

Overview

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.

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

Children applying on their own

You can apply as a child on your own if you do not have an adult relative who is also claiming asylum


ligibility

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

Family members

You can include your partner and your children under 18 as ‘dependants’ in your application if they’re with you in the UK.

Your children under 18 and your partner can also make their own applications at the same time, but they will not be treated as your dependants.

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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 call the asylum intake unit if you’re already in the UK.

They’ll call you back and ask simple questions about you and your family. You will not be asked why you’re claiming asylum during this telephone call.

You’ll be asked if you need help with housing. You might also be asked questions relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The call may take up to 30 minutes.


 Asylum intake unit appointments line

Telephone: 0300 123 4193
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm
Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Find out about call charges

You do not need to make an appointment if you have nowhere to live - call the asylum intake unit to find out what asylum registration location you should go to and its opening hours.

Tell the asylum intake unit if you need any other dependants on your claim to be present at any stage of your asylum registration, for example the welfare interview, or if you’re a child and need to be accompanied. You can ask to have an interpreter at your screening.

Your appointment might be in a temporary location.

Attending your appointment

Because of coronavirus, attend your appointment alone or with any dependants claiming asylum with you.

If you’re helping a child register their own asylum claim, only you can go with them to their appointment.

You must bring the documents you need for your application.

You must also bring any dependants (partner and children under 18) who are claiming asylum with you.

If you show up without an appointment, you may be asked to come back another day.

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

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


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