Asylum Application Solicitors

Refugee protection concerns a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason. The assessment includes the harm feared, why you are at risk, available protection and whether internal relocation would be safe and reasonable. If the refugee test is not met, humanitarian protection may be considered where there is a real risk of the serious harm specified in the Rules.

Claims are made in the UK or at a UK port of entry. The Home Office may first consider whether the claim is admissible here, including relevant safe-third-country connections. These issues are separate from deciding the full substance of the protection claim.

GOV.UK advises claiming on arrival or as soon as you believe return is unsafe. Delay may affect the assessment, but the reasons for delay and individual circumstances matter. A missing document or a difficulty recalling dates should be explained honestly rather than filled with guesses.

If claiming at the border, tell a Border Force officer that you wish to claim asylum and ask for an interpreter if needed. If already in the UK, use the official asylum registration appointment service. GOV.UK says not to attend a registration location without an appointment.

Screening normally records identity, nationality, travel and family details, photographs and fingerprints, and a short explanation of why protection is sought. Disclose relevant medication, disability, health or other needs so they can be considered. Follow the appointment instructions about dependants and available documents.

An appointment request is not ordinarily the completed registration of a claim. Current guidance also provides for some applicants to attend a Single Protection Interview combining screening and the substantive interview. Follow the invitation rather than assuming everyone has two separate appointments.

• Registration and screening

Explain what happened, who you fear, why you believe you were targeted and what you think would happen on return. Evidence is assessed together: your account, country information and any relevant documents or expert material. It is not simply a test of whether a country appears on an unsafe-country list.

Documents may be unavailable because of flight, loss or the circumstances of the events. Explain those gaps and how available documents were obtained. Do not invent events or alter documents to make the account appear more complete.

Trauma, health, age, language and cultural circumstances can affect how someone recalls or describes experiences. Tell your representative about difficulties and raise relevant interview needs with the Home Office. Medical or expert evidence may be relevant where appropriate; it is not a universal prerequisite for describing harm.

• Identity and nationality documents, if available, and previous immigration correspondence.
• A truthful chronology, including explanations of approximate dates or gaps in memory.
• Available evidence of threats, events or relevant family circumstances.
• Relevant country, medical or expert evidence, and translations where required.

The interview gives you the opportunity to explain the protection claim in detail. An interpreter is provided where needed. Tell the Home Office promptly about interpretation problems, health needs or reasons an in-person interview or other adjustment may be necessary; most interviews currently take place by video.

You can bring a legal representative. Representation is not a guarantee that an interview will be postponed if the representative cannot attend. Follow the evidence-submission instructions in current correspondence, and raise any need for more time or a break rather than assuming an appointment can be missed.

The Home Office provides an interview record, and video interviews are recorded. Review the account with your adviser and identify errors or omissions promptly. If unable to attend, contact the Home Office as soon as possible and provide the required explanation and evidence; unexplained non-attendance can lead to withdrawal of the claim.

• Preparing for the asylum interview

Keep contact details up to date, attend required reporting events and respond to questionnaires or evidence requests by the stated deadlines. Explain promptly if circumstances prevent compliance. The application registration card records the claim and relevant work remarks; it is not itself a grant of refugee status.

Asylum support may provide accommodation, essential living support or both where the eligibility and destitution requirements are met. Support is a separate assessment, and different conditions apply after refusal. Healthcare and education arrangements also depend on the applicable rules and circumstances.

Asylum applicants are normally not permitted to work. A person whose claim has awaited an initial decision for more than twelve months through no fault of their own may be able to request permission; it is not automatic after a year. Qualifying further submissions and existing work permission can involve different considerations.

Current permission-to-work policy restricts the jobs permitted and excludes self-employment. Earlier grants can have different conditions. Check the actual permission before accepting work, and distinguish genuine volunteering from unpaid employment.

• Asylum support eligibility
• Home Office permission-to-work guidance

The Home Office can recognise refugee status, grant humanitarian protection or another form of permission, or refuse the claim. Decision timing depends on the case; this page does not promise a processing period.

For claims made on or after 2 March 2026, the normal initial protection grant is 30 months. Earlier claims generally retain the five-year framework. Specific transitional arrangements cover people who sought registration before the change and attended the later appointment provided by the Home Office.

Unaccompanied children, including qualifying people who turned 18 before the grant, have distinct five-year provisions, and other longer-grant exceptions can apply. Read the individual decision and current guidance rather than assuming every successful applicant receives the same leave.

A family member included as a dependant does not automatically receive protection status in their own right. Children’s individual protection needs must be considered. Future permission or settlement requires its own assessment; a grant is not a promise of permanent residence.

• Asylum decisions and permission
• Protection permission for claims from 2 March 2026

A refusal of a protection claim may carry a First-tier Tribunal appeal right, subject to the decision and statutory restrictions. Under rule 19, the general inside-UK deadline is for the tribunal to receive the appeal no later than 14 days after the decision notice is sent. Outside the UK, the general period is 28 days after receipt of the notice, or after departure where the statutory requirement to appeal from abroad applies. Citizens? rights appeals have separate provisions. Check the applicable procedure, delivery or service details, time-calculation rules and any tribunal directions immediately; do not calculate every deadline from when the letter is opened.

A late appeal needs an explanation and acceptance by the tribunal; do not assume extra time will be allowed. Certification, inadmissibility or withdrawal can change the legal options. Judicial review or further submissions require separate advice and are not automatic substitutes for an appeal.

For an enquiry with Highfin, identify the claim stage, interview or decision date, expiry of any stated deadline and the help required. Confirm availability, representation and funding separately. Do not wait for a development enquiry form response when a deadline is approaching.

• Appeals and judicial review
• Appeal deadlines and submission