The Asylum Process
When a person has made an application for asylum to the Home Office and is awaiting a decision he/she is called an “asylum seeker”.
A person will only be issued with documents confirming their status as a refugee if his/her application for asylum has been granted by the Home Office or he/she has had a successful appeal.
The Home Office will only grant refugee status to those who are considered to meet the criteria of the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
If the Home Office considers a person does not qualify for asylum, but is still in need of international protection he/she may be granted Humanitarian Protection, this is usually used where the person is facing a breach of their human rights as defined in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR),.
There are some cases where the Home Office considers that a person should not be granted asylum or Humanitarian Protection, but there are exceptional compassionate circumstances why the person should be allowed to stay and such a person can be granted Discretionary Leave to remain. This is a status granted outside the Immigration Rules.
Discretionary Leave may be granted for example based on a medical condition or severe conditions in the country of return which would make return contrary to Article 3 or Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
A child seeking asylum will be granted discretionary leave if the Home Office considers there are no family or other reception arrangements for the child to be returned to and the Home Office does not consider that the child asylum seeker qualifies for refugee status or Humanitarian Protection.
If an asylum seeker’s application is initially refused he/she has the right to appeal to Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. See Appeal.
Refugee Status
If a person is recognized as a refugee he/she will be granted 5 years limited leave to enter or remain in the UK in the first instance. After the five years there will be an opportunity for the person to apply for indefinite leave to remain subject to review by the Home Office. He/she can apply for a Blue Convention Travel Document and for family reunion with their wife/husband and children under 18 years old. He/She is free to work. This applies only to a person who has been granted refugee status since September 2005. A person granted refugee status before that will have been allowed to remain indefinitely. Humanitarian Protection
If a person is granted Humanitarian Protection he/she will be granted limited leave to enter or remain for 5 years. After five years there will be an opportunity to apply for indefinite leave to remain subject to review by the Home Office. A person who has been granted Humanitarian Protection can apply for family re-union with his/her wife/husband and children under 18 years of age. Those granted Humanitarian Protection before 30 August 2005 would normally not benefit from this policy until the person applying has been granted indefinite leave to remain. A person granted Humanitarian Protection is expected to keep his/her own national passport valid and would not be entitled to apply for a UK Travel Document unless they can provide evidence to show that they have been unreasonably refused a passport by their own country.
Discretionary Leave
If a person is granted Discretionary Leave it is always for a limited period.
A person who has been granted Discretionary Leave under Article 8 of the ECHR will normally be granted 3 years leave initially.
A person granted Discretionary Leave under Article 3 of the ECHR will normally be granted 3 years leave initially.
A person granted Discretionary Leave under other ECHR Articles will normally be granted 3 years leave initially.
However, in all the above categories it is the Home Office has the discretion to grant shorter periods of leave.
All the categories will need to have completed at least 6 years in total, and 10 years in excluded cases, before being able to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
Extensions of leave are subject to review by the Home Office.
Unaccompanied Refugee Seeking Children
When an Unaccompanied Refugee Seeking Child is granted Discretionary Leave on the basis that there are inadequate reception facilities in their home country will normally be 3 years or leave until their 18 birthday if the decision was made before 1 April 2007.
If the leave was granted on or after 1 April 2007 Discretionary Leave will only be granted until the age of 17.5 years or 3 years or 12 months for certain countries which ever the shorter period. Other cases
If a person is granted Discretionary Leave for example on medical grounds they are likely only to be granted a short period of time for example 12 months.
If a person has been given an initial grant of more than 12 months by the Home Office they have the right to appeal this decision to Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.