Asylum: Refugee Status
Claiming Asylum & Refugee Status in the UK | Help for Every Asylum Seeker in the UK | If you have had to flee danger, refugee status may protect you. What the law requires, what we need to show, and what happens next.
01— OverviewOverview
If you have had to leave everything behind, your home, your work, sometimes people you love, the idea of proving that to a stranger in an interview room can feel impossible. Refugee status exists precisely for people in your position. Under the 1951 Refugee Convention, as written into UK law, you qualify for refugee status UK protections if you are outside your home country and have a well-founded fear of persecution because of your race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because you belong to a particular social group, and if your own country either cannot or would not protect you.
This is not a technicality you need to argue your way around. It is the international community's acknowledgement that some people cannot safely go home, and that the UK has a legal and moral obligation to give them somewhere else to be.
[REQUEST A CALL BACK] 02— RequirementsWhat We Will Need to Show
Every case is different, but a strong asylum claim usually rests on: your own detailed, consistent account of what happened and what you fear; any identity or travel documents you have, even incomplete ones; and, where relevant, country-of-origin evidence or expert and medical reports that support your account. We will never ask you to have "perfect" proof, most people fleeing danger do not leave with a folder of paperwork. What matters is that your story holds together and that the evidence we can gather supports it.
03— Costs & TimelineWhat It Costs, and How Long It Takes
There is no fee to claim asylum, this is one route where the Home Office charges nothing. How long a decision takes depends heavily on the complexity of your case; we will give you an honest estimate once we understand your situation, rather than a generic promise.
04— Step-by-StepHow to Claim Asylum in the UK: Step-by-Step
If you are an asylum seeker in the UK, your path to safety to claim asylum UK wide starts with a screening interview, usually soon after you arrive or as soon as it becomes unsafe for you to return.
From there, you will have a substantive interview where you set out your full account, this is the interview that matters most, and it is where having proper preparation and representation makes the biggest difference.
After that, you wait for a decision. If you are granted refugee status, it currently comes with 30 months' permission to stay for claims made from 2 March 2026 onwards (unaccompanied children still get the fuller 5-year grant), work rights, and in principle, the ability to bring your close family to join you, though that specific route has changed recently and needs its own careful look. If you are refused, that is very often not the end of the road; you will usually have a right of appeal, and we will tell you honestly what we think your chances are.
Frequently asked questions
Asylum: Humanitarian Protection
Humanitarian Protection UK | When your danger does not fit the refugee definition but the risk is real, humanitarian protection UK may be your route to safety.
01— OverviewOverview
Not every story of danger fits neatly into a legal category. Sometimes the threat is not because of who you are, your religion, your politics, your identity, but simply because where you are from has become somewhere no one is safe: a war, a collapsed state, a government that kills indiscriminately. Humanitarian Protection UK exists for exactly that gap. It is granted to people who face a real risk of serious harm upon return—such as the death penalty, unlawful killing, or torture/inhuman or degrading treatment—but whose risk doesn't connect to the specific Convention reasons (race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group).
[REQUEST A CALL BACK] 02— Process & FAQsApplication Details & FAQs
There is no separate application process to complete for Humanitarian Protection. It is assessed automatically as part of your asylum claim, so there is nothing extra for you to do beyond telling us your full story.
Asylum: LGBTQ+ Asylum Claims
LGBTQ+ Asylum Claims UK | No one should have to hide who they are to be safe. How LGBTQ+ asylum claims work in the UK, and how we build yours.
01— OverviewOverview
For a long time, people fleeing persecution because of who they love or who they were told, in effect, to just be careful, to hide it, to be discreet, and they would probably be fine. In 2010, the UK's Supreme Court said, in the clearest possible terms, that this was never good enough. In the landmark case of HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon), the Court ruled that no one should ever be expected to conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity to stay safe. That principle underpins every LGBTQ+ asylum claim in the UK today, and it is the foundation we build your case on.
These claims are recognised under the Refugee Convention as a form of "membership of a particular social group," even though the original 1951 Convention never named sexuality directly, the courts have long since closed that gap.
[REQUEST A CALL BACK] 02— Evidence & TimelineWhat Matters in Your Case
There is no single document that "proves" who you are, and we would never ask you to try to produce one. What matters is a credible, consistent account of your experiences and your fears, told at your own pace, without judgment. Where it helps, we will gather supporting evidence about the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in your home country, but your own account, told honestly, is the heart of the claim. Decision-makers are specifically instructed not to rely on stereotypes about how someone "should" look, sound, or behave, and neither do we.
There's no fee for an asylum claim on this basis. We will give you a realistic sense of timing once we understand the details of your situation.
03— ProcessHow We Work Through It Together
You will claim asylum and explain, even briefly, that your fear connects to your sexual orientation or gender identity. From there, the substantive interview is where your full account is heard, and it is the part we spend the most time preparing you for, because how a story is told matters as much as what happened. If your claim is refused, that is not necessarily the final word; we will look honestly at whether an appeal is the right next step.
Frequently asked questions
Help After Irregular Entry
Help After Entering the UK Without Permission | Entered the UK without permission, or overstayed? There are usually genuine options. No judgment, just a clear look at what applies to you.
01— OverviewOverview
If you are reading this because you entered the UK without permission, or your permission to stay has since run out, you might be expecting judgment. You would not find it here. Immigration status is rarely as simple as legal or illegal once you look at the real circumstances behind it: fleeing danger, following family, a visa that expired while life got complicated. What matters now is understanding what options are genuinely open to you, and there usually are some, whatever you have been told.
[REQUEST A CALL BACK] 02— OptionsWorking Out What Actually Applies to You
There is not one single path here; there are several, and the right one depends entirely on your story. If you are afraid to return home, an asylum claim may be available to you regardless of how you entered. If you have built a genuine family life or put down real roots here over time, an Article 8 or Private Route claim might apply. If you are facing removal proceedings, there may be legal grounds to challenge that too. Our first job is not to fill in a form, it is to listen properly and work out which of these genuinely fits your situation.
03— Process & SupportWhat We Need from You & How We Work Together
Just an honest, complete account of how you came to be here and what has happened since, along with any evidence, however partial, that supports whichever route turns out to be right for you.
- A confidential conversation where you tell us your situation, without judgment
- We identify which route genuinely applies: asylum, Article 8, long residence, or something else
- We build and submit the strongest possible application on that basis
- We represent you all the way through to a decision, and advise on appeal if needed
Frequently asked questions
Refugee Family Reunion
Refugee Family Reunion UK | Current Status & Alternatives | The Refugee Family Reunion route is still closed. What's actually available right now, and what it costs.
01— OverviewOverview
Being safe yourself while the people you love are still somewhere you cannot protect them is its own particular kind of hard. Refugee Family Reunion was built for exactly that: reuniting refugees with the partner and children they had to leave behind. We want to be straightforward with you from the very first line of this page: that specific route has been closed to new applications since 4 September 2025, and as of the most recent update to the Immigration Rules, it still has not reopened, despite the government's original "spring 2026" timeline. This page reflects exactly where things stand right now, and because this is moving, fast-changing territory, we would rather tell you the honest, current picture than a comforting but outdated one.
[REQUEST A CALL BACK] 02— Current RulesIf You Have Not Applied Yet, Here Is What's Actually Available
Right now, your partner or child needs to apply under Appendix FM, the same route used for other family visas. That is a meaningfully bigger ask than the old refugee route, which had no financial or language requirements at all. Under Appendix FM, you are looking at: a minimum combined income of £29,000 (or savings of £16,000 plus two and a half times any shortfall); English language requirements for partners; and the standard application fee from outside the UK, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, though a fee waiver may be available if you genuinely cannot afford it. For children, the rules generally expect the sponsoring parent to show sole responsibility, unless both parents agree to the move, though a child can still qualify where there are serious and compelling family circumstances that make it right for them to come.
03— SupportHow We'd Approach This with You
- We look honestly at whether Appendix FM's requirements are realistically achievable for your family
- We gather the financial and relationship evidence it demands
- We apply for a fee waiver first, if that's the right move for you
- We submit the application and support you through to a decision
Frequently asked questions
Article 3, Torture and Human Rights Claims
Article 3 Human Rights Claims UK | Article 3 gives absolute protection from torture and inhuman treatment, no exceptions. How we build a claim on this ground.
01— OverviewOverview
Some protections in law come with conditions and balancing tests. Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights is not one of them. It says, in absolute terms, that no one may be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment, and unlike almost every other right that touches immigration law, there is no "but." Not national security, not a criminal record, not the strength of the government's case for removing you. If sending you somewhere would expose you to that risk, the law simply does not allow it.
This matters most for people whose situation does not fit neatly into the Refugee Convention's specific categories, but who would still face real, serious danger if they were returned.
[REQUEST A CALL BACK] 02— Case BuildingWhat We Are Building Your Case On
We need to show substantial grounds for believing you would face a real risk of torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment, if returned; and that the treatment you fear reaches a recognised level of severity. This is not a new or untested area of law; it stretches back to the 1989 case of Soering v United Kingdom, which first established that removing someone can itself violate Article 3 if that awaits them. We will gather your personal account alongside medical evidence, expert reports, and country-specific evidence to build the strongest possible picture of the risk you face.
03— ProcessHow We Take This Forward
- We identify and clearly set out the Article 3 basis of your claim, alongside any related asylum or Article 8 grounds
- We gather the evidence that speaks specifically to the risk you would face
- We wait for a decision alongside you
- If refused, Article 3's absolute nature often makes it a genuinely strong ground of appeal where the evidence holds up; and we will tell you honestly if we think it does