Immigration Corner | How to apply for asylum status in the UK

Dear Mr Bassie,

I would like to know how I could go about claiming asylum status in the United Kingdom. I look forward to your response.

NA

Dear NA,

Persons are able to register their asylum claim at a ‘screening’. This is a meeting with an immigration officer where they are given the opportunity to tell them about their case. They will have the screening at the United Kingdom (UK) border if the claim for asylum is made as soon as they arrive. Persons can also be screened once they are in the UK if they become eligible for asylum.

At the screening, persons will be photographed; their fingerprints will be taken; and they will have an interview to check who they are and where they are from. Persons will be asked why they want asylum. It is advisable that applicants bring, if possible, written evidence to support their claim as well as any other documents they would need.

Applicants will need to say if they or their dependents are taking any medication and give any relevant medical information. A dependent is their partner and any children under 18 years old. The applicant can also ask for a male or female interviewer, but their choice might not always be available.

SCREENING AT THE UK BORDER

On arriving at the UK Border, persons must tell a Border Force officer that they want to claim asylum. Their application will be registered and they will be screened. The applicant can ask for an interpreter if they need one.

SCREENING IF ALREADY IN THE UK

In order to screen if already in the UK, persons should call the asylum registration appointment line to book a screening appointment. When they call, they will be asked simple questions about them, their family and their housing arrangements.

Even if persons have nowhere to live, they still need to call the asylum registration appointment line. They may be told to attend a screening appointment. Please note that they will not be asked why they are claiming asylum during this call.

Persons who make the call should tell the asylum registration appointment line if:

• They need to bring any dependents to the screening appointment;

• They are a child and need to be accompanied;

• They need an interpreter at the screening appointment

The contact details are as follows:

Asylum registration appointment line

Telephone: 0300 123 4193

Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm

Friday, 9am to 4:30pm

Those persons who are eligible will be offered a registration screening appointment at their nearest asylum registration location. Please be aware that the asylum claim is not registered until the applicant attends the screening appointment and their application has been accepted. Persons should not attend an asylum registration location without a screening appointment. If the asylum registration location does not know that they are coming, they may not be seen.

ATTENDING THE SCREENING APPOINTMENT

Persons attending the screening appointment can bring a legal representative and an interpreter if they need them. The applicant must bring any dependents who are claiming asylum with them. Anyone who is helping a child register their own asylum claim, can go with them to their screening appointment.

Applicants must also bring the documents they need for their application. Please note that applicants cannot get financial help for travel to or from the asylum registration location. Also, applicants should inform the appointment service if their situation changes before their appointment date, for example, if they can no longer stay where they are living.

I hope this helps.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the past global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com