Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women

Support for asylum-seekers
Am I entitled to Asylum
Support?
You are entitled to asylum support if you meet all
of these criteria:
• You are aged 18 or over (those under 18 years of
age are cared for by Local Authorities).
• You have made an application for protection that
has not been decided by the Home Office. A
claim for protection is either a claim for asylum
(under the Refugee Convention 1951), or
under Article 3 of the European Convention on
Human Rights 1950. (For further information
about these, see Chapter 2).
• Your claim for protection was made at an
Asylum Screening Unit in Croydon or Liverpool,
or at the port or airport when you entered the
UK.
• You are destitute. You are destitute if you do
not have a place to live and/or money to buy
food.
If your claim for asylum has been finally refused,
you are not entitled to receive full asylum support
under section 95 of the Immigration and
Asylum Act 1999. However, you may be entitled
to support under section 4, which is covered later
on in this Chapter (see below).
What will I get?
Under section 95 of the Immigration and
Asylum Act 1999, asylum applicants can apply
for:
• cash payments; or
• housing, offered on a no choice basis
anywhere in the UK, unless there are
exceptional circumstances (this is sometimes
called dispersal); or
• cash payments and housing.
You can receive support for yourself and for any
dependents that you have, such as your husband
and any children who are under 18 years old.
Asylum applicants are not allowed to claim welfare
benefits while their application for protection is
decided, or do any paid work unless they have been
given permission to work by the Home Office.
Permission is only ever given in cases where there
has been no decision at all on the application for
protection after one year.
How can I apply for asylum
support?
You can apply for asylum support at any time
before a decision is made on your case. Most
people apply for asylum support soon after they
have claimed asylum in the UK. While your
application for financial support is being decided
by the UK Border Agency you may be given short
term, emergency accommodation in an
accommodation centre.
In order to apply for asylum support, you need to
complete an Asylum Support Application Form
or NASS 1. You can download a copy of the form
and information on how to fill it in correctly from
the UK Border Agency website at:
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/asylum/
support/apply/
You can get help filling in the form from One Stop
Services.
One Stop Services are run by charities
who assist asylum-seekers and who are
independent of the UK Border Agency.
They do not make decisions about who is
given protection in the UK, but they can
give you information and support. If you
want to discuss a problem with someone,
contact your local One Stop Service such
as:
• Refugee Action
www.refugee-action.org.uk
• Refugee Council
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
• North of England Refugee Service
www.refugee.org.uk/welcome.htm
• Migrant Helpline
www.migranthelpline.org.uk
• Welsh Refugee Council
www.welshrefugeecouncil.org
You can find your local One Stop
Service by looking here
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/asylum/h
elpandadvice/onestopservices/
What if I am in detention?
If you are taken into immigration detention and
are applying for bail, you will need to have an
address for your application to be successful. If
you were in accommodation that was provided as
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