What does ‘Immigration Status’ mean?

If you are not from the UK or from certain countries in Europe, you will need permission to stay in the UK. Your ‘Immigration status’ is the kind of permission you have to be here (this is often called ‘leave’ or ‘leave to remain’).

The type of permission you have changes how long you can stay in the UK and what you can do while you are here. Permission is given by the Home Office, which is part of the UK government.

What immigration status might you have?

There are lots of different types of immigration status. Here are some of them:

Asylum-seeker

You can claim asylum if you are at risk of being treated very badly (persecuted) in your home country because of your race, your religion, where you are from, your views on politics or the government, or because you are in a particular group of people who get treated badly (for example, if you are gay). While the Home Office decides on your case and if the case goes to the Tribunal (court), you are an asylum-seeker.

Refugee status

If your claim for asylum is accepted by the Home Office, you will hold Refugee Status, this means that you will be allowed to stay in the UK for 5 years.

Sometimes the Home Office might decide that it is safe for you to go to your country before the end of the 5 years if the situation in your country changes, or if you show that there is no risk to you (for example if you get a passport from your country or travel back there).

Normally this review will not happen and instead just before the end of the 5 years, you can apply for permission to stay permanently in the UK this is called Indefinite Leave to Remain or ‘ILR’. The Home Office will look at your case again and unless something has changed, for example if you have committed a crime, you will be allowed to remain indefinitely.

Humanitarian protection

You will get humanitarian protection if the UK government decides that you are not a refugee but it would still not be safe for you to return to your country. You will be allowed to stay in the UK for 5 years.

Sometimes the Home Office might look at your case to decide if it is safe for you to go to your country before the end of the 5 years if the situation in your country changes a lot or if you show that there is no risk to you (for example if you travel back to your country).

Normally this review will not happen and instead just before the end of the 5 years, you can apply for permission to stay permanently in the UK this is called Indefinite Leave to Remain or ‘ILR’. The Home Office will look at your case again and unless something has changed, for example if you have committed a crime, you will be allowed to remain indefinitely.

UASC leave

Young people who have claimed asylum often get a type of leave called UASC leave, or ‘limited leave to remain as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child’.

It used to be called ‘discretionary leave’ but this changed in 2013 when the Home Office created UASC leave. You will get UASC leave if you are under 17½ years old and on your own without your family and you claim asylum, but the Home Office refuses to give you refugee status or humanitarian protection, but accepts that you have no one in your country to look after you. You will get UASC leave for 2½ years (30 months) or until you turn 17½, whichever is shorter.

If you get this type of status you must ask your solicitor about whether you can appeal to the Tribunal and argue that the Home Office’s decision is wrong because you should get refugee status or humanitarian protection, which are better than UASC leave.

You should talk to your social worker about seeing a solicitor to make an application to the Home Office to ask to be allowed to stay about 6 months before your leave is due to expire.

It is VERY important that you apply before your UASC leave expires because then your immigration status stays the same while the Home Office makes a decision and while you appeal to the Tribunal.

Limited leave to remain

People get limited leave to remain for different reasons. Sometimes this will be called temporary permission to stay, leave outside of the rules, or discretionary leave.

You will often get limited leave to remain if you have been given permission to stay because of your connections or family life in the UK. This will usually be for 2½ years (30 months).

You may have limited leave on the basis of being a victim of trafficking, or for some other reason not covered in the rules.

When your limited leave is going to expire, you should talk to your parent or social worker about seeing a solicitor to make an application to the Home Office to ask to be allowed to stay.

It is VERY important that you apply before your limited leave expires because then your immigration status stays the same while the Home Office makes a decision and while you appeal to the Tribunal.

Usually people who have limited leave to remain have to wait for ten years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. However, as a young person you may qualify for indefinite leave to remain after five years if you have lived in the UK for seven years and are under the age of 18, or half your life if you are aged 18-24.

Indefinite leave to remain

If you have been given indefinite leave to remain (ILR), this means that you can stay in the UK forever and there is no time restriction. You can lose your ILR if you commit a crime or if you leave the UK for over two years.

Visa

You may have permission to stay in the UK on a tourist visa, a student visa or another type of visa.

Sometimes children come with their families on a visa and are called ‘dependants’. You will get this before you arrive in the UK. It will allow you to stay for a specific period of time. If your visa is running out, you need to apply for permission to stay longer in the UK if you do not want to return to your country.

It is a criminal offence to overstay a visa. If you have overstayed in the past and you now have no permission to be in the UK, it might be possible for you to apply to sort out your immigration status and you should get legal advice.

European Union rights

If you were from an EU country, or exercising EU rights, before 30th June 2021, you should have applied for settled status or pre-settled status. You received settled status if you were living in the UK for 5 years. If you have lived less than 5 years in the UK, you may have pre-settled status. This can be upgraded to settled status when you have lived in the UK for 5 years. If you have not applied, you may still be able to do this if you can show reasonable grounds for not applying at the time. People arriving in the UK after the deadline will fall into the normal immigration rules, unless in very specific circumstances.

Advice

If you are confused about your immigration status, or if you think you do not have permission to stay in the UK, you may be able to get advice from us at [email protected].