Asylum Appeal Process UK: How To Appeal a Decision
If you’re looking for expert advice on the asylum appeal process, Birmingham Immigration Lawyers are here to offer legal support on UK immigration matters.
Get in contact on 0121 667 6530 for immediate assistance with your situation. We’re here for you in person, over the phone and via email or chat.
Page Contents
- Your Asylum Appeal Is Refused: What Now?
- When Can Appeals Be Made
- The Asylum Appeal Process
- Documentation
- Fees
- Asking for an Oral Hearing
- The Hearing Process
- What Happens At An Appeal Hearing?
- If the Appeal Cannot be Resolved During the Hearing
- When Is A Decision Made?
- What Happens After An Asylum Appeal?
- How Birmingham Lawyers Can Help You
- Frequently Asked Questions
Your Asylum Appeal Is Refused: What Now?
If your asylum is refused, you will receive a refusal letter from the Home Office. There are several reasons why your asylum claim may have been unsuccessful.
Incorrect information or missing supporting documents are the most common errors. It can also be beneficial to listen to the audio recording of your interview as interpretation mistakes can occur.
Despite your appeal being refused, there are still options available to you. The first step is to speak to your legal representative and have them read the decision letter. Birmingham Immigration Lawyers will then be able to advise you on whether you can make an asylum appeal.
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When Can Appeals Be Made
Asylum appeals can be made if the Home Office has done the following;
- Revoked your human rights claim
- Revoked your British citizenship
- Refused your protection claim
- Refused you a residence document
- Refused, revoked, deported you or varied the length or condition of your stay under the EU Settlement Scheme (including through your travel permit or family permit)
- Refused, revoked, deported you or varied the length or condition of your stay if you’re an S2 Healthcare visitor or Frontier worker
The Asylum Appeal Process
If you satisfy the above conditions you may be able to make an asylum appeal to the first-tier Tribunal. The process for an asylum appeal will differ depending on whether you are applying for yourself, or if your legal representation is doing it on your behalf.
Appealing with Legal Support
Your immigration advisor will need to appeal online using MyHMCTS. Not every immigration application can be made using this service and other appeals can be made using a paper form. Your legal support will submit your appeal and documents and arrange for someone to represent you in court (if you are having a hearing).
Appealing as an Individual
If you are appealing as an individual from within the UK you have 14 days to apply and if you are appealing from outside of the UK you have 28 days.
You may have longer if your application for an EU Settlement Scheme, S2 Healthcare visitor or Frontier work was rejected because of your administrative review.
The appeal application process as an individual is done online and through the service you can; submit an appeal, request a hearing, provide documentation or request a decision on your appeal. Online applications are generally a quicker service but if you cannot appeal online you can apply by email, post or fax.
Documentation
If you are appealing you will need to send the following to the tribunal when you submit your application:
- Your Reasons for Refusal Letter
- The Notice of Decision Document
- English translations of any documents in a foreign language. These documents should be officially translated and signed by a translator to certify the original documentation
- Any additional documentation or evidence requested in the application form
Fees
The appeal fee is £80 without a hearing and £140 with a hearing, as well as any lawyer fees if you are paying for legal representation. You do not have to pay the appeal fee if you satisfy the following grounds:
- You are receiving asylum support payments from the Home Office
- Your case is being supported by Legal Aid
- You are a child in a local authority case
- You are the parents of, or responsible for a child who is receiving support from local authorities
- You have been detained, your decision letter was sent by the Detained Asylum Casework team and your decision involves the deprivation of British citizenship
Asking for an Oral Hearing
On your appeal form, you can ask for an oral hearing where your representatives can attend.
The upper tribunal can also elect to have an appeal hearing, even if you do not request one. Hearings are conducted publicly, but requests can be made for a video call or a private hearing with valid reasons. If a hearing does not take place, a judge’s decision will be made based on your documentation and evidence.
The Hearing Process
If you do have an oral hearing you will be notified by email or post which will provide your hearing date and details.
This hearing may not take place for several months, or even a year. Sometimes you will be asked to attend a pre-hearing, called a Case Management Review (CMR) where the tribunal will check to see if you and the Home Office are ready for a full hearing. A CMR will generally be conducted via telephone, however, your Notice of Hearing will let you know whether it needs to be in person.
If a full hearing goes ahead it will be attended by the following:
- Your sponsor, if you have one
- Your representative, if you have one
- A judge
- A clerk and other tribunal staff
- A presenting officer from the Home Office
- Witnesses to give evidence
- An interpreter, if you have requested one
- Other tribunal members
- Other members of the press, media or public
What Happens At An Appeal Hearing?
Overview
If you appeal, an independent body (separate from the Home Office) will oversee your case and decide whether to overturn the Home Office’s refusal. If you have a hearing it will take place at the first-tier tribunal court in the immigration and asylum chamber. On the day there will be several cases heard and the judge will decide what order these will be.
If You Have Legal Support
Your legal representative will prepare your case, represent you and provide legal arguments. However, you will also be required to give evidence.
If You Do Not Have Legal Support
If you are representing yourself you will give evidence first and state the reasons why your appeal should be allowed.
The Home Office Presenting Officer will then ask you questions via cross-examination which may go for around 30 minutes. The judge can also ask you questions and if there is no representative from the Home Office, the judge will be responsible for asking all of the questions.
The Home Office Presenting Officer will then address the judge arguing why the appeal should be dismissed. Lastly, you will have a chance to respond to what has been said and reiterate why your appeal should be allowed.
It can be helpful to make notes throughout this process. You can also supply a document which details the summary of your arguments and your key points. A copy of this will need to be given to the judge and the Home Office Presenting Officer.
If the Appeal Cannot be Resolved During the Hearing
If there is an issue with your hearing date, the hearing is adjourned or it cannot be resolved, your appeal will be rescheduled for another day. The tribunal will arrange this and ensure that the same people will be present.
When Is A Decision Made?
A judge will rarely make a hearing decision on the day. The outcome of your appeal will take around 3-4 weeks. If your appeal outcome is taking longer than expected you can contact the tribunal or ask your legal representative to enquire.
What Happens After An Asylum Appeal?
What happens after an asylum appeal heavily depends upon the outcome of your appeal.
A Positive Result
The Home Office has the right to appeal at the upper tribunal and they have 14 days to request permission to appeal.
If your appeal decision has been successful and the Home Office has chosen not to appeal (or has appealed and lost) they will proceed to grant you status and provide you with the necessary documents.
A Negative Result
If you have been unsuccessful and refused by a judge in a first-tier tribunal, you may be able to appeal the decision at an upper tribunal at an error of law hearing. If you have legal representation they will be able to assist you with the next steps you can take if you wish to appeal this decision.
How Birmingham Lawyers Can Help You
The asylum appeal process can often be difficult to navigate. That’s why it’s important that you receive support so that your appeal process is as smooth as possible. The team at Birmingham Lawyers are highly experienced and will be able to guide you through the correct procedures so you can get through this challenging process.
Birmingham Lawyers will be able to help you prepare your application, build your case, submit documents and represent you in legal proceedings. Not only are they passionate about securing a positive outcome, but they will also ensure that your rights are upheld and you have the best case possible to present to the tribunal.
Call us today on 0121 667 6530 for immediate assistance with your situation and the UK asylum appeal process.
Last modified on October 27th, 2023 at 1:16 pm
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Strong legal representation will give you the best case to appeal a decision. Your legal support will help you prepare documentation and evidence to ensure that there are no administrative errors and that you are ready for the tribunal.
- When you appeal you will need to state the grounds you are relying on. These grounds fall under section 84 (1) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. An appeal against the refusal of an asylum request or claim can include the following grounds:
That removal of the appellant from the United Kingdom would breach the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Refugee Convention;
That removal of the appellant from the United Kingdom would breach the United Kingdom’s obligations in relation to persons eligible for a grant of humanitarian protection;
That removal of the appellant from the United Kingdom would be unlawful under section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (public authority not to act contrary to the Human Rights Convention).
- Yes. Because there may be some time between your application being submitted and your appeal, you may submit new evidence at a later date. You must also disclose why you did not submit this evidence earlier.
- The first-tier process is the initial court which handles asylum appeals. The upper-tier process manages appeals made against the first-tier decisions.
- Your legal representative is there to guide you through the application, hearing and appeal processes. They will also represent you during the hearing or arrange for another barrister to do so.
- If, after the appeal process you are unsuccessful, you may be considered ‘appeal rights exhausted’. However, you and your lawyer can still submit further submissions, which is evidence that is given to the Home Office after the appeal process.
- If further submissions have been submitted, the Home Office will decide whether this makes your case a fresh claim. To be considered a fresh claim the evidence must be new and relevant information and the Home Office will do a legal test to ensure this.
- You will need to gather any available evidence that may assist with your claim. Your legal representation will then assist with writing arguments that support your evidence and help you gather the necessary documentation. Once these are collated, your claim and further submissions will need to be submitted in person.