The Asylum process is complex, and it is essential that young people get specialist legal advice.  Coram Children's Legal Centre have produced a guidance document that you can download here. An asylum process flowchart is also available to view here.

Outcomes of the Asylum process

• Refugee Status: valid for 5 years. Following which the young person can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Short of British Citizenship this is the most secure form of legal status for young people.
• Humanitarian Protection: this is granted if the Home Office do not accept that the child meets the criteria of the Refugee Convention. It is granted if their individual circumstances mean that it is too dangerous to return them back to their country of origin. It is valid for five years following which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. At the present time, very few young people are granted this type of leave to remain.
• UASC Leave: this is granted for 30 months or until the young person is 17.5 years old, whichever is shorter. It is important to note that UASC leave is a refusal of asylum and is a weaker form of protection; this is covered in the UASC Leave Coram factsheet download.
  
• Discretionary Leave – granted where there are exceptional circumstances or compelling reasons, such as if the child is a victim of trafficking.

Appealing the Home Office decision

Young people are able to appeal the Home Office decision and it is important that they are linked in with solicitors who can help them do this. The Home Office has the same rights of appeal as the young person.

Appeal Rights Exhausted

once a young person has gone through the appeal process and the refusal still stands they become ‘Appeal Rights Exhausted’ and will be expected to leave the UK when they reach 18 years old. Appeal Rights Exhausted (ARX) means that they have No Access to Public Funds (NAPF) post 18. In practice this means that the young people are not entitled to education, housing or financial benefits. They are also not allowed to work. However, as care leavers, young people will continue to be supported by Brighton and Hove with housing and living expenses in the same way as any other care leaver or until they are removed from the UK.