What documents can a refugee/asylum seeker produce for the purposes of obtaining student support?
When applying for support, it will often be necessary for a young person to submit evidence of their status in order to prove eligibility. Outlined below if the documentation that can be provided:
Asylum seeker (principal applicant)
Proof of application for asylum:
- All people who have applied for asylum will be issued with a letter of Temporary Admission (IS96) from the Home Office.
- They will subsequently receive an Application Registration Card (ARC) which is a credit card-sized plastic identity card. Each dependent of the asylum applicant will be given their own card. The card states the date of issue rather than the date when the application for asylum was made.
- In exceptional circumstances where an ARC card cannot be issued within three days, a Standard Acknowledgement Letter (
SAL) will be issued. This displays the name, date of birth and nationality of the claimant and any dependants, the date of arrival (if known), the date of application, their address and Home Office reference number. Photographs of the claimant and any dependants are also attached. - Copies of the above will confirm that the asylum applicant has made a formal claim for asylum.
- In some older cases an applicant may not have been issued with an ARC card on arrival but with a
SAL letter. ARC cards were not introduced until 2002. Asylum seeker (dependent)
- Each dependent will have their own individual ARC card
Individuals with Refugee status, Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave or Indefinite Leave to Remain:
- All persons and their dependents granted Refugee Status, Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave or Indefinite Leave to Remain will be given an ‘Immigration Status Document’. This is also known as a ‘vignette’ and may be placed in the person’s passport from their country of origin if they have one, or
- Clients may present a ‘Notification of Grant’ letter from the Home Office. The Home Office state that ‘this does not constitute proof of your status’ but should be considered if the Immigration Status Document has been lost and a replacement is being sought, or
Refugees may apply for a ‘travel document’. (This is because refugees are unable to be issued with a UK passport). It is blue and similar in appearance to a UK passport. If a young person has applied for an extension of their leave to remain are they still eligible for support?
If an application for an extension of DL/ELR has been made during the currency of that leave, the leave will not expire on the date it was limited to, by virtue of Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. Hence all entitlement will continue and will be automatically extended until:
- A decision is made to grant further leave (when the new leave takes over) or
- Where a decision to refuse further leave is made , until the time for bringing an appeal from that decision expires , or
- Where an appeal is brought , that appeal is finally disposed of
Paragraph 7 of the LSC Learner Eligibility Guidance 2008/09 states that:
“Learners who are attending programmes of more than one term’s duration, and are eligible for LSC funding at the start of their programme, will usually be eligible for LSC funding for the whole duration of their learning programme as well as any subsequent LSC funded programmes studied immediately end-on to their initial LSC-funded programme"
Therefore, a young person who has applied for an extension of their leave will continue to be eligible if they are eligible at the start of the course. [1]
What evidence should be provided if a young person has applied for an extension of their leave to remain?
All that a funding body could reasonably expect is some form of proof that at the start of the course the application was with the Home Office and a decision (if negative) had not yet been made.
The Refugee Council guidance to higher education outlines that:
"People applying for further leave to remain will have sent their original documents to the Home Office as part of the process. The Home Office does not send out a standard confirmation as a matter of course. In situations where it is difficult to obtain confirmation from the Home Office, we recommend that a legal representative’s letter confirming that the application has been sent is accepted.”[2]
It would be unreasonable for a body to demand that only original documents be accepted as proof of eligibility. It would also be unreasonable to demand that a Home Office decision on any appeal or request for extension of leave to remain be made prior to awarding support.
Revised 23/09/08
Notes
[1] Paragraph 18 of the same guidance specifies that “the concession available to learners under paragraph 7 is not available to [asylum seekers receiving section 4 support or in the UK for over 6 months] as their circumstances are expected to be confirmed before they undertake subsequent programmes"
[2] Refugee Council Briefing, 'Short Guide for Advisers on Access to Higher Education', April 2008, at http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/65B79EEF-98D8-4987-A6F9-9916FF09F323/0/HE_for_advisers.pdf
