Asylum & Protection

On the face of it, refugee status and humanitarian protection seem like two sides of the same coin. Both are a form of international protection granted to a person in need. They give most of the same rights to work, study and access benefits.

But as we shall see, they are underpinned by very different legal frameworks, and refugee status is undoubtedly superior to a grant of humanitarian protection in several ways. In particular, refugee status can allow people to move towards permanent residence and citizenship in the UK much more quickly than humanitarian protection.

The Home Office is the government department that assesses an asylum seeker’s claim to international protection in the UK. There are several stages to this process.

First, officials will assess whether refugee status can be granted. If it can, they then have to decide which type of refugee status to grant: “refugee permission”, which lasts for five years, or “temporary refugee permission” which lasts for two and a half.

If the person is not entitled to refugee status, the decision-maker moves on to assess whether humanitarian protection can be granted. If not, they move on to see whether permission to stay should be granted either under another paragraph of the Immigration Rules or on a discretionary basis.

At Quick Immigration Solutions, we will guide you through every stage of your Asylum, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave to Remain application.