Asylum support
This page explains what services and support are available to you as an asylum applicant, while you are waiting for our decision on your application.
Some services and support are available to everyone and others will depend on your income. Your case owner can give you more information about this and about applying for support.
The UK Border Agency will assess your circumstances and needs. If you are not able to support yourself and your family while we are considering your application, you may apply to us for money and somewhere to live. However, if you did not apply for asylum until some time after your arrival in the United Kingdom, we may not be able to help you with support unless it is necessary to do so to prevent a breach of your rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
If you meet the requirements to receive support, you will be given suitable housing and your case owner will arrange for you to collect money from a post office near where you live. The money will enable you to buy essential things such as food, clothing and toiletries. If you do not require accommodation but need money for essential things, or you need accommodation but not money, we will be able to give you this partial support.
We give you support on certain conditions, and you must sign an agreement to say you will obey those conditions. If you don't, we may stop your support. For more information, see Asylum support agreement.
If we provide your housing, you will not be able to choose where you live. You will be sent to wherever suitable housing is available within the United Kingdom. For more information, see Accommodation.
For more information about the money you may receive, see Cash support. To collect your cash support, you will need to show your application registration card.
For information about sending your children to school, see Education.
For information about the healthcare available to you, and help for people with disabilities, see health.
You will not normally be allowed to work while we are considering your asylum application. For more information about this, see Employment.
If your asylum application has been rejected, you may be able to receive short-term support while you are waiting to return to your country of origin. This is known as section 4 support because it is given under the terms of section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
There are strict requirements you must meet in order to qualify for section 4 support and it is not provided in the same way as other asylum support. For more information, see applying for support.
Who to contact with questions about support
If you have a case owner, he/she is the person to contact for advice about support.
If you do not have a case owner, you can contact the Asylum Support Customer Contact Centre on 0845 602 1739 between 0900 and 1700, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
For the full, technical details of the policy and process our case owners follow, see policy and law.