Categories of Leave for Asylum Seekers

Click on the links below for more information on –

• Exceptional Leave (EL)
• Humanitarian Protection (HP)
• Discretionary Leave (DL)
• Employment for people with EL, HP or DL
  

Exceptional Leave to Remain

Before 1 April 2003, exceptional leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom was granted for up to three years in various circumstances, some of which applied to asylum seekers who were refused refugee status.

From 1 April 2003, the category of Exceptional Leave was abolished. 

Since then, where an asylum claimant does not qualify for refugee status, consideration is always given as to whether the claimant qualifies for Humanitarian Protection (HP) leave and if not, whether they qualify for Discretionary Leave (DL).

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Humanitarian Protection

Humanitarian Protection (HP) is a grant of limited leave for up to five years. Prior to 30 August 2005, HP was normally granted for up to three years.  

Leave may be granted on Humanitarian Protection grounds to a person who would, if removed from the UK, face in the country of return a serious risk to life or person arising from –

• The death penalty
• Unlawful killing
• Torture or inhuman or degrading treatment
• Punishment arising from the deliberate infliction of ill treatment

If protection is no longer needed and a person has no other basis of stay in the UK they will be expected to leave.

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Discretionary Leave

A person who is not able to demonstrate a need for protection under either the asylum or Humanitarian Protection provisions may qualify for a grant of Discretionary Leave (DL).

DL will only be granted for one of a defined number of reasons. 

Anyone who is granted leave to remain in the UK on this basis will have the right to work.

A person on DL will normally be granted leave to a maximum of three years. At the end of any period of leave they may be eligible to apply for further DL. 

DL may be granted to a total period of six years. At the end of this time, a person may be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).  

A person who no longer qualifies for any form of leave will be expected to depart from the UK.

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Employment for people with Exceptional Leave, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave

An individual granted Exceptional Leave to Enter or Remain, Discretionary Leave or Humanitarian Protection can demonstrate their eligibility to work by showing –

• An endorsed passport or other travel document, or
• A combination of documents, such as a document containing their permanent National Insurance number, together with either a letter issued by the Home Office, or an endorsed Immigration Status Document.

Please refer to the Border and Immigration Agency website: Asylum