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Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition)
This content was last updated:
28 Nov 2025
Chapter 21: Support for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers
Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition)
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Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition)
Part 8: Support for asylum seekers
Chapter 21: Support for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers
Back to previous
Chapter 21: Support for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers
1. Introduction
Types of support for asylum seekers
Home Office asylum support department and guidance
Advice about entitlement to asylum support
2. Section 95 support
Who is entitled to section 95 support
Who is an asylum seeker
Who is a dependant of an asylum seeker
What is an asylum application?
Who is excluded from section 95 support
Your immigration status does not bar you from social security benefits
Asylum claim not made as soon as reasonably practicable
Applying for section 95 support
Requests for further information by the Home Office
How long section 95 support lasts for
When is an asylum application recorded?
When is an asylum claim determined?
Section 95 support for families with a child under 18
Proving you are an asylum seeker
Proving you are a dependant of an asylum seeker
Destitution
At what point in time must you prove that you are destitute?
When is your current accommodation adequate?
Is it reasonable for you to continue to occupy the accommodation?
Can you afford to pay for the accommodation?
Do you have access to the accommodation?
Are you likely to suffer domestic abuse from a close family member?
Being accommodated in prison or immigration detention
Resources taken into account
Supporting evidence of your resources
Bank and credit card accounts
Bank and credit card statements
Past visa applications
Evidence of employment
Support from friends, family and charitable bodies
If your partner receives benefits
If you are a lone parent
Assets that cannot be realised within the prescribed time
Home Office assessment of whether you are destitute
How the Home Office calculates the cost of adequate accommodation
How the Home Office calculates the cost of meeting your essential living needs
Calculating the destitution threshold and determining whether you are destitute
If your application for section 95 support is refused
What you get if section 95 support is granted
Financial support to meet essential living needs
Exceptional payments
Backdating section 95 financial support
Contributions to section 95 financial support
Section 95 accommodation and dispersal
Helen Bamber Foundation and Freedom from Torture
Healthcare needs and pregnancy
Family ties
Children’s education
Other factors relevant to the location of your asylum support accommodation
Conditions on which section 95 support is granted
Change of circumstances in relation to section 95 support
Termination of section 95 support
Transfer to accommodation on the Bibby Stockholm or other Home Office facility
Discontinuation of support to families with children
Recovery of section 95 support
If you have convertible assets
Offences relating to section 95
If your application for section 95 support is refused or section 95 support is discontinued
3. Section 98 support
Who is entitled to section 98 support
Who is excluded from section 98 support
Applying for section 98 support
What you get if section 98 support is granted
Conditions on which section 98 support is granted
Termination of section 98 support
Recovery of section 98 support and offences
If your application for section 98 support is refused or section 98 support is discontinued
4. Section 4 support
Who is entitled to section 4 support
Who is excluded from section 4 support
Applying for section 4 support
What you get if section 4 support is granted
The financial element
The accommodation element
Applying for additional section 4 support
Families with minor children and section 4 support
Proving entitlement to section 4 support
You are, or are likely to be, destitute within 14/56 days
You were in the past, but are no longer, an asylum seeker
You had a claim for asylum that was rejected or declared inadmissible
You have a good reason for not making a voluntary departure from the UK
Conditions on which section 4 support is granted
When section 4 support can be discontinued
Families with minor children, and the best interests of the children
Support for children in need under section 17 Children Act 1989
Recovery of section 4 support and offences
If your application for section 4 support is refused or section 4 support is discontinued
5. Support if your asylum claim has been expressly or impliedly withdrawn
Asylum claim treated as impliedly withdrawn
When you may be entitled to section 95 support
If no exceptions apply and any appeal to the Asylum Support Tribunal is unsuccessful
6. Support from your local authority
Asylum seekers with accommodation-related care needs
Who is entitled to, and who is excluded from, care and support
Refused asylum seekers with accommodation-related care needs
Asylum-seeking families with a child in need
Eligibility for section 95 support and local authority support for children in need
Eligibility for section 4 support and local authority support for children in need
Access to healthcare for those in receipt of support for children in need
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
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CPAG. "Chapter 21: Support for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers." In
Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition).
, 2024. Accessed March 12, 2026.
CPAG,
https://askcpag.org.uk/?id=-258908CITANCHOR.
CPAG. "Chapter 21: Support for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers." In
Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition).
, 2024. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://askcpag.org.uk/?id=-258908CITANCHOR.
Contributor(s):
CPAG
Title:
Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition)
Site name:
CPAG
Publisher:
Publication date:
August 13, 2024
Date accessed:
March 12, 2026
URL:
https://askcpag.org.uk/?id=-258908CITANCHOR
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