Last week, the Home Secretary announced sweeping changes to the immigration system and asylum process – many of which have the potential to seriously impact the lives of people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

Among the announcements, several of the policies will have a significant effect on our guests.

The 30-month rule 

Refugee status will no longer last for 5 years, and, starting this month, anyone arriving to the UK who gets a positive asylum decision will have to undergo a ‘review’ every 30 months. We know from experience that many of our guests just want to move on and keep living their lives. This policy will leave them in an indefinite limbo, with the prospect of being sent back to the country they left always on the horizon. We often hear guests’ experiences about landlords refusing to rent to them. With this added uncertainty in their lives, these experiences will be even more widespread, with a much greater need for hosts all over the UK.  

Study visas 

With vague accusations of ‘widespread visa abuse’, the Home Office will be closing study visas for anyone from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan as well as skilled worker visas for Afghan nationals. For people from Myanmar and Sudan, the rate of successful asylum claims is more than 80%, meaning that the Home Office itself deems most of these applications ‘valid’. 

For many, student visas themselves can be a lifeline. In 2024, after years in limbo, twenty Afghan women arrived in Scotland to study medicine – finally achieving freedom from the Taliban as they blocked their ability to get an education. Now, for many, the Home Office has done the same. 

The right to work 

The Home Secretary also announced that from 26 March, those seeking asylum that have been waiting for the Home Office to make a decision for a year or more now can apply for jobs on the Skilled Worker list, instead of those on the Immigration Salary list.  Taking a job on this list would come with the removal of asylum support and accommodation.  

In practice this means anyone awaiting an asylum decision has a different set of jobs they’re allowed to apply for – and these restrictions help nobody. We speak to many of our guests who tell as they just want to be independent and work so that they can support themselves. Jobs on the government’s own approved list may not be readily available in the area. Often our guests have fled successful careers and want to continue using their skills in the UK. A compassionate asylum system would let them. 

A 42 day ‘move-on’ period 

When the government announced a trial 56 days move-on period at the end of 2024 it was unanimously welcomed by the sector. This would double the time that newly recognised refugees were given to find somewhere to live after being told to leave their asylum accommodation – effectively putting the move-on period in line with the homeless support provided by local authorities. 

When the trial was introduced, we saw the benefits of this, with a 50% increase in refugees leaving unsafe asylum hotels and going straight into permanent accommodation. 

The early signs of success only made it all the more shocking when last August, a month after pledging to extend the trial, the government announced a U-turn to the 28 days that left so many of our guests facing homelessness.  

Now, the Home Office has announced that while the legal period remains at 28 days, asylum support can continue until 42 after a positive asylum decision. While undoubtedly a move in the right direction, it’s still not aligned with the 56 days at which local authority homeless support begins. As a result, many newly recognised refugees could find themselves sleeping rough until then. 

We know the Home Office is aware of how these changes can impact people seeking sanctuary. Last month they announced that people coming to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme will now have 90 days to apply to extend their stay, instead of the previous 28 days.  

This announcement came with reassurances about Ukrainians having “greater certainty about their ability to remain” and “undue stress and uncertainty about their legal status in the UK.”  

This was undoubtedly a welcome move, but people fleeing threats in their home country should all receive the same care and concern. An inconsistent approach to those seeking sanctuary that treats people from certain countries as less deserving than others only emboldens anti-refugee fearmongering and leads us into a multi-tiered system which harms our communities.  

In the wake of these new policies, and anti-refugee sentiment being mainstreamed, now is a critical time for those seeking sanctuary. Supporting our work can help make a huge difference for those fleeing violence, conflict, and persecution. Whether you’d like to sign up to host, donate, or fundraise for us, everything our supporters do helps us get one step close to a future where nobody faces sleeping on the streets.

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