Immigration and Homelessness

Author: Jude Hawes, Head of Service, Equalities & Specialist Services, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent (CASNS)

Below is a list of the migrants who are arriving/living in Stoke-on-Trent, with information about their rights in terms of housing and benefits, and suggestions of what help is available.

ASYLUM SEEKERS: Housed by SERCO under a contract with the Home Office whilst their asylum claim is being processed.

• Extremely rare that any of them are homeless.
• If they are, refer into CASNS Asylum Service to resolve.

REFUGEES:

• Having had a positive decision on their asylum claim, refugees’ support from the Home Office – (including housing) is “discontinued” 28 days after the decision is made by the Home Office.  This means they will be homeless within 28 days of receiving their refugee decision.
•  “Refugee Status” has the same rights and entitlements – in terms of housing and benefits – as people with Indefinite Leave to Remain or British Citizens.
•  There are significant rates of homelessness amongst single refugees (mostly male).   There is some rough sleeping, but mostly sofa surfing.
•  Refugees are very reluctant to accept hostel accommodation – as they fear racism and substance misusers.
•  Many have some mental health issues:
  • Trauma prior to the arrival in the UK and the journey to the UK.
  • Long delays waiting for a decision on their asylum claim often depletes their resilience
• Refugees are entitled to the usual homelessness assistance and support

REFUSED ASYLUM SEEKERS:

• Single people lose all support – including housing – 21 days after the Home Office make the decision on their asylum claim.  Families will continue to be housed and supported in Serco accommodation.
• They can apply for further support from the Home Office in very limited circumstances -if they appeal the refusal or meet other very strict criteria.
• Most single refused asylum seekers are homeless and destitute for years after this decision.
• There are 100s living in the city – mostly sofa surfing, occasionally rough sleeping, working illegally and some being exploited by modern day slavery/ traffickers
• They have no entitlement to homelessness assistance; (unless they are ill enough to require support under the Care Act), are not allowed to work and have no recourse to any public funds.

MIGRANTS WITH NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS (NRPF): Many migrants in the UK are on visas that bar them from access to public funds (benefits, free school meals, local authority housing provision are some examples of public funds).   Since the introduction of the “hostile environment” to migrants 13 years ago, this restriction is commonly applied to entry visas.  The most common examples we find in Stoke are:

• Non-British mothers of British children who are entitled to stay in the UK to care for their children, or children who have been continuously resident in the UK for 7 years.
•  Workers who come to the UK to work, whose employment ends (this happened a lot during lock down).
•  Spouses (see below).

People with No Recourse to Public Funds – whether single or families – have no entitlement to benefits or housing.  If they are homeless (or threatened with homelessness) or destitute they may be able to access support from social services (families with children and vulnerable adults who meet the threshold).  The help they require is for immigration advisers to apply for the NRPF restriction to be removed from their visas.  Recent projects at CASNS have had a 100% success record – but it does take time.

SPOUSES/PARTNERS – DV

• People (mainly women) who come to the UK to join a spouse or partner – on a partner visa – have the NRPF restriction placed on their entry visa.
• If DV occurs and they want to leave their partner, they cannot access benefits, local authority housing or pay for a refuge place.
• To access public funds, they need to apply to the Home Office under the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession route (DDVC).
• DDVC decisions are made very quickly and provide access to public funds for 3 months – during which they can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in their own right based on being a victim of DV. This is known as a SETDV application
• Provided the SETDV application is made before the DDVC leave expires – so, within the 3-month period – they continue to have the right to access public funds whilst they wait for the SETDV application to be decided.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE OF CAUTION!!

Persons on partner visas are moving towards being allowed to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years or ten years depending on their circumstances

If they decide – after making a DDVC or SETDV application – to return to their partner, then they cannot meet the DV rule any longer. They will need to apply for leave to remain as a partner on human rights rounds. This will put them on a 10-year route to settlement. They cannot switch back to their previous partner visa.

DDVC applications (or – stand-alone SETDV applications) should therefore only be made once full immigration advice from an immigration solicitor or an OISC accredited adviser has been given.  CASNS has significant experience in this field.

Apart from the risk to the client of making a decision on these matters without full immigration advice, so they know exactly what risks they are taking and can make their decision with full information, it is also A CRIMINAL OFFENCE for anyone who is not properly accredited to give any immigration advice or assistance.

OVER-STAYERS / UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS: This group will have no current immigration status at all in the UK – they may have been victims of trafficking or modern slavery, or they may have simply over-stayed their visa.  They have no recourse to public funds and need full immigration advice to see whether they can regularise their status.

EU CITIZENS: The rights of EU citizens are dependent on their immigration status as well

EU citizens with Settled Status

• Have entitlement to benefits, work and to rent in the UK – but there is a backlog of applications (since the closing deadline of June 2021), so some people are still waiting for decisions.
• They retain their rights in the meantime.

Pre-Settled Status

• Most people with Pre-Settled Status also have recourse to benefits, housing, and the right to work.  However, some do not have entitlement to benefits due to not having a ‘right to reside’, For further information on this, see: https://www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk/news/pre-settled-status
•  It is also vital that they apply for Settled Status before the PSS expires or they will have no status and no entitlements.

No Settled or Pre-Settled Status – Late applications

The Settled Status scheme closed on 30th June 2021. However, there is provision for people who missed that deadline to make late applications. If they need help to make the application, they should be referred to an immigration adviser as this is immigration advice and is, therefore, work that can only be legally undertaken by an accredited person.

• They can only apply for Settled Status if they were already in the UK on 31st December 2020.
•  Late applicants who had the “right to reside” prior to June 2021, continue to have entitlements to benefits and the right to rent whilst their application is decided.
•  Any EU citizens who have not yet applied for Settled Status must urgently apply – they have no legal entitlements to benefits, housing, or work until they do so.

Problems re Pre-Settled Status and Settled Status:

Proving status (settled or Pre-Settled Status): The Home Office do not issue physical proof of status and EU citizens have had huge problems demonstrating their status to employers, landlords and the DWP.

UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

Ukrainian Refugees are here under two schemes – both allow them to access public funds.

If / when the placements break down, they are eligible for homelessness provision, but they may well not know about these entitlements and, obviously, single people may end up sofa surfing or homeless.

Jude Hawes

Head of Service

Equalities & Specialist Services

Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent (CASNS)

6th January 2023

Please note this information is correct at the time of writing, but may change as government makes frequent changes to immigration law and regulations.