Asylum seekers must pay off the full amount before they can be eligible for settled status under plans to be announced the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood
Asylum seekers will be made to pay up to £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and support once they start earning, Shabana Mahmood has announced. They must pay off the full amount before they can be eligible for settled status under the plans.
Eligible adults will likely pay off an amount each month above a set threshold – similar to a student loan. Migrants need settled status, or Indefinite Leave to Remain, to be able to permanently live, work and study in the UK.
The Government said it spent £4 billion on accommodation and support for asylum seekers last year, and the Home Office estimates the average cost per person per night of accommodating asylum seekers is £23.25 in dispersal accommodation and £144 in hotels – while subsistence payments range from £9.95 to £49.18 per person per week.
Home Secretary Ms Mahmood described the cost is “too high”. “We have already reduced asylum costs by £1 billion, but it is also right that we ask those who can contribute to do so,” she added.
“Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility. Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.”
Asylum seekers are expected to have to pay a total of around £10,000, but the Home Secretary will be able to adjust the amount, the Home Office said.
Those liable for the cost who leave the UK will be made to pay in full if they want to come back at a future date, the department added.
The powers needed to recover the costs will be set out by the Immigration and Asylum Bill when it is introduce to Parliament today. It comes after the Home Office revealed it is planning to use more former military barracks to house thousands of asylum seekers in its quest to shut all asylum hotels by the next election.
The number of people being housed in hotels has fallen to its lowest level since data was first reported in 2022, according to Home Office figures published last month.
Other reforms set to be laid out today include creating a “single route” that prevents migrants from appealing against a rejected claim and bringing further claims about new matters before their removal.