Successful applications
This page explains what you can expect if your application for asylum is successful and you are recognised as a refugee, or if we decide to give you protection for humanitarian reasons.
If we recognise you as a refugee, or decide you may stay here for humanitarian reasons, you will be given permission to stay in the United Kingdom for an initial period of five years. We call this leave to enter or leave to remain. For more information about humanitarian protection, see Human rights applications.
The five-year, temporary permission to stay does not apply to refugees who are resettled in the United Kingdom through the Gateway Protection Programme. Those refugees are given permanent residence immediately. For more information about the Gateway programme, see Human rights applications.
If we do not recognise you as a refugee, or consider that you qualify for humanitarian protection, we may give you another type of temporary permission to stay in the United Kingdom. We call this discretionary leave to remain. The length of time you are allowed to stay will vary depending on your circumstances but it is unlikely to be more than three years initially. Discretionary leave to remain is given only in limited circumstances.
During the period of your temporary permission to stay, we may review your status because of something you have done or significant changes in the country you came from. We may also review your status when your temporary permission to stay is about to expire or when you apply for further permission to stay, either temporarily or permanently. See Active review for more details.
If you have been recognised as a refugee, or given humanitarian protection, you can apply to us for travel documents, if you do not have any, so that you can leave and enter the United Kingdom. You will not be allowed to travel to your country of origin.
After you are given permission to stay in the United Kingdom as a refugee or for humanitarian reasons, your case owner will help you to start building your new life in this country. We call this integration.
If we refuse your application, details of what you can expect are in Unsuccessful applications.
