Certificate of travel
Changes to the certificate of travel
On 17 March 2008 the certificate of identity changed its name to the certificate of travel. The colour of the document has changed from brown to black. The validity and criteria for issuing the document has not changed. If you currently hold a brown certificate of identity document, you can still use it until it expires.
This page explains what a certificate of travel is and who may apply for one. For other types of Home Office travel document, see Travel documents.
If you have not been given refugee status in the United Kingdom or have not been recognised as a stateless person, you may be able to apply for a certificate of travel to enable you to travel. You must first prove that you have been formally and unreasonably refused a passport by the authorities of the country of which you are a national.
You should read Who qualifies for a certificate of travel? before you apply for a certificate of travel, to make sure you are able to prove you qualify. You cannot apply for a certificate of travel if you have been recognised as a refugee in the United Kingdom.
Unless the circumstances are exceptional, you cannot use a Home Office certificate of travel to travel to your country of origin, or the country from which you sought asylum.
Some countries do not accept certificates of travel as valid travel documents, so you should check with the authorities of the country you wish to visit before you apply for a certificate of travel. At present, countries that do not accept it include:
- Austria;
- Belgium;
- Denmark;
- France;
- Germany;
- Greece;
- Iceland;
- Italy;
- Luxembourg;
- Portugal;
- South Africa;
- Spain;
- Sweden; and
- The Netherlands.
You must have permission to stay here for at least six months from the date when you apply for a Home Office travel document. This is because other countries may not accept your travel document if you have less than six months' permission to return to the United Kingdom. If you have less than this, you should apply for an extension to your permission to stay before you apply for a travel document.
A certificate of travel issued to an adult will usually be valid for five years if you have permission to stay in the United Kingdom permanently (we call this 'indefinite leave to remain'). If you have temporary permission to stay in the United Kingdom (we call this 'limited leave to remain'), your certificate of travel will usually be valid for the same period as your permission to stay here.
Children cannot be named on the travel document of their parent or guardian. A certificate of travel issued to a child will usually be valid for five years if the child has permission to stay in the United Kingdom permanently (indefinite leave to remain). If the child has temporary permission to stay in the United Kingdom (limited leave to remain), the certificate of travel will usually be valid for the same period as his/her permission to stay here.
See Applying for details of how to make your application.
Terms explained
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Discretionary leave to remain
Permission to stay in the United Kingdom for reasons that are exceptional. This is sometimes given to someone who does not qualify for asylum but whom we believe should be allowed to stay for other reasons.
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Exceptional leave to enter or remain
Permission to stay in the United Kingdom for reasons that are exceptional. This type of permission is no longer given, but was sometimes given in the past to someone who does not qualify for asylum but whom we believe should be allowed to stay for other reasons.
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Humanitarian protection
Protection given to someone under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is not the same as asylum, which may be given only to those who are fleeing persecution, under the terms of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. We may give humanitarian protection to someone whom we believe does not qualify for asylum if we think there are humanitarian reasons for allowing that person to stay in the United Kingdom.