Who qualifies for a certificate of travel?
On 17 March 2008 the certificate of identity changed its name to the certificate of travel. The colour of the document will changed from brown to black. The validity and criteria for issuing the document have not changed. If you currently hold a brown certificate of identity document, you can still use it until it expires.
This page explains who may apply for a certificate of travel. For more general information about certificates of travel, see Certificate of travel.
You may apply for a certificate of travel if you have not been given refugee status in the United Kingdom or recognised as a stateless person.
You must have been:
- given permanent residence of the United Kingdom (we call this 'indefinite leave to remain'); or
- exceptional leave to enter the United Kingdom; or
- exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom; or
- discretionary leave to remain in the United Kingdom; or
- humanitarian protection.
- ACD 1047;
- ACD 1080;
- ACD 2164;
- ACD 2168;
- ACD 2169;
- ADL 27;
- GEN 19;
- ICD 0009;
- ICD 0128;
- ICD 0717;
- RON 58; and
- RON 60.
You must also provide documentary evidence that you have been formally and unreasonably refused a passport by the authorities of the country of which you are a national. You must obtain this evidence before you apply for a Home Office travel document.
To do this, you will need to apply for a passport from your embassy or high commission. If your passport application is formally and unreasonably refused, you must send us the refusal letter from the embassy or high commission with your application for a certificate of travel.
You will need to show why the refusal is unreasonable. We do not consider it unreasonable if you have been refused a passport because:
- you have not completed military service;
- you did not provide evidence to confirm your identity; or
- you have a criminal record in your country.
Exceptions
If we have accepted that you have a fear of the authorities of your country, you may not need to send us a letter from your embassy or high commission. If we have accepted that you have such a fear, it will say so in the letter we sent you when we informed you of our decision on your asylum application. If you have been allowed to stay in the United Kingdom for some other reason, such as family circumstances or a medical condition, you will have to try to obtain a passport from your embassy or high commission.
If your country does not have an embassy in the United Kingdom, or your embassy is currently unable to process your passport application and has refused to accept your application, we may not require you to prove your application has been unreasonably refused but may give you a certificate of travel that is valid for only one year. This will depend on the reasons why your embassy is unable or unwilling to accept your application.
If your application for a passport is being processed but this will take an unreasonably long time, we will consider giving you a certificate of travel if you can prove you have an urgent need to travel for compelling and compassionate reasons. You will need to send us documentary evidence of your need to travel and a receipt from your embassy for your passport application. A holiday is not considered an urgent reason for travel. Acceptable reasons may include travel for:
- essential employment or business reasons;
- compassionate reasons;
- essential educational trips; or
- religious reasons or other compelling reasons why you believe it is essential for you to travel.
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.
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Stateless
Someone who is not considered as a national by any country under the terms of its laws.