Family Support

Occasionally an applicant applies for asylum support as part of a couple, where the other person in the couple is already receiving social security benefit. Typically, this might arise when an asylum-seeker and any dependant on their asylum claim arrives in the UK to join a member of their family, usually their spouse, who is already present in the UK with leave to remain, where the spouse is in receipt of benefits. A household such as this is known for asylum support purposes as ‘a mixed household’.

It can be challenging how to calculate whether an asylum applicant in a mixed household should be treated as destitute, and if so, what amount of asylum support they will be entitled to. This is because the Home Office guidance on mixed households is not easy to follow.

ASAP has produced a briefing note that is intended to help advisers determine these questions. It is available here: http://www.asaproject.org/uploads/January_2021_Mixed_Households_and_Asylum_Support.pdf.

We hope that it will be useful in mixed household cases.