In the last few months, we have been made aware that people in the asylum system who are representing themselves at appeal have been lodging appeals in the wrong tribunal (court) system. 

People who intended to appeal the Home Office’s refusal of their asylum claim at the First-tier Tribunal for immigration and asylum (IAT) have instead been lodging their appeals at the Asylum Support Appeals Tribunal. The First-tier Tribunal for Asylum Support (AST) is a court solely dedicated to hearing appeals regarding the withdrawal or refusal of asylum support. 

Under the AST rules, the tribunal must process all appeals that are lodged, and check whether the person actually intended to appeal to the AST. This ultimately leads to the AST having to invalidate applications intending to appeal negative Home Office asylum decisions. The crucial issue is that, in the meantime, the time will be running out or will have already run out on the person’s deadline for lodging an appeal at the (correct) First-tier Tribunal for asylum appeals. 

This blog is a call to action to our community to make it clear to the people we know who are moving through the asylum system that there is a difference between: 

• Bringing an appeal at the immigration and asylum First tier Tribunal against an asylum claim refusal, and
• Bringing an appeal at the Asylum Support Appeals Tribunal for a withdrawal of asylum support. 

The difference between asylum appeals and asylum support appeals

The First-tier Tribunal (Asylum Support chamber), sometimes referred to as the AST, is responsible for handling appeals against decisions made by the Home Office to:

• reject a claim for asylum support
• cancel existing asylum support

Asylum support includes both accommodation and financial support provided by the Home Office to people who claim asylum in the UK. 

You can learn more about asylum support, and the steps you can take if your asylum support is taken away, in our Toolkit page. 

You can learn more about appealing to the AST by taking a look at the resources published by the Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP) here. 

The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum chamber), sometimes referred to as the IAT, is a separate court responsible for handling appeals against some decisions made by the Home Office relating to:

• permission to stay in the UK
• deportation from the UK
• entry clearance to the UK
• applications for immigration bail from people being held by the Home Office on immigration matters.

You can learn more about appealing a negative Home Office decision (whether or not you have a lawyer), and the steps for preparing an appeal and also representing yourself at an appeal hearing in our Toolkit. 

It is so important for people who are in the asylum system to know of their right to access these courts, but also to ensure that they are bringing action in the correct court. This is particularly crucial for people who are navigating the system without legal representation. 

We hope that our community will spread awareness of this difference far and wide.