In 2023, the Home Office introduced the Streamlined Asylum Process. It was a scheme intended to reduce the asylum backlog, and applied to people from from certain high-grant rate countries.

When the scheme was introduced, we wrote about it in our legal updates blog, and in the Toolkit. 

Streamlined Asylum Processing was also introduced for children in the asylum system. It is different to the adult process, and involves a meeting called a Preliminary Information Meeting (PIM). 

What has changed? 

The Home Office has updated its guidance on the streamlined process for children’s asylum claims, and now the process will continue for some children.

This means the streamlined process remains for unaccompanied and accompanied children from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan. Vietnam has been removed from the list of nationalities. It is now no longer a requirement to have made an application for asylum before March 2023.

It also affects children who have turned 18 while waiting for a decision on their asylum claim. 

What is the process?

If a child is eligible for the streamlined asylum process, they will be contacted by the Home Office to arrange a Preliminary Information Meeting (PIM). PIMS can take place at any point after the welfare interview, and without the need for a Statement of Evidence form. 

The guidance states that PIMs should not happen until at least 2 weeks after an accompanied child has lodged their asylum claim, or 2 weeks after an unaccompanied child has been taken into local authority care. 

No credibility issues will be raised during a PIM, and after the meeting the Home Office will decide if asylum can be granted. If they decide asylum cannot be granted after the meeting, they will invite the child to attend a substantive interview. 

To read more about this change, and how you can support a young person to request that their claim is considered under the Streamlined Process, read this article by FreeMovement.

We have also updated the Toolkit page on the Streamlined Asylum Process to reflect this change to the process for children.