What is Section 4 support and how do I get it?
Section 4 is short-term support provided by the Home Office if your application for asylum has been refused, and your appeals have been unsuccessful.
Normally, if your asylum case has been fully refused, the Home Office expects you to either leave the UK voluntarily, or they will make arrangements to remove you. However if you are unable to leave the UK immediately and you would otherwise be homeless or without enough money to buy food (that is you are destitute), you may be eligible for Section 4 support.
Criteria
There are strict criteria for this and you must prove that you are eligible. We can offer advice on this issue and can help you to apply for this support. However, the Home Office are responsible for the final decision on your application.
If you are granted Section 4 support, you will be given accommodation and weekly support to the value of £35. You will be given your weekly support through an automated card payment system, called an ‘Azure’ payment card.
The Azure card can be used to buy food, toiletries, clothing, cleaning items, or any other items sold in certain shops which have agreed to accept the card.
Qualifying and applying for Section 4 support
We can help you apply for Section 4 support. Alternatively your legal representative, local law centre, Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) or refugee community organisation may also be able to help you to apply.
In order to be eligible for Section 4, you must provide evidence showing that you are destitute, meaning that do not have accommodation or money to buy food. For example:
- you could provide the letter from the Home Office stating you will have to leave the accommodation provided by them, making you homeless; or
- a letter from a person or organisation that has provided food and accommodation to you in the past, indicating that they can no longer do so.
You must also show that you meet at least one of the following five criteria:
- You are taking reasonable steps to leave the UK. For example, you may have agreed to return voluntarily by asking for assistance from Refugee Action.
- Your lawyer has applied for judicial review to challenge the refusal of your asylum application.
- You are unable to travel because there is no safe route available to return. According to the Home Office, there is currently no country to which this applies. Our advisers or your legal representative will be able to tell you if this has changed.
- You are unable to leave the UK because you are unfit to travel. For example, you have a specific illness or are in late pregnancy. This criterion is very strict and you must have a signed medical declaration from a doctor stating that you are “unfit to travel”. Most medical problems will not be considered serious enough. Your Scottish Refugee Council adviser can provide you with a blank copy of the medical declaration to take to your doctor.
- Fresh asylum claim/human rights claim. You have been to either the Glasgow or Liverpool immigration offices to lodge fresh submissions (fresh evidence or information) about your asylum claim. You will need to provide proof from UKBA that the submissions have been received.
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