Asylum and immigration in the UK: Key terms and definitions

The topic of migration often involves technical words and phrases whose meaning can seem unclear or be open to misinterpretation, such as the difference between a migrant and an asylum seeker, or the concept of “leave to remain”.

Here, the PA news agency explains some of the most common terms used when reporting and discussing UK migration.

– Migrant

A migrant is defined by the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration as a person who is moving or has moved across an international border, or within a state, away from their usual place of residence.

The move can be temporary or permanent, and can be for reasons such as work or study or to escape war or persecution.

There is no agreed definition of a migrant under international law.

Migrants can move within a country (internal migration) or across borders (external migration).

The UK has internal migration – for example, people leaving one part of the country to move to another for work – as well as external, such as students arriving in the UK on a study visa to attend a university.

– Asylum seeker

An asylum seeker is a type of migrant.

Unlike migrants who have come to the UK on a visa or through a humanitarian scheme to escape war, asylum seekers have not been granted the legal right to come to the country.

Instead, they are people who have travelled to the UK to claim asylum here.

To be eligible for asylum in the UK, a person must have left their country and be unable to go back because of fear of persecution, according to the Home Office.

Claims cannot be made from outside the country in which the claimant wishes to seek asylum.

This is why someone seeking asylum in the UK has to be already here, in the country, before they can make a claim.

– Refugee

Anyone who has been granted the right to asylum in the UK is a refugee.

To stay in the UK as a refugee, an asylum seeker has to demonstrate they are unable to live safely in any part of their own country because of fear of persecution, because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or other factors that could place them at risk, such as gender identity or sexual orientation, according to Home Office guidance.

Not all asylum seekers will become refugees, as some will have their claim refused.

However, all refugees have previously been asylum seekers.

– Legal migration

Most migrants who come to the UK do so legally, whether on a visa or through a humanitarian resettlement scheme.

The most common types of visa are for work or study and these account for the majority of people who immigrate to the UK legally.

A smaller number come on a family visa, joining relatives or partners who have already settled in the country.

Another form of legal migration is through one of the Government’s safe humanitarian routes, which are set up to allow people from specific countries to resettle here.

– Resettlement

The UK runs a range of resettlement schemes to bring people from other nations to this country.

Resettlement is not the same as claiming asylum.

People who have been resettled in the UK from elsewhere have not first travelled to this country to claim asylum.

Instead they have been granted resettlement before arriving in the UK, having been found eligible under a safe and legal Government-run scheme.

Recent examples include the Ukraine family and sponsorship schemes, to allow people affected by the Russian invasion to come to the UK; the British Nationals Overseas route, which was established to allow UK passport holders from Hong Kong to relocate here; and the Afghan resettlement schemes, set up following the Taliban’s takeover over of Afghanistan.

– Humanitarian protection

An asylum seeker who does not meet the criteria for a grant of refugee status can be considered for humanitarian protection.

This does not require the person to be at risk of serious harm for a specific reason such as race, religion or political opinion.

Instead it can be granted to people who face serious harm merely by being in their country of origin – who have found themselves living in the middle of a conflict zone, for example.

– Illegal migration

Any migrant who is living in the UK without permission, or whose permission to stay has expired, is in the country illegally.

The Oxford University Migration Observatory identifies four ways in which as person can become what they term an “unauthorised resident” of the UK: entering the UK on a visa and then overstaying; entering the UK without any authorisation or through deception; not leaving the country after an asylum application has been rejected; or being born in the UK to parents who are unauthorised migrants.

– Irregular migration

Irregular migration is a term used to describe examples of people travelling from one country to another outside of official rules and regulations.

It is preferred by some organisations and campaigners to “illegal migration”, who argue it helps focus attention on the means by which someone has decided to take – or been forced to take – an unauthorised route into a country, rather than labelling an individual as “illegal”.

The Home Office reports the number of people who have been detected arriving in the UK via so-called “irregular” routes, such as crossing the English Channel by boat or inside a ferry container.

– Net migration

Net migration is the difference between the number of people immigrating legally to the UK and the number who emigrate.

In 2024, an estimated 948,000 people moved long-term to the country while 517,000 left, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The difference between these two figures – the number of people immigrating minus the number of people emigrating – is what is known as net migration.

In 2024, net migration therefore stood at 431,000 people.

This was roughly half the number for 2023, which was 860,000.

Net migration hit a record 873,000 in 2022, driven mainly by a post-Brexit surge in non-EU migrants coming to the UK to work and study, combined with people being resettled from locations such as Ukraine and Hong Kong.

– Leave to remain

Non-British nationals who are resident in the UK have “leave to remain” status.

There are different types of leave to remain:

1) Limited leave to remain
Non-British nationals who are in the UK on a visa have limited leave to remain.

This means they have been approved to enter the UK and to remain here for a fixed period of time until their visa expires.

At the end of this period they are required to leave the country.

If they wish to stay, they can apply for a visa extension or for indefinite leave to remain, but can only stay if one of these is granted.

2) Indefinite leave to remain
This gives non-British nationals the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as they like and to apply for benefits if eligible.

It is also known as settlement or settled status.

It is not the same as British citizenship and does not give someone the right to vote in national elections or hold a British passport.

A person can only apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) if they have been lawfully living in the UK for a set period of time, which in most instances is currently five years.

Other conditions have to met before ILR is granted, such as proficiency in the English language and having no criminal record.

3) Further leave to remain
If someone is in the UK on a visa but not yet eligible for ILR, they might be able to extend their stay by applying for further leave to remain, which grants an additional period of temporary leave in certain circumstances.

Further leave is available only to certain types of visa, such as the spouse visa.

– Citizenship

Citizenship is the final step for foreign nationals who wish to become a naturalised citizen of the UK.

No foreign national can apply for British citizenship without first having indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

– Right of abode

If you are allowed to live or work in the UK without any immigration restrictions and do not need a visa or other authorisation to come to the country, you have right of abode.

All British citizens automatically have right of abode in the UK, along with some Commonwealth citizens.

– EU settled status

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, a settlement scheme was introduced for EU citizens who had been living in the UK before December 31 2020.

It also covered citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

EU settled status is equivalent to indefinite leave to remain and gives eligible citizens similar rights and benefits.

The scheme is now closed to most new applicants.

EU citizens who came to the UK from January 1 2021 onwards and who wish to settle in the UK need to apply for indefinite leave to remain.

– Support for asylum seekers

There are three types of Government financial and housing support available for asylum seekers:

1) Section 98. This is a form of temporary assistance for people who have applied for and are awaiting a decision on whether they will receive Section 95 support.

2) Section 95. This is support for people waiting a decision on their asylum application and is available to anyone with a claim or appeal outstanding.

3) Section 4. This is support for people whose asylum claim or appeal has been refused but who are destitute and unable to leave the UK

– Accommodation for asylum seekers

People who claim asylum after arriving in the UK move through different types of accommodation:

1) Initial accommodation. This is short-term temporary accommodation for asylum seekers before their Section 95 support has been determined, or for those who have been granted Section 95 support but who are waiting to move to longer-term temporary accommodation.

Hostels are the most common kind of initial accommodation.

2) Dispersal accommodation. This is for asylum seekers who have been granted Section 95 support and who are therefore waiting for a decision on their asylum application.

It is intended to be longer-term temporary accommodation and is typically privately managed houses, flats or rooms in shared houses.

3) Contingency accommodation. This is an additional form of accommodation that is used when not enough dispersal accommodation is available for asylum seekers waiting for a decision on their application.

Hotels are the most common kind of contingency accommodation, though hostels and other types of property are used.

Contingency accommodation is necessary because the Home Office has a statutory responsibility to provide for the essential living needs of all destitute asylum seekers.