UK asylum system: Key numbers, trends and definitions

The Government is planning to change the UK’s asylum laws, including lengthening from five years to 20 years the period a refugee has to wait before being able to claim permanent settlement.

Here the PA news agency looks at the latest available data on people moving through the asylum system, including the number waiting for a decision on their claim and who are in special accommodation, as well as those who go on to settle in the UK.

– Who can claim asylum in the UK?

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 already be here in the country before they can make a claim.

– How many people claim asylum in the UK?

A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

The number is up 14% from 97,107 in the year to June 2024, according to the latest available figures from the Home Office.

Migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats accounted for 39% of the total number of people claiming asylum in the year to June.

– What is the current size of the asylum backlog?

There were 90,812 people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June 2025.

This is down 17% from 109,536 at the end of March and down 24% from 118,882 a year earlier at the end of June 2024.

The total peaked at 175,457 at the end of June 2023, which was the highest figure since current records began in 2010.

The number of people waiting more than 12 months for an initial decision stood at 27,998 at the end of June, down from 40,773 at the end of March and well below the recent peak of 91,741 in June 2023.

– What are the most common nationalities of people claiming asylum?

Pakistani was the most common nationality among asylum applicants in the year to June 2025, accounting for 11,234 people, or 10.1% of the total.

Afghan was the second most common nationality (8,281 or 7.5%), followed by Iranian (7,746 or 7.0%), Eritrean (7,433 or 6.7%) and Bangladeshi (6,649 or 6.0%).

– Why are asylum seekers placed in special accommodation?

The Government has a legal responsibility under the 1999 Immigration & Asylum Act to house asylum seekers who cannot pay for their own accommodation while they are waiting to hear the outcome of their claim.

Not all asylum seekers will need support as some are likely to be self-sufficient or receive help from family or friends.

– How many asylum seekers are in accommodation?

People who apply for asylum in the UK move through different types of accommodation while waiting to hear if their claim has been approved.

They are placed first in what is described by the Home Office as “initial accommodation”.

This is short-term temporary housing for asylum seekers who are waiting to have their level of support decided and is most commonly privately-managed hostels.

Some 1,665 asylum seekers were in initial accommodation as of the end of June 2025.

Once support has been granted, they are moved to what is called “dispersal accommodation”, where they remain while waiting to hear if their application for asylum in the UK has been granted or refused.

Dispersal accommodation is intended to be longer-term temporary accommodation and is typically privately-managed houses, flats or rooms in properties of multiple occupancy.

Some 66,234 were in dispersal accommodation at the end of June.

Asylum seekers can also be placed in what is called “contingency accommodation” when there is not enough dispersal accommodation available.

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

There were 34,314 asylum seekers in contingency accommodation at the end of June, including 32,059 in hotels.

– How has the number of asylum seekers in accommodation changed?

A total of 102,866 asylum seekers were in accommodation as of the end of June, up 6% year on year from 96,642, but lower than two years ago in June 2023, when it stood at 113,274.

The number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels, 32,059, is also up year on year (from 29,585) but lower than the figure two years ago (50,546).

– What happens when people are granted asylum in the UK?

Their status changes from asylum seeker to refugee and they will receive a “notice to quit” from their asylum accommodation.

Anyone who has been granted the right to asylum in the UK automatically becomes a refugee and will receive a visa giving them leave to remain in the country for five years.

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.

After five years, refugees are able to apply for indefinite leave to remain, or settled status, in the UK.

– How many refugees end up with settled status in the UK?

Some 39,946 grants of settlement were issued to people with refugee status in the year to June 2025.

This was up from 34,137 in the previous 12 months and 31,644 in the year to June 2023, but lower than the 40,631 issued in the year to June 2022.