Last-minute asylum claims face extra scrutiny in deportation crackdown

Migrants who lodge last-minute asylum claims in a bid to delay deportation are set to face enhanced scrutiny under planned changes to the Immigration and Asylum Bill. Protection claims filed without a valid explanation for their timing will count against the applicant’s credibility when cases are heard.

At present migrants cannot be lawfully deported while a protection claim is outstanding, even when it arrives at the eleventh hour. Deportation orders therefore meet long delays while officials process initial decisions and appeals. In some instances people held in immigration detention have been released into the community while new applications are examined. That practice has fed a heavy backlog. Asylum and protection appeal cases take an average of 72 weeks to reach a hearing, and roughly 156,000 cases sit waiting for a first-tier tribunal, according to government documents published on Thursday.

Under the new system any migrant facing deportation will receive a formal claim notice. It will require them to set out every ground for remaining in the country, including protection claims and supporting evidence, before a fixed deadline. Judges and other decision-makers must then take account of when the claim and related material, such as trafficking allegations, were submitted.

Any application made after the cutoff, or after notification of removal, will be treated as a late claim. Its timing will weigh against the applicant. The measures build on existing provisions in the bill that already aim to accelerate belated asylum applications from people subject to enforcement action. The amendment is also intended to ensure more claims are examined before a migrant can be released, rather than allowing last-minute filings to freeze the removal process.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum Anna Turley said people should not be able to frustrate a lawful removal by waiting until the steps of the plane to make an asylum claim without good reason. By closing this route to abuse, she added, the changes will prevent unnecessary delays, speed up removals and restore order and control to the immigration system. GB News notes the government will bring the reforms forward by amending the bill, putting clear pressure on those who treat the system as a last-ditch delay tactic.