Travel
What are the statelessness immigration regulations in the UK?
The Appendix In January 2024, statelessness took the place of Part 14 of the immigration regulations. It gives stateless people a way to get permission to stay in the UK. The application is free, and after five years, a settlement is reached.
The Home Office’s statelessness guidelines The most recent update to “Permission to stay as a stateless person” was made in November 2024. Practitioners should also consult the UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. According to the Home Office guidance, the guidance will be followed in cases where it differs from the Handbook.
Who is stateless?
Appendix Statelessness adopts the definition of the 1954 Convention. A stateless person is defined as a “person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”.
State
The guidance says that “a ‘State’ is one recognised as such by the UK. This is regardless of the effectiveness of its government”.
Example
Kosovo is not recognised as a state by Spain, but it is recognised as a state by the UK. Therefore, a national of Kosovo, who is recognised as a citizen by Kosovo, will not be considered stateless by the UK.
Many Venezuelan nationals are unable to get a passport. Venezuela does, however, continue to be considered a state. A Venezuelan national will not be considered stateless, even if they cannot obtain a passport confirming their nationality.
Under operation of the law
Even if someone seems to be a citizen under the law of a particular state, they may still be considered stateless if they are not treated as a citizen in practice. The Home Office guidance recognises that:
Where the national authorities have in practice treated an individual as a non-national even though:
the applicant appears to meet the criteria for automatic acquisition of nationality under the operation of a country’s laws
the applicant has cooperated with reasonable requests from the State and has made a genuine attempt to acquire nationality
it is the position of the national authorities rather than the letter of the law that is likely to be decisive in concluding that a State does not consider such an individual as a national. For example, this may occur where discrimination against a particular group is widespread in government departments or where, in practice, the law governing automatic acquisition at birth is systematically ignored and individuals are required instead to prove additional ties to a State.
Where there are difficulties in obtaining relevant travel documents to facilitate removal this does not, in itself, mean that the applicant is stateless or inadmissible to the country of return.
The requirements of Appendix Statelessness
Appendix Statelessness is set out in the format of Validity, Suitability, Eligibility.
Validity
An applicant must:
- apply online using form FLR(S) – there is no fee and no immigration health surcharge to pay
- provide biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) when required
- establish their identity
- be in the UK
The requirement to establish their identity was not included in Part 14 – many stateless people have no form of identity. If an applicant does not have identity documents, then an explanation should be given on the form FLR(S) and this should be accepted by the Home Office.
Suitability
This section sets out where someone will be excluded from statelessness leave. This will either be because of their past behaviour or because they have alternative protection.
Applicants will be excluded if they:
- Fall for refusal under Part 9 of the immigration rules or have committed serious crimes outside the UK. Some of the Part 9 grounds that come up most often, where the Home Office must refuse an application, include:
- Deception – where deception was used in an application. Stateless people often live in limbo in the UK for many years and have used false documents.
- Deportation Order – If there is a Deportation Order in place then an application to revoke it should be made in parallel with the statelessness application.
- Criminality – where there has been a sentence of over 12 months; or if the person is a persistent offender; or they have committed offences which have caused serious harm.
If a person is refused for a reason under Part 9 but has been recognised as stateless and cannot therefore be removed to any country, they may be granted Discretionary Leave outside the immigration rules. Discretionary Leave is a ten-year route to settlement (if the person is not excluded from settlement) and must be renewed every 30 months. Home Office guidance on Discretionary Leave can be found here.
- Are receiving protection from UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East)
This provision means that Palestinians will not be recognised as stateless in the UK if they voluntarily leave an area where they could get assistance or protection from UNRWA. However, if a Palestinian in the UK cannot access UNRWA protection now, for example because of legal or practical barriers, or if they left an area where they were under protection for reasons beyond their control, they can be recognised as stateless. This provision is the mirror of Article 1D of the Refugee Convention. There is a Free Movement briefing on Article 1D .
- Are recognized by the competent authorities of a country where they have lived in the past to have rights similar to those of a citizen.
Guidance says that to be recognised as stateless, a person must not be able to ‘establish a right of admission as a permanent resident or status leading to permanent residents. in any relevant countries.’
In some cases, the Home Office might say that the applicant is admissible to another country because they have the right to register as a national of that country – but this is only correct if that registration is a right, not a request which could be refused, and it should be a real, immediate possibility. For example, where parents could register a baby as a national at the embassy of their country simply by producing their documents and the baby’s birth certificate.
Eligibility
To be given statelessness leave the applicant must meet the definition in the 1954 Convention and be a person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law.
They must have taken all reasonable steps but failed to:
- acquire, or re-acquire, nationality with the competent authorities of any relevant countries; and
- establish a right to admission as a permanent resident, or a status leading to permanent residence, in any relevant country.
If the applicant is admissible to another country, their application for leave will be rejected.
The Home Office guidance confirms that admissibility must be “for purposes of permanent residence”. Being able to enter another country for a short-term visit, for example, will not count as being admissible for this application.
Admissibility is to any country, not only the presumed country of origin or former habitual residence. The Home Office guidance states, for example, that:
Applicants will not just need to show that they are not admissible to another country, but that they have “taken reasonable steps to facilitate admission to their country of former habitual residence or any other country but has been unable to secure the right of admission”.
If the applicant is a child born in the UK, their parent or legal guardian must have taken all reasonable steps to register the child’s birth with the competent authorities and have been unsuccessful.
Paragraph S3.4 of Appendix Statelessness states that an applicant must have “obtained and submitted all reasonably available evidence to show they meet the eligibility requirements.
The burden of proof rests with the applicant to show that they are stateless, although the Home Office guidance states that some allowances will be made:
caseworkers must make a distinction between applicants who show no interest in genuinely cooperating or providing supporting information and those who may be unable to submit such evidence or information because, for example, they do not have the resources or knowledge to obtain information about the laws of a given State. In such circumstances, where the available information is lacking or inconclusive, the caseworker must assist the applicant by interviewing them, undertaking relevant research and, if necessary, making enquiries with the relevant authorities and organisations.
Arguably, the Home Office is wrong in stating that the burden of proof rests with the applicant to show that they are stateless. In the case of Hoti v Croatia (no 63311/14), the European Court of Human Rights criticised Croatia for not proactively determining the applicant to be stateless, indicating that it is indeed a shared burden.
The standard of proof is the “balance of probabilities”. That is, an applicant must show that it is more likely than not that they are stateless.
The Home Office guidance provides a non-exhaustive list of evidence which can be provided:
- testimony of the applicant (written application and/or oral evidence at interview)
- responses from relevant foreign authorities to an enquiry regarding the nationality status of an individual
- identity documents (for example, birth certificate, extract from the civil register, national identity card, voter registration document), passports or other travel documents (including expired ones)
- documents regarding applications to acquire, or obtain proof of, nationality
- certificate of naturalisation or certificate of renunciation of nationality
- previous responses by states to enquiries on the nationality of the applicant
- marriage certificate, military service record/discharge certificate, school certificates, medical certificates/records (for example, attestations issued from hospital on birth, vaccination booklets)
- identity and travel documents of parents, spouse and children, immigration documents, such as residence permits of their country or countries of habitual residence
- other documents about countries of residence, for example, employment documents, property deeds, tenancy agreements, school records, baptismal certificates, and record of sworn oral testimony of neighbours and community members
In summary, for someone to be granted leave based on statelessness, they must:
- make a valid application
- not be “excluded” from recognition as a stateless person
- not fall for refusal on the grounds of being a danger to the security or public order of the UK; or on grounds set out at Part 9: general grounds for refusal of the Immigration Rules
- meet the definition of statelessness
- not be admissible to another country
- have obtained and submitted all reasonable evidence
Other considerations when making an application
Statelessness applications are complex and should be well-prepared and evidenced. Wherever possible, applicants should seek legal advice. Cynthia Orchard has written an excellent piece on securing legal aid for these applications. Asylum Aid and the Liverpool Law Clinic provide free advice and Asylum Aid also has useful advice on its website.
There is no right of appeal, but only a right to administrative review. Human rights arguments will not be considered by the statelessness determination team and there is no scope for a human rights appeal. The only remedy other than administrative review, is judicial review.
The Home Office file should always be requested via a subject access request as part of case preparation. This is because it might contain useful information (for example if the Home Office already made a finding that the applicant is stateless) but may also contain damaging information which must be explained (for example if the applicant previously said that they were a citizen of country X). Similarly to asylum claims, the Home Office will review all of the evidence submitted with the current and previous applications and will use any inconsistencies to refuse the applications.
What leave is granted?
At present, a successful applicant will be granted leave valid for five years. Successful applicants have the right to work and access public funds. They can also apply for a Home Office Travel Document.
Under current rules, applicants are eligible for indefinite leave to remain after five years of continuous lawful residence in the UK, where the latest leave of at least one year is as a stateless person. The whole five years do not necessarily need to be with leave as a stateless person, just the most recent leave.
Example
On 15 August 2024, Doria applied for leave based on statelessness, which was granted from 15 September 2024 to 15 September 2029. Before being granted statelessness leave, Doria had leave as the spouse of a British citizen valid from 2 March 2023. Under the current rules, Doria could apply for indefinite leave to remain on 2 March 2028, on the fifth anniversary of her lawful residence in the UK, even though she was only granted leave based on statelessness in September 2024.
Family members
The rules for family members changed in January 2024. Before that date, under Part 14 of the immigration rules, family members (partners and children) were granted statelessness leave in line with their sponsor. They could apply within the UK or abroad and only had to prove their relationship. There was no fee and no pre-flight condition.
That all changed with Appendix Statelessness. Applications made after January 31 2024 for family members must be made under Appendix FM with no special provisions to recognise their particular situation. They must meet all the financial and language requirements of Appendix FM and the fees or apply for exceptional leave and a fee waiver.
Family members in the UK can apply for statelessness leave if they are also stateless. Stateless family members outside the UK cannot apply for statelessness leave but must apply under Appendix FM. Family members who were granted leave in line with their stateless sponsor under Part 14 will not be affected and will continue on that pathway to settlement under the transitional provision in Appendix Statelessness.
This post has been revised and updated by Djamilla Hitchins of Asylum Aid. We also recommend reading the Best Practice Guide on Statelessness applications produced by the University of Liverpool Law Clinic.
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