Clarifying and evidencing immigration status is essential to supporting someone who is homeless because it helps to determine the type of support they can access.
Non-UK Nationals may be uncertain of their own status in the country and may be fearful of consequences of sharing their immigration status. These fears may be based on past experiences or may be based on a lack of trust in professionals to maintain confidentiality. In some cases it may be necessary to build a relationship of trust with the individual before immigration status can be established.
Evidencing immigration status
Most non-UK Nationals who have a valid visa or positive immigration status should now have e-visas (with the exception of those awaiting decisions on asylum applications).
Not having an e-visa doesn’t necessarily mean the person doesn’t have a valid immigration status in the UK. It may be that they have never applied for one. In this case you may want to support them to set up an e-visa. You can read more about how to set up an e-visa or watch a recorded training session on how to support clients with e-visas.
To evidence Immigration status, people can log into their e-visa and generate a share code which can be given to the person who needs to check status. In someone has lost access to their e-visa account they will need take some steps to start the recovery process.
People who don’t have an e-visa will include those in the asylum system who haven’t yet received a decision. These people will have a physical card Application Registration Card (ARC) instead. Once granted refugee status, the Home Office will set up an e-visa for them.
There are also some people who were granted indefinite leave to remain in the past and still have old fashioned letters from the Home Office or stamps in an old passport. These documents are still valid evidence of immigration status. However ideally someone with one of these should set up an e-visa as soon as possible. If they have never had a biometric card they would need to start a ‘no time limit’ application to the Home Office first. You can learn how to do this on this short recording.
Alternative ways of confirming Immigration Status
NHS and DWP
The NHS and DWP can check Immigration Status independently although they may ask the person directly for evidence. Local Authorities can also check independently using a system called NRPF Connect if they are members or the Recourse to Public Funds checker.
Contact with Solicitors and legal advisors
It may be possible to clarify someone’s status by making contact with their current or previous legal advisor or solicitor. This may be the first point of call for those who are
Homelessness Escalations Service (HES)
The HES is a government service that provides a national point of contact for individuals working with people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping and those at imminent risk of rough sleeping to confirm if they have legal status, and to progress any outstanding applications already submitted to the Home Office.
The HES provides a service to quickly provide immigration status information. For individuals with an ongoing application for legal status, the HES can request for the case to be expedited.
HES Reconsiderations Process
From the 30th June 2025, the Home Office has rolled out a ‘Reconsiderations Process’ for organisations supporting individuals who are rough sleeping (or at imminent risk of such). HES will carry out a triage of cases and will reject any cases where there is either no reconsideration route for the decision itself or where the customer has not evidenced that they are (at imminent risk of) rough sleeping.
The scheme focuses on reconsideration requests falling into the below categories as they are the most likely to be resolved quickly:
- Rejected applications where evidence/information requested is now available or had not been considered previously.
- Refused applications which were refused based on information that was claimed to be missing or was not considered previously, or evidence that would now clearly overturn the decision; or where there has been a clear factual inaccuracy that renders the application bound to succeed if the inaccuracy is corrected.
- Decisions where there are concerns that discretion, which is available to the decision-maker, has not been exercised with due regard to the fact of the person’s homelessness.
The HES reconsideration does not take the place of the appeal, and it is strongly advised that referrers lodge appeals in the normal way in case the reconsideration is either rejected at the triage stage or by the deciding unit.
Contacting the Home Office directly
If it is not possible to find information another way, it may be necessary to consider contacting the Home Office.
However, it is possible that enforcement action will be taken as a consequences of the Home Office becoming aware of an individual’s presence in the UK when they have no current immigration permission.
For non-specialist services, it is recommended that any decision to contact the Home Office is reviewed by a manager in the organisation.
EEA Nationals
EEA Nationals who were resident in the UK before 31 Dec 2020 may have Settled Status, Pre-settled status or a certificate of application which shows they have applied.
Those with Settled Status have the same entitlements as UK citizens in terms of accessing housing and support. EEA Nationals with pre-settled status or those who have applied but not yet received a decision may be able to access services if they pass the habitual residence test.
EEA Nationals without settled status, pre-settled status or a pending application are subject to the same immigration controls as any other Non-UK National and their eligibility to access services will depend on their specific immigration status.
