Refused asylum? Lost your documents?

You are entitled to the originals or copies of every document the Home Office issues concerning your case. It is your right in law.

But you may have been evicted from your accommodation following the refusal of your claim and been forced to move from one place to another. In the process, you may have lost all your papers. You might have lost contact with your solicitor, or they might be asking for large sums of money to transfer copies of your papers to you.

In any case, you are entitled to see the file the Home Office has on you: and it may help your case to do so, as there may be information which you have never seen and which demonstrates that the Home Office is not presently able to remove you from the UK.

So, if you are subject to immigration control, you can write to the UKBA and ask for copies of all recorded information. Your request would be handled under the subject access provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). There is a charge of £10 for obtaining the data.

If you require copies of information held on you by the UKBA, please contact:

UK Border Agency
Subject Access Bureau
10th Flor
Sunley House
Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AP

Include your full nake as on your UKBA documents, together with Port Reference and/or Home Office reference numbers and a contact address.

Entitle the letter 'Data Protection Act 1998: Subject Access Request'

Then write:

'I would be grateful if you could disclose the entire contents of my file. I enclose a cheque for £10'.

Sign the letter and send the original, keeping a copy, then send it by recorded delivery, enclosing a cheque for £10 made payable to 'Home Office Accounting Officer'.

You should receive a reply within 20 working days.