Following earlier deferral, Home Office says all further submissions will have to be made in person in Liverpool from 30 March 2015
Right to Remain have reported today that the Home Office has confirmed that the announced change to the further submissions process will go ahead from Monday, 30 March.
The change will mean that all new asylum claims by those who have exhausted their appeals rights but who have not left the UK must be submitted in person at the Further Submission Unit (FSU) in Liverpool.
We reported on the Home Office's initial announcement and letter in January here and the subsequent legal challenge by Liverpool City Council here which delayed the introduction of the scheme.
The Home Office had intended it to take effect from 26 January 2015.
According to Right to Remain, the Home Office have confirmed they "now intend to proceed from 30 March 2015, following a pause in implementation, during which, we have held further discussions with Liverpool City Council."
Groups working with asylum seekers have criticised the change, saying that the cost of travel to Liverpool may prove to be an insurmountable barrier for many.
Refugee Action called the change "obstructive and damaging", with the group's Chief Executive, Stephen Hale, saying: "By making it more difficult for people to submit a fresh claim, the Home Office will hope to reduce the number of people who are entitled to financial support. After being forced to flee their homes and undertake a dangerous journey to desperately seek safety, this new bureaucratic obstacle means people will have to travel even further at great cost. These are people with little or no access to financial support, who are unable to work and often extremely vulnerable having survived some of the world’s worst regimes."
In its original letter available here, the Home Office said that only those with "exceptional circumstances" such as a disability or severe illness would be exempt from the requirement to travel and would still be able to submit claims by post.
The Home Office said in that letter that it is making the change in order "to consider the new information provided as swiftly and efficiently as possible."