Further Submissions in UK Immigration: A Complete Guide 2026

Further submissions are new information or evidence presented by an individual to the Home Office following the refusal of their protection (asylum and/or humanitarian protection) or Human Rights claim, or where their protection or human rights claim has been withdrawn or treated as withdrawn, and they have no more right to appeal. 

The Home Office must then assess this new information or evidence to determine whether the further submissions amount to a “fresh claim” under Immigration Rules – Paragraph 353.

The evidence should be genuinely new, significant, and create a realistic prospect that an immigration judge might reach a different decision if the case were heard again. When further submissions involve children, additional legal protections that relate specifically to the best interests, safety, development, and rights of the child come into effect.

What is Further Submissions?

Further submissions” means a person is submitting new evidence, has changed circumstances, or making fresh human-rights or protection arguments following a refusal of a protection or human-rights claim or the claim having been withdrawn or treated as withdrawn, and any appeal (if available) has been concluded. 

The process exists because circumstances may have changed — for example new country-information, new evidence, change in law, or new personal situation.

How to make Further Submissions?

A person must make further submissions on protection grounds via the in-person process at an SSC (Service and Support Centre). However, in exceptional circumstances, it may be lodged remotely.

On the other hand, a person should generally make further submissions on human rights grounds by using the most appropriate application form. These submissions will be considered in line with the usual process times. A person may be eligible for a fee waiver if they cannot afford to make an application.

Where an individual makes further submissions raising human rights matters but does not make an application, they will not have a set time for the further submissions to be considered. However, further submissions are considered before removal.

Please note that there is no specified statutory deadline for making further submissions. A person can make further submissions at any time after protection or human rights claim refusal and/or appeal exhaustion. 

However, if a person’s removal proceedings or deportation are underway, timing and proper lodging become more critical for them. The decision makers must consider any outstanding further submissions before enforcing removal. 

Further submissions process

The further submissions process allows a person to provide further representations in support of their protection or human rights needs after the refusal or withdrawal of an earlier protection or human rights claim.

All further submissions lodged are considered under Immigration Rules - Paragraph 353.

There are different processes for further submission available depending on whether the individual is making further submissions on the basis of protection grounds, human rights grounds, or both. The process for lodging further submissions may also be different depending on the specific circumstances, for example, where the individual is subject to the UK government’s removal action (an administrative process for people without lawful status).

1. Lodging further submissions on protection grounds

Since 16 August 2021, a person making further submissions on protection grounds must generally lodge them in person at one of the SSCs (Specified Service and Support Centres). The claimant must make an appointment to attend an SSC unless they fall into one of the exceptional categories. For example, 

• Those who have a severe illness, disability, or exceptional and compelling reasons and are therefore unable to travel to an SSC

• Unaccompanied children under 18 

• Where the claimant has an ongoing Judicial Review (JR) challenging a removal or enforcement decision, or where a JR application has been granted permission

• Where the claimant is detained pending removal

• Where the claimant is subject to deportation proceedings

• In family cases, 

If a claimant wants to lodge further submissions on protection grounds remotely, the Home Office will decide whether they meet the criteria, if necessary, by consulting a senior caseworker. The Home Office will inform the claimant if their request to lodge further submissions remotely has been accepted or refused. If the claimant’s request is refused, then they must book an appointment to lodge further submissions in person at an SSC.

Lodging further submissions in person

When a person attends an SSC to submit further submissions, they should bring all the documents referenced on their invite letter.

The claimant must submit all documentary evidence requiring consideration at the further submissions’ appointment, as a decision maker will decide based on the evidence available. The principal claimant is not required to bring their dependants, including children, with them to their further submissions’ appointment, but they should provide any information in relation to any dependents on the day.

Sending protection-based further submissions remotely without permission

If a person without permission to send further submissions remotely submits protection based further submissions by email or post, they will be rejected as invalid without substantive consideration. Further submissions will normally be returned to the sender (either the claimant or legal representative) with the original correspondence. 

The Home Office will direct the person to lodge further submissions in person with the FSU (Further Submissions Unit).

Dependants

In order to be considered a dependant on protection-based further submissions, an Individual must continue to meet the definition of a “dependant” in the Immigration Rules. 

Where the main claimant’s spouse (husband/wife), civil/unmarried partner, or minor child was treated as a dependant on the initial asylum or human rights claim, and they still want and qualify to be treated as such, they will continue to be considered as a dependant on the further submissions.

Where a child under 18 was treated as a dependant on the initial asylum claim but turns 18 before further submissions are lodged, they will not qualify as a dependant on the further submissions. They will need to make a first protection claim or apply for permission to stay in their own right.

Dependants having protection needs in their own right must claim asylum (or lodge further submissions if Immigration Rules - Paragraph 353 applies) in their own right.

Family asylum claims

Suppose a child who was a dependant on a failed asylum seeker’s claim, which was decided before 2 August 2021, tries to lodge further submissions in their own right. In that case, they will be treated as having not previously had an asylum or human rights claim refused or withdrawn. 

Consequently, child dependants who have not previously received their own decision on an asylum or human rights claim with a right of appeal do not need to establish that they meet the fresh claim criteria under the Immigration Rules. In this circumstance, they will be directed to make an asylum claim in their own right.

UK-born children

UK-born non-British children may be considered dependant in protection-based further submissions. 

2. Lodging human-rights-based further submissions 

Human-rights-based further submissions on grounds, such as ECHR Article 8 family or private life, or medical grounds should normally be submitted by way of the most appropriate application form on the basis of family and private life or medical grounds. If the claimant cannot afford a fee, they may apply for a fee waiver.

If human-rights-based further submissions are raised outside a valid application form (for example, in response to a removal notice), they may still be considered but will have no guaranteed processing time.

These types of further submissions are usually based on ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) Article 8, which protects a person’s private and family life. A claimant may rely on new developments such as long residence, forming a family in the UK, birth of a child, integration into the society, medical needs, or new evidence showing that removal would disproportionately interfere with their life in the UK.

The process of treating human-rights-based further submissions is similar to that for protection-based further submissions. The Home Office must consider whether the new information amounts to a “fresh claim”. The evidence must be genuinely new and significant, giving an immigration judge a realistic prospect of reaching a different decision.

Considering suitability for detention

If the Home Office rejects a person’s further submission and determines that they do not amount to a fresh claim and there are no other barriers to removal, they must consider whether removing that person can be set imminently and whether the case is suitable for detention in accordance with the Immigration Enforcement: general instructions. 

Further submissions that the Home Office has not yet decided on are not always a barrier to detention (including maintaining detention). There will be circumstances where the Home Office will identify that removing an individual can proceed in a realistic timeframe despite the outstanding further submissions, for example:

• Absconders who later resurface to apply for further submissions or those who have a history of non-compliance with the immigration and asylum process

• Those who have lodged repeated unfounded (without merit) claims

• Those who have previously provided false or unreliable information about the reasons due to which they cannot return to their country of origin to avoid enforced removal

The Home Office will decide on the further submissions quickly, where removal action (an administrative process for people without lawful status) is imminent, so that the individual can be granted permission to stay or removed as appropriate.

3. Making further submissions on return from abroad

A person returning from abroad who raises a protection or human rights need is expected to do so in person at the port of entry to the UK. Where a claimant returns from abroad when a previous protection or human rights claim has been rejected or withdrawn, or treated as withdrawn, and any appeal (if available) relating to that claim is no longer pending, the case must be considered under Immigration Rules – Paragraph 353, unless

• The claim was previously declared as inadmissible under specific paragraphs of the immigration rules in force prior to 28 June 2022, or under specific sections of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2022 and/or Immigration Rules – Paragraph 327F as in force on or after 28 June 2022

• The claim was incorrectly withdrawn under the Immigration Rules 

Where a person again makes a protection or human rights claim but in a different identity to their initial claim (a multiple claim), the Home Office must deal with this as a further submission by applying Immigration Rules – Paragraph 353.

Consideration process

Further submissions must be considered in accordance with Asylum Policy Instruction - Further Submission guidance and Immigration Rules – Paragraph 353.

In all cases, where the claimant provides new information, the Home Office must consider it alongside the previous material. The Home Office, taking the previous material and new evidence available into account, will consider whether to grant the claimant any permission to stay in the UK. 

If leave to stay cannot be granted, the Home Office will also need to consider whether the further submissions amount to a fresh claim. However, where further submissions simply repeat previously considered information, the Home Office must refer to the previous refusal and appeal determination (if any) in rejecting the claim.

Where the Home Office decides that a fresh claim has not been made, the claimant will have no right of appeal against rejection of further submissions, even where the submissions are made by way of an application for permission to enter or stay. However, where further submissions are rejected but are considered to be a fresh claim on protection or human rights grounds, the fresh claim is refused, and a right of appeal is generated. 

Considering whether there is a fresh claim

The Home Office will reject further submissions where it concludes that the claimant's new evidence, old evidence, and any changed circumstances justify granting them protection (asylum/humanitarian protection), or human-rights leave (family / private life / discretionary leave).

If further submissions do not justify a grant of permission to stay in the UK then the Home Office must go on to decide whether the protection-based or human-rights-based further submissions amount to a fresh claim. The claimant will only be entitled to a right of appeal if the Home Office accepts it as a fresh claim.

Further submissions will amount to a fresh claim if the new evidence or information is significantly different from material already considered. Submissions will only be considered ‘significantly different’ if the content of it

• Has not already been considered, and 

• Taken together with previously considered material, creates a realistic chance of success before the Tribunal on protection or human rights grounds, including Article 8 claims under ECHR (which will be considered under the Private Life or Family Rules, where appropriate).

However, once a person has had an asylum or human rights claim refused and further submissions rejected, they are expected to leave the UK. 

What kinds of evidence or new circumstances can count

Further submissions should include compelling evidence or circumstances that were not considered before, such as:

• New country conditions (e.g., situation in the claimant’s country of origin has worsened) or new legal precedents. 

• Changed personal circumstances (e.g., serious illness, change in family situation, evidence of ill-treatment, risk of persecution, or danger if returned) — including medical, psychological, or medico-legal reports. 

• Any factual evidence that was not previously submitted. For example, documents, witness statements, proof of changed identity risk, new threats, etc. 

• Human-rights arguments (family life, private life, Article 8 ECHR, medical grounds) that were not previously raised or are based on new facts.

Decision on Further Submissions

After receiving further submissions, the Home Office will review the material to assess whether it amounts to a fresh claim. If it does, the case is reconsidered, and a new decision is eventually issued. This could result in

• Grant of Refugee Status

• Humanitarian Protection

• Leave to Remain on human rights grounds

• Refuse with the right of appeal 

On the other hand, further submissions that do not become a fresh claim will be refused without the right of appeal

Also, if further submissions are rejected, the Home Office must consider whether there are exceptional circumstances preventing removal.

How can Visa and Migration help?

Visa and Migration can provide you with crucial support in your further submissions. We will assess your refusal history, identify any new evidence, and make strong representations that would meet the “fresh claim” test. We will also help you gather all the documents, get medical or expert reports, and present updated country-specific risk information. 

We will also guide you on the correct submission route, book SSC appointments, and ensure your case meets legal requirements under Immigration Rules - Paragraph 353. 

Our team will draft clear legal arguments showing why your new material creates a realistic prospect of success before a tribunal. This will increase the chance of your further submissions being accepted and appeal rights restored.