Stateless

Our immigration solicitors offer a free consultation for all applications under the stateless law in the UK. To book your appointment call us on 0203 909 8399 or contact us online.

A stateless person is someone who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law.

For a person to be “stateless” it is not relevant how the person came to be without a nationality or whether there is the possibility for the person to acquire a nationality by taking some kind of action: the only thing that matters is whether, at the present moment, the person is considered as a national by any state.

For a person to be “stateless” it is not relevant where he or she is located. Statelessness occurs in both migration and non-migration contexts. A stateless person may never have crossed an international border, having lived in the same country for his or her entire life.

Requirements to apply to stay in the UK as s stateless person

You qualify to apply to stay in the UK as a stateless person if you are;

  • currently in the UK,
  • no other country will recognise you as a citizen and
  • due to being stateless you are unable to ‘return home’ to any country.

If you are a citizen of another country but can’t return to that country due to fear of being persecuted, you should first lodge a claim for asylum.  If you have lodged an asylum claim or have a human rights claim pending you will need to wait for a decision on that application first.  If your asylum or human rights claim is refused, you may then apply to remain in the UK as a stateless person.

In order to prove that you qualify to be considered for approval to remain in the UK as a stateless person, you will need to produce as many documents as possible to support your claim that you are stateless.  You will also need to produce these documents for any ‘stateless’ dependants you are including on your application.  The types of documents that will be considered include:

  • Travel, identity and immigration documents
  • Paperwork that provides proof of where you lived prior to coming to the UK – medical records, utility bills, sworn statements made by neighbours, school certificates and so on.
  • Documents that verify you have applied for citizenship or requested proof of nationality in other countries

Contact us for more information about how to apply to stay in the UK as a stateless person or to find out how we can help you with your application.

For further help or information Get In Touch

Related Expertise

Insights

Would you like to hear more from us?

Visit our subscriptions page to tell us a bit more about what you’re interested in so we can send you relevant news.

Sign Up