The United Kingdom government has introduced a new 24-week target for deciding certain asylum and immigration appeals as part of wider efforts to reduce lengthy waiting times, accelerate the removal of people found to have no right to remain in the country and cut the cost of asylum accommodation.
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The new target took effect on August 12 and applies to new asylum and immigration appeals submitted to the First-tier Tribunal involving non-detained foreign national offenders and individuals receiving asylum support and accommodation.
The Home Office said the average waiting time for an asylum or immigration appeal to be decided by a judge currently stands at 67 weeks.
Under the new arrangement, the First-tier Tribunal will be expected to hear in-scope cases within 24 weeks of receiving them.
The government said shortening the appeal process would enable people who lose their appeals and have no lawful right to remain in the UK to be removed more quickly, while also reducing pressure on asylum accommodation and public finances.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Anna Turley, said delays in the existing system had resulted in cases dragging on for months and, in some instances, years.
“For too long, asylum and immigration appeals have been plagued by delays, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill while cases drag on for months and sometimes years,” Turley said.
“This new 24-week target will see cases resolved faster, reduce reliance on taxpayer-funded accommodation and speed up the removal of those with no right to be in the UK.”
The Home Office said the target applies specifically to qualifying appeals submitted to the First-tier Tribunal from August 12.
Despite efforts by the judiciary to reduce delays, the government said more than 150,000 appeals were still awaiting determination.
It argued that wider reform was therefore necessary to ensure that the appeals system could dispose of cases more quickly and prevent outstanding appeals from becoming an obstacle to removals.
The government is also pursuing structural changes through the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which passed its second reading earlier this month.
One of the major proposals contained in the legislation is the creation of an Independent Immigration Appeals Authority.
According to the government, the new body is intended to provide a simpler and faster route for determining immigration and asylum appeals.
The Independent Immigration Appeals Authority is expected to operate alongside the First-tier Tribunal for several years before gradually taking responsibility for new cases.
The government said the arrangement would allow the First-tier Tribunal to concentrate on clearing its existing backlog while new cases are progressively transferred to the proposed authority.
Independent adjudicators working under the new authority would also be empowered to prioritise cases based on urgency and the public interest.
The government said priority cases could include appeals involving “high-harm” foreign national offenders and what it described as dubious human rights claims.
The reforms form part of the government’s wider effort to reduce the financial burden associated with supporting asylum seekers while increasing the number of people removed from the country after exhausting their legal rights to remain.
According to the government, the cost of the asylum system has already fallen by £1 billion since the 2024 general election.
It also reiterated its commitment to ending the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.
“The government will also close every asylum hotel by the end of this parliament,” the Home Office said.
The government said fewer than 170 asylum hotels are presently in operation, compared with a peak of about 400 in 2023.
It has also continued to close hotels previously used for asylum accommodation and return them to local communities for tourism, business and other purposes.
The Home Office recently announced the closure of another 13 asylum hotels, bringing the number shut during April, June and August to 44.
The government also said nearly 10,000 foreign national offenders had been removed from the UK.
According to the Home Office, this represents a 36 per cent increase compared with the 21 months preceding the general election.
Appeals involving foreign national offenders who are already detained are presently prioritised by the judiciary.
The new 24-week timeframe is intended to ensure that cases involving foreign national offenders who are not in detention are also dealt with more quickly.
“Appeals from FNOs who are detained are already prioritised by the judiciary, with the new timeframes ensuring appeals from FNOs who are not held in detention are also expedited,” the government said.
Alongside the new deadline, the government is increasing the capacity of the immigration appeals system.
Sitting days in the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber are expected to increase by 19 per cent this year compared with the 2024-2025 period.
The additional sitting days are intended to enable judges to hear more cases and deliver decisions more quickly.
The government said faster appeal decisions, reduced use of asylum accommodation and accelerated removals would also contribute to substantial savings for taxpayers.
It estimated that the wider reforms could contribute to taxpayer savings of about £6.9 billion.
The new 24-week target therefore forms part of a broader package of measures aimed at reducing the asylum appeal backlog, increasing the pace of immigration decisions and ensuring that people who exhaust their appeal rights and have no lawful basis to remain in the UK can be removed more quickly.
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