Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make permanent the change introduced as a result of the covid-19 outbreak which permits new asylum claims to be submitted electronically.

To help reduce the potential spread of Covid 19, in March 2020 the Home Office placed a temporary suspension on the long-standing requirement for fresh asylum claims to be submitted in person in Liverpool. The suspension was brought in as a measure to reduce travel and direct contacts between applicants and officials. It was permitted instead for evidence relating to a fresh claim to be submitted electronically or through the post.

There are no current plans to make the suspension on in-person appointments for fresh asylum claims a permanent arrangement. The situation is kept under regular review, though it is not expected that in-person appointments will resume in the near future.