Asylum Support Appeals Project

Who we are

The Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP) is a small national charity which was set up in 2003 to reduce the destitution of asylum-seekers by protecting their legal rights to food and shelter. We have a team of 12 permanent staff members and around 45 volunteer solicitors and barristers.  We are based in East London but have a hybrid working model which allows remote working alongside a minimum amount of weekly time spent in the office.

ASAP delivers three strands of work

• We offer free, high-quality legal representation at the AST to asylum seekers and refused asylum-seekers appealing against Home Office decisions to refuse or withdraw their support.
• We provide asylum support advice and training to hundreds of frontline organisations, advice agencies and legal practitioners working with people seeking asylum each year. We operate an advice line and online forum (Asylum Support Advisors Network) for over 1000 members.
• We use our strong evidence base to improve policies and procedures on asylum support through closely linked policy work and strategic litigation.

Alongside this, we run a women’s project, to ensure we offer a gender sensitive service to destitute women seeking asylum, to train women’s organisations in asylum support law, and to progress policy work for women seeking asylum, currently focused on access to support for those experiencing domestic abuse.

ASAP is recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the London Legal Support Trust. ASAP was highly commended in the 2019 Law Works Annual Pro Bono Awards for Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership and won the Andy Ludlow 2015 London Homelessness Award. 

Our vision 

All people seeking asylum in the UK have shelter, food and support rather than living in destitution.

The Home Office and AST are held to account, to ensure access to justice, dignity and equality for the people we serve.

Our key goals

Goal 1. Increasing quality representation and dignity at the Asylum Support Tribunal for all people seeking asylum.

Goal 2. Building the asylum support skills of other organisations to ensure people seeking asylum across the UK have access to quality advice and information about their legal rights to food and shelter.

Goal 3. Tackling the root causes of destitution through policy, lobbying and litigation.

Goal 4. Maintaining a well-resourced and purposeful organisation to assist people seeking asylum and the organisations supporting them.