Advice Service

Who we help

We support asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers living in the Bristol area.

What we do

Bristol Refugee Rights is a charity – we are not the Home Office or Migrant Help. We help asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers to:

• Access money and housing from the Home Office (this is called asylum support).
• Understand and navigate the asylum and immigration systems.

How to access BRR advice:

If you do not live in a Bristol hotel, visit our Advice Drop-in.
Time: Wednesday, 10am – 1pm
Address: Wellspring Settlement, Barton Hill, 43 Ducie Street, Bristol, BS7 0AX

The drop-in can be very busy, so please try to arrive at 10am to make sure you will be seen.

If you live in a Bristol hotel, our Outreach Advice Team visits your hotel weekly. Please ask at your hotel reception or email for more information.

For hotel and non-hotel residents, you can get in touch with us for more information:

• Email advice@bristolrefugeerights.org.uk
• Call our helpline on 07526 352 353. Open Monday and Tuesday 10am – 1pm. You can leave a voicemail anytime or WhatsApp a message

Please note that we are a small team of mostly part-time staff and volunteers. We are very busy, so it may take a week for us to respond to your call or email.

How we help

1) Information and Resources
We share information and resources so you can understand the asylum system and access your rights for yourself. We help you to:

• Understand the asylum system.
• Understand asylum support (money and housing from the Home Office), what rights you have and how to claim. If you have an issue about asylum support, including ASPEN card problems, issues with your accommodation, you should always contact Migrant Help first: 0808 8010 503.
• Know what legal advice is available and understand what to expect from solicitors.
• Obtain an ARC card (asylum ID card).
• Know how your MP might be able to help you and when and how to contact them.
• Update the Home Office if your information has changed – for example you have a new address.
• Understand how to apply for the Right to Work while waiting for your asylum claim.

2) Advice and Casework
We give advice and casework support when extra help is needed, for example:

• You are at risk where you live.
• You are not able to look after yourself and need a social worker.
• Your asylum support application has been refused or there is a long delay.
• There are some barriers which mean it would be hard for you to take action yourself.
• You need to request your immigration history from the Home Office.
• You need a referral to a specialist service like access to mental health support.
• You have an exceptional problem with a solicitor – for example, you have been given wrong advice or are being charged for work that should be free.
• You have an urgent deadline and are struggling to find a solicitor.

3) Signposting and referrals
If we can’t help, we will signpost or refer you to other places that might be able to help.

What we do not do

The asylum system can be very complicated. Many people wait a long time to get a decision and while you wait things can be hard. We help where we can, but there are some things we cannot do:

• We are not the Home Office, so we cannot make decisions on asylum claims, or make decisions on access to asylum support money and housing.
• We are not lawyers and cannot offer immigration advice that needs to be provided by a legally trained representative, including:
  • Advice about the content of an asylum claim or the completion of legal documents.
  • Notifying the Home Office on your behalf of changes to an address or other changes of circumstance.
  • We cannot support you with:
    • Debt (Except NHS overseas patient charges).
    • Benefits and housing (except asylum support).
    • Help applying for bank accounts, driving licenses or jobs.
    • Support for people with Leave to Remain.

IAA

We are registered with the Independent Advice Authority (IAA), Ref No. N201600021.

We do not currently provide IAA representation or casework in our Advice Service but use our knowledge to support you to understand what is happening with your immigration case, the stage you are at in the process and what your options are. If you don’t have anyone to represent you, we will support you to find someone.

If we cannot help you, we will always try to find another organisation that can.