This page is for professionals and organisations working with or supporting asylum seekers, including case owners, professionals in the UK Border Agency and healthcare workers.

The dispersal process for asylum seekers
NAT and the British HIV Association developed a booklet in December 2006  The Dispersal Process for Asylum Seekers Living with HIV - Advice for Health Care and Voluntary Sector Professionals.

In 2007, we undertook an evaluation of our dispersal booklet and the new Home Office dispersal process.  Respondents from relevant health care associations and voluntary sector organisations told us that they found the booklet a clear and helpful guide in working with dispersed asylum seekers. However, the survey also showed that the new dispersal process is not yet being consistently implemented and that Home Office actions did not always seem to follow best practice guidance related to dispersal of HIV-positive asylum seekers.

Asylum Pathway
In 2008 we published HIV and the UK Asylum Pathway . HIV and the UK Asylum. More people than ever before are living with HIV in the UK, and a significant number of asylum applicants are coming from countries in which a higher proportion of people are living with HIV. This report makes the case for the needs of HIV-positive asylum seekers to be better supported throughout the asylum process and the HIV prevention needs of migrants to be considered earlier.

HIV and the UK Asylum Pathway  is in two parts. The first section maps out the complex pathway an asylum seeker in the UK takes from application to when a decision is made on their claim. The second half of the report highlights the needs of an HIV-positive asylum seeker and identifies both challenges and opportunities professionals have to address those needs.

The report is an ideal guide for professionals including community care nurses, GPs and civil servants, who support asylum seekers through the course of their work.

Removal centres

In 2006 we undertook a survey of healthcare managers in the UK’s 11 Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) about the management of HIV in these facilities. Read the results of the survey Immigration Removal Centre Responses to HIV and AIDS: Results of a survey of healthcare managers. In line with the recommendations, NAT have worked with the British HIV Association and IRC healthcare managers to develop a resource that provides best practice guidance to support high-quality care for detainees living with HIV in IRCs. Read the booklet Detention, Removal and People Living with HIV.

Will I have to pay?
Although the NHS is free to anyone "ordinarily resident" in the UK, some migrants and visitors to the UK may be asked to pay for healthcare services.  See NAT's briefing with Terrance Higgins Trust, Will I have to pay?