{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-immigration-and-asylum-act-2002/section-18",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-immigration-and-asylum-act-2002/section-18.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2002/41",
  "legislation_title": "Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-immigration-and-asylum-act-2002",
  "path": "section/18",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "18",
  "heading": "Asylum-seeker: definition",
  "text": "(1) For the purposes of this Part a person is an “asylum-seeker” if—\n(a) he is at least 18 years old,\n(b) he is in the United Kingdom,\n(c) a claim for asylum has been made by him at a place designated by the Secretary of State,\n(d) the Secretary of State has recorded the claim, and\n(e) the claim has not been determined.\n(1ZA) For the purposes of subsection (1), the circumstances in which a claim is determined include where the claim is declared inadmissible under section 80A or 80B.\n(1ZB) But if a claim is—\n(a) declared inadmissible under section 80B, and\n(b) nevertheless considered by the Secretary of State in accordance subsection (7) of that section,\nthe claim ceases to be treated as determined from the time of the decision to consider the claim.\n(2) A person shall continue to be treated as an asylum-seeker despite subsection (1)(e) while—\n(a) his household includes a dependent child who is under 18, and\n(b) he does not have leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom.\n(3) A claim for asylum is a claim by a person that to remove him from or require him to leave the United Kingdom would be contrary to the United Kingdom’s obligations under—\n(a) the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28th July 1951 and its Protocol, or\n(b) Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms agreed by the Council of Europe at Rome on 4th November 1950.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Words in s. 18(1)(c) omitted (28.4.2022 for specified purposes) by virtue of Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (c. 36), ss. 14(4), 87(1)(4)(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "S. 18(1ZA)(1ZB) inserted (28.6.2022) by Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (c. 36), ss. 17(5), 87(1); S.I. 2022/590, reg. 2, Sch. 1 para. 16"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 18 partly in force; s. 18 not in force at Royal Assent see s. 162(2); s. 18 in force for certain purposes at 8.1.2003 and for further certain purposes at 10.2.2003 by S.I. 2003/1, art. 2, Sch."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "substituted for s. 18(1)",
      "affecting": "ukpga/2016/19",
      "affecting_title": "Immigration Act 2016"
    },
    {
      "type": "omitted",
      "affecting": "ukpga/2016/19",
      "affecting_title": "Immigration Act 2016"
    },
    {
      "type": "substituted",
      "affecting": "ukpga/2016/19",
      "affecting_title": "Immigration Act 2016"
    },
    {
      "type": "words inserted",
      "affecting": "ukpga/2023/37",
      "affecting_title": "Illegal Migration Act 2023"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/41/section/18",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:18:47.769208+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}