Refugees: Employment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to obtain national passports on the access by refugees to regulated professions; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that refugees with the right to work can access roles for which they are qualified.
Answered by Mike Tapp
Refugees do not automatically hold British nationality. Instead, they are typically granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, which allows them to live and work in the UK but does not confer British citizenship.
Refugees are not required to hold a British passport in order to work in the UK. Identity checks, including those for regulated professions, can be satisfied using alternative documentation such as a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).
Where international travel is required for work purposes, refugees may apply for a Refugee Travel Document rather than a national passport.
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