The Home Office has now confirmed to UKCISA that it puts the letters ‘ALES’ next to ‘type of permit’ on the biometric residence permits (‘BRPs’) of people granted leave under two separate schemes:
- ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’
- ‘Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme'
This may have caused confusion to fee assessors and Student Support assessors in England and Northern Ireland, because the second scheme helps with eligibility for ‘home’ fees and Student Support in those places, but the first scheme doesn’t.
Scotland and Wales provide for people with leave granted on the basis of both schemes, so they aren’t affected by this.
Future applications
If you think you qualify under the category for ‘Persons granted leave under the Afghan Schemes’, but you (or your spouse or civil partner or parent) has a BRP that says ‘ALES’, it will avoid confusion if you:
- Say from the beginning when you first request ‘home’ fees or Student Support, that the leave is on the basis of the ‘Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme', and emphasise that it is not on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’; and
- Provide at the same time a letter or document issued by a UK government department (for example, the Ministry of Defence or the Home Office) that mentions both the ‘Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme’ (or ‘ARAP’), and the name of the person with the leave. This will act as confirmation that the leave was granted on the basis of that scheme.
Past applications
If you think you were wrongly refused because an assessor thought that leave was issued on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’, when in fact it was issued on the basis of the ‘Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme’, then go back to them with this news story. Try to show them a letter or document issued by a UK government department (for example, the Ministry of Defence or the Home Office) that mentions both the ‘Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme’ (or ‘ARAP’) and the name of the person with the leave, so they can see quickly that the leave was granted on the basis of that scheme.
Check that you meet all the requirements to qualify for ‘home’ fees as a ‘Person granted leave under the Afghan Schemes’ in the information on the UKCISA website for England or Northern Ireland.
