The Home Office has published new guidance on the process that merges the asylum screening interview and the substantive interview into a single session. The document, titled The single protection interview: caseworker guidance, sets out how officials should handle claims under the merged procedure in the United Kingdom.

The change is not new in origin. The government first announced the reform in a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, HC 259, where it appeared under the label 'merged registration'. Today's publication converts that policy commitment into operational caseworker instructions, giving asylum decision-makers a single reference for how the combined interview should work in practice.

What the new guidance covers

The single protection interview brings together two stages that previously ran separately. Under the previous system, an asylum seeker first attended a screening interview, at which the Home Office recorded biometric and biographical details and registered the claim. A substantive interview followed later, at which the applicant set out the full basis of the protection claim and faced questions on credibility and country evidence.

The merged process collapses these steps into one encounter. According to the published guidance, the single protection interview establishes a truncated process for claims that appear to fall within a defined category — the guidance text published by the Home Office sets out which claims qualify and how caseworkers should identify them.

Who is affected

The guidance applies to asylum claims registered in the UK under the merged procedure introduced through HC 259. Asylum applicants, legal representatives and support organisations advising people at the start of a claim are the groups most directly concerned, because the timing and preparation burden of the asylum interview changes under a single-interview model. Applicants may need to be ready to give their full account at an earlier point than under the two-stage sequence.

Caseworkers in the asylum protection directorate must follow the new guidance when conducting the combined interview, recording screening information and taking substantive evidence in one sitting.

Why the change matters

Merging the interviews shortens the procedural path between claiming asylum and receiving a decision. For claimants, the practical consequence is that the first formal encounter with the Home Office no longer serves only administrative purposes; it can also become the moment when the substantive protection claim is tested.

The policy was first trailed in HC 259 as 'merged registration', signalling the government's intention to compress the asylum intake process. Today's publication of caseworker guidance marks the operational rollout of that plan, giving officials the framework they need to run single interviews and decide which claims the truncated route should cover.

Where to read the rules

Readers should rely on the primary documents rather than second-hand summaries. The authoritative sources are the Home Office guidance The single protection interview: caseworker guidance, published today on GOV.UK, and the statement of changes HC 259, which set out the legal basis for merged registration in the Immigration Rules.

Anyone with an individual asylum claim should seek advice from a regulated immigration adviser or solicitor about how the single interview procedure applies to their circumstances. This article reports the published change; it does not provide legal advice on individual cases.

Passport File will continue to track the single protection interview process and any further Home Office guidance on merged asylum claims.