The UK government plans to require refugees granted asylum to repay roughly £10,000 toward accommodation and support once they start earning, under proposals published on 30 June 2026 as part of the upcoming Immigration and Asylum Bill.

The flat-rate charge targets working migrants granted refugee protection. Officials confirmed the £10,000 figure is an "expected" amount, not a final number, and instalments would start once earnings pass a threshold the Home Office has not yet fixed.

Who would have to pay?

Two groups fall under the scheme:

• Adults granted asylum with the right to work in the UK, before they become eligible to settle permanently.
• Rejected claimants who leave the country, before any future return to the UK.

The Home Secretary would hold future powers to revise the fee and the repayment trigger "to ensure they are both fair to the taxpayer and will not force any migrant into destitution."

What did ministers say?

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood framed the change as a duty tied to a right. "Asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility," she said. "Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so."

How much do asylum seekers currently cost the state?

The Home Office put taxpayer spending on asylum support at around £4 billion last year. Daily costs reported by the department:

• £23.25 per night for private-rented housing.
• £144 per night for hotel rooms.
• £9.95 to £49.18 per person per week in subsistence payments.

Will the scheme raise significant sums?

The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford questioned whether it would. Director Madeleine Sumption said the proposals would move the system in a more restrictive direction, while pointing to limited earning power among refugees.

According to Sumption, an estimated 13% of people granted refugee status five years earlier earned at least £20,000 in 2023, with the rest either not working or on lower incomes. Home Office figures back that up:

• 24% of 16 to 64-year-olds granted asylum between 2015 and 2023 were in employment in their first UK year.
• 48% were employed two years after refugee status was granted.
• After eight years, 37% of those in work held full-time jobs, with median earnings of £23,000.
• 40% of that group earned more than the minimum wage.

Sumption argued that unless the earnings threshold sat significantly below the minimum wage, only a small share of people granted asylum would earn enough to make contributions to the scheme.

What reactions have emerged?

The Refugee Council called the plans "unfair, impractical" and "an extra tax on refugees." Director of external affairs Imran Hussain said: "The reason why many need asylum support is because the Home Office itself bans asylum seekers from working while their claims are being assessed. Asylum support is only given to people who are at risk of being destitute, so this new financial burden would only harm those who arrive on our shores with nothing."

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Conservatives had previously proposed the same model in an amendment to the Immigration Bill last year, which Labour had blocked.

What else sits inside the bill?

The Immigration and Asylum Bill would also:

• Create a new immigration appeals authority to speed up removals of failed asylum seekers.
• Tighten how human rights and modern slavery laws apply to asylum claims the government calls "vexatious."
• Introduce capped, sponsored safe and legal routes, with organisations such as universities and businesses sponsoring refugees.

The Home Office announced separately that it will house more asylum seekers in former military barracks after closing 20 more hotels in England. Some Labour MPs are expected to oppose the bill's strictest provisions when it reaches Parliament.