Factsheet 9 - Extra payments (s4 & s95)

This factsheet provides an overview of additional payments and a guide on how to apply for them. Pregnant women and parents with dependent children are entitled to receive some extra payments to their support package. People with an ‘exceptional’ need for additional support can also apply for extra payments. The Home Office does not provide additional payments to people on sch10 support. Updated December 2025

In this Factsheet :

• Extra payments under Section 95 support
• Maternity grants
• Extra payments during pregnancy
• Extra payments for children under 3
• Extra payments for people with exceptional additional needs
• Extra payments under Section 4 support
• Maternity grants
• Extra payments during pregnancy
• Extra payments for children under 3
• Clothing payments for children under 16 years
• Assistance with travel costs
• Exceptional specific needs
• Extra payments for people living in full-board accommodation

Extra payments under Section 95 support

S95 support is provided to destitute asylum-seekers and their dependents whose claims for asylum have not yet been fully determined. More information on s95 support and the basic rates please see Factsheet 1.

On top of the weekly s95 cash allowance, in certain circumstances, people can receive additional payments. Like the main payment, these are provided through the ASPEN card, the debit card provided to people on asylum support. Only one card is distributed per family unit and it is issued to the main recipient of support.

The Home Office’s published policy on additional s95 payments Asylum Support policy bulletins instructions does not reflect current Home Office casework practices. We have tried our best in this factsheet to provide a current reflection of how the system for applying for this support works.

Maternity grants

Pregnant people in receipt of s95 support are entitled to a one-off maternity grant of £300This payment is provided under Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (IAA99), s96(2). The amount paid in maternity grant is a matter of policy.

• If they are expecting twins, they are entitled to £600.
• They can apply eleven weeks before the expected due date (EDD) or up to six months after the birth.
• If the child was born before their parent applies for s95 support (whether born in the UK or abroad), a maternity grant can still be awarded provided that the application is made within six months of their birth and is accompanied by a birth certificate.

The policy explains that people on s98 support S98 support is emergency support provided to asylum seekers pending a full assessment of their application for s95 support can also be provided with a maternity grant. But in practice, we understand that this would almost never be given as s95 applications are normally processed first. The provision of a maternity grant would also be problematic in s98 cases as payments are made on ASPEN cards and these are only issued once the person is on s95 support.  

Requests for maternity grants need to be made via Migrant Help.

• If the pregnant person is applying s95 support and entitled to a maternity grant at that point, Migrant Help will submit a separate request for a maternity grant at the same time as submitting the s95 application form (called an ASF1).
• If the person is pregnant when they apply for s95 support, but not yet eligible for the grant, they will need to contact Migrant Help once they reach the eligibility window. Migrant Help then applies by completing a Change of Circumstances (CoC) form for them.
• If the person is already on s95 support, the person must make a request for the grant, via Migrant Help, who will complete CoC from.

The person will need to submit copies of:

• The full birth certificate, or
• Both sides of the MAT B1 certificate (this form is provided by the GP or midwife approximately 20 weeks into the pregnancy and states the expected date of the baby’s birth), or
• Some other formal evidence of the birth.

Migrant Help will accept copies of documents but if original documents are submitted to them, these are copied and returned to the sender by recorded delivery. They are not sent onwards to the Home Office

Extra payments during pregnancy For the duration of their pregnancy a person on s95 support is entitled to receive £5.25 extra a weekAsylum Support Regulations 2000 SI No 704 (AS Regs), reg 10A(1). Following litigationHA & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department see also Report on review of weekly allowances paid to asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers, this payment is available to pregnant people living in all asylum support accommodation settings (ie in self-catered housing or full-board sites like hotels). Applications are made through Migrant Help: For those applying for support, information and evidence is submitted within the ASF1.  The Home Office then automatically add the payments to the grant of support.  For those already on support, this is done through the CoC process. The applicant needs to provide both sides of the MAT B1 certificate (see above) or a letter from their midwife or GP confirming the pregnancy. As with maternity grants, Migrant Help will accept copies of documents.

Extra payments for children under 3 years There are two levels of extra payments for children up to 3 years, on top of the standard weekly allowance for each child: Parents with children under 12 months are entitled to receive an extra £9.50 a week. For children between 1 and 3 years, they can claim an extra £5.25 a week. As with pregnancy payments, this is available to children living in all asylum support accommodation settings (ie in self-catered housing or full board sites like hotels). Parents already on asylum support must notify the Home Office of the birth of a child within six weeks of their birth. This is a condition of support and a legal requirement This condition is usually notified to the person in the letter granting them support. Note also that it is a criminal offence to fail to notify the Home Office of a relevant change of circumstances without a reasonable excuse (s105 IAA99) which includes the birth of a child (reg 15, Asylum Support Regulations 2000). They should do this via Migrant Help who will complete a CoC form (add a dependant). They should provide a full birth certificate or medical evidence that shows the birth occurred. If other medical evidence is provided, a full birth certificate will still need to be submitted in a reasonable amount of timeLegally, all births must be registered within 42 days (or 21 days in Scotland). It would therefore be prudent to send the full birth certificate as soon as possible after the registration. We would suggest, no later than 49 days after the birth (or 28 in Scotland). Support will be backdated to the day the child was born, as long as the notification is made within 14 days of birth. Additional payments for support are provided automatically once the Home Office has added the child to the family’s support. The children of people applying for support are added to the ASF1 as part of the application process. No additional evidence is required if the child is a dependant on their parent’s asylum application. But if the child is born in the UK, Migrant Help will request a full birth certificate.  Payments will be automatically added once support is granted. Extra payments for people with ‘exceptional’ additional needs. The Home Office can provide extra s95 payments to meet an essential living need that is not already adequately covered by the standard asylum support payments and cannot be met by any other source of supportThese are provided under s96(2) IAA99. The policy can be found here and the relevant application form (ASF2) can be found here. The request must be made via Migrant Help. The policy explains what is meant by essential living need, but in summary these are the basic items such as food, toiletries, clothes etc that are covered by the s95 payments.  Only applicant with exceptional circumstances will qualify. They must either have an essential need that is different from the need of other people claiming asylum generally or be the same as the need of others but more costly for them to meet because of their particular circumstances. The policy provides non- exhaustive examples of circumstances where payments might be authorised: someone who has been in hospital and needs extra support while they are recovering someone who needs to undertake a higher than usual number of essential journeys or someone who has lost possessions in a house fire. The policy also recognises that in some circumstances, standard and additional payments made to pregnant people and young children may not be sufficient, so they will consider applications from these groups. The policy notes the Home Office can agree to meet the exceptional living need through ‘in kind’ support, as well changes to accommodation (or other support) arrangements. But otherwise, payments are made to the applicant’s ASPEN card. Extra payments under Section 4 support S4 support is provided to some groups of refused asylum-seekers who meet a narrow set of criteria. For a fuller explanation of the criteria for s4 see Factsheet 2.  Additional payments under s4 support are made in similar circumstances to the payments available under s95 supportS4 payments are made under the Immigration and Asylum (Provision of Services or Facilities) Regulations 2007, as amended. However, under s4 support there are some payments, such as a clothing allowance for children under 16 years, and help with travel costs which are not available under s95 support. Like the s4 main payment, additional payments are provided through the ASPEN card, the debit card provided to people on asylum support. Only one card is distributed per family unit and it is issued to the main recipient of support. Applications can be done through Migrant Help and by completing the specific additional payments form which can be found here. The relevant Home Office policy is found here. Migrant Help will accept copies of documents but if original documents are submitted to them, these are copied and returned to the sender by recorded delivery. They are not sent onwards to the Home Office.  Maternity grants The maternity grant is worth £300 per baby. A person can apply eleven weeks before the expected due date (EDD) or up to six months after the birth, but the grant won’t be awarded if the person has already received a maternity grant under s95 support for the same baby. Alongside the additional payments application form, the person should supply (unless the Home Office already has this evidence): The full birth certificate, or Both sides of the MAT B1 certificate (this form is provided by the GP or midwife approximately 20 weeks into the pregnancy and states the expected date of the baby’s birth), or A letter from the midwife or GP. Extra payments during pregnancy For the duration of her pregnancy a person on s4 support is entitled to receive £5.25 extra a week. The application must be made by the person who is pregnant regardless of whether they are the main recipient of support (or applicant) or a dependant. The form needs to be accompanied by the MATB1 or a letter from her midwife or GP confirming the pregnancy alongside the application form. Extra payments for children under 3 Parents in receipt of s4 can also claim additional weekly payments of £9.50 a week for babies under 12 months and £5.25 a week for children between 1 and 3 years. For people already on support, payments are added to the ASPEN card once the Home Office has been notified of the birth of a child. Migrant Help do this through a CoC (add a dependant) form and will also complete the additional payments form. As with s95 support, the applicant should provide a full birth certificate or medical evidence that shows the birth occurred. If other medical evidence is provided, a full birth certificate will still need to be submitted in a reasonable amount of timeLegally, all births must be registered within 42 days (21 days in Scotland). It would therefore be prudent to send the full birth certificate as soon as possible after the registration. We would suggest, no later than 49 days after the birth (or 28 in Scotland). As with s95 support, payments can be backdated to the date that the child was born, if the form is completed within 14 days of birth. For people who are applying for support for the first time, the information is added to the ASF1. Migrant Help will request a full birth certificate if the child was born in the UK. Clothing payments for children under 16 years Parents in receipt of s4 support can claim a clothing allowance of £5 per week for dependent children under the age of 16 years. These are given in addition to the payments received for children under 3 years. Assistance with cost of obtaining birth certificates The Additional Facilities regulations includes payments to cover the travel costs to obtain a child’s full birth certificate and the costs of the long birth certificate. However, following the 2023 review of asylum support rates which saw the s4 maternity grant increase by £50 to £300, the Home Office announced these applications would not normally be granted. Exceptional specific needs As with s95 support, people supported under s4 support can apply for additional support for an exceptional essential living need. It is necessary to complete the same application form as for the other s4 payments above. The s4 policy specifically deals with applications for travel, making phone calls and for stationary or postage. But for any other type of application, it may be useful to read the guidance on s95 exceptional payments, as the Home Office are likely to apply the same reasoning to applications for exceptional payments made under s4. Challenging decisions to refuse additional payments There is no right of appeal against a decision to refuse to provide additional payments. Unsuccessful applicants can ask the Home Office to reconsider their decision, provide additional evidence as required and explore legal challenges in the form of Judicial Review