Travel Documents for Refugees

The Convention Travel Document (CTD) is a blue booklet issued to recognised refugees in the UK. It is issued under Article 28 of the 1951 Refugee Convention and serves as a passport for international travel. The CTD is valid for travel to all countries except the country from which the holder has refugee status (i.e., the country of persecution).

To apply for a CTD, you must hold refugee status (a grant of refugee leave) in the UK. The application is made to UKVI using form TD112 BRP. The fee is currently £75. Processing takes several weeks. The CTD is typically valid for ten years (five years for those under 16) and can be renewed. It can be used to apply for visas at overseas embassies in the same way as a national passport.

It is important to understand that a CTD does not automatically entitle you to enter other countries — countries set their own visa requirements for CTD holders, and some countries do not accept CTDs. Check the entry requirements of any destination country before booking travel.

The Certificate of Travel (CoT) is a brown booklet that can be issued to people who have leave to remain in the UK on a basis other than refugee status — most commonly humanitarian protection or leave outside the rules on human rights grounds — who can show it is not reasonable to expect them to obtain a national passport from their home country.

The bar for obtaining a CoT is higher than for a CTD. The applicant must demonstrate that it is not reasonable to obtain a national passport — for example, because doing so would involve approaching a hostile government, because the home country does not have a functioning passport service, or because doing so would endanger them or others. Simply not wanting to contact the home country embassy is generally not sufficient.

The application for a CoT is made using form TD112 CoT. The fee is also £75. A CoT is typically valid for travel to a limited number of countries and is subject to more restrictions than a CTD.

The Stateless Person Travel Document (SPTD) is a blue document issued under the 1954 Convention on Statelessness to people recognised as stateless by the UK (i.e., those who are not considered a national of any country). It is different from refugee status — a stateless person may not face persecution but simply has no nationality.

The SPTD allows international travel for people who have been formally recognised as stateless in the UK. UK recognition of statelessness is a separate legal determination made by the Home Office and requires a specific application. People with indefinite leave as a stateless person can apply for a SPTD.

As with other travel documents, the SPTD does not guarantee entry to other countries. Some countries have no policy on SPTD holders and may require alternative documentation. Legal advice is advisable before planning international travel on a SPTD.

The UK's transition from physical Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) to eVisa (digital immigration status) affects how all migrants, including those with refugee status, evidence their right to reside and travel. Since January 2025, new grants of leave are issued as digital eVisa status rather than on a BRP card. Existing BRP holders were required to create a UKVI online account to access and manage their digital status. Anyone with an expiring BRP who has not yet created a UKVI online account at gov.uk/get-access-evisa should do so urgently, as a BRP card that has passed its expiry date is no longer accepted as a travel document even if the underlying leave has not expired.

For EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) holders — who have always had purely digital status — travel is evidenced by generating a share code through the UKVI online account. EUSS Pre-Settled Status and Settled Status holders do not require a visa to return to the UK, but they must travel on a valid EU national passport or national identity card. If an EUSS holder loses their national travel document, or their country of origin issues a new biometric passport that changes identifying details, they should update their UKVI account to reflect the new passport details before travelling, to avoid difficulties at the border.

Refugees and people with humanitarian protection who have been issued a Convention Travel Document or Certificate of Travel should note that the eVisa transition does not replace these documents. The CTD and CoT remain the appropriate travel documents for their holders. However, if a refugee also holds a digital eVisa (for example, because their refugee status has been updated to settled status), they should maintain and use their UKVI online account to manage their digital immigration record alongside their physical travel document. Any discrepancy between the digital record and a physical document should be resolved by contacting UKVI before travelling internationally, as inconsistencies can cause significant delays at the border.