Frequently asked questions

There are two account levels on NRPF Connect with different permissions:

• Standard – casework access only
• Admin – casework access, the ability to download data into excel, and manage user accounts 

Admin account holders should be limited to managers or nominated key users who will use the data for performance monitoring purposes and to help ensure only authorised personnel have access to the system. 

An ‘admin user’ may create a new user account via the 'user account' page, using the ‘add’ button and completing the required fields. We recommend that where possible, user accounts are set up by the organisation’s admin user. 

If you do not know who the admin user is in your organisation, please contact us. 

The NRPF Network can set up a new user account on request. Please contact us from your organisational email account with a full signature and the following information for each member of staff requiring access:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Team name
• Service area

An admin user can delete a user account from the ‘user account’ page. We recommend that where possible, user accounts are deleted by the organisation’s admin user when a member of staff leaves the service or no longer requires access. 

If you do not know who the admin user is in your organisation, please contact us. 

The NRPF Network can delete a user account on request. Please contact us from your organisational email account with a full signature and provide the following details of the account that needs to be deleted

• Name
• Email address 

All users can manage their account via the ‘my profile’ tab, which allows them to reset their password. 

An ‘admin user’ can unlock accounts and reset passwords on the ‘user account’ page.  

If you do not know who the admin user is in your organisation, please contact us. 

If an admin user is unavailable, please contact us from your organisational email account to request a password reset. 

The Recourse to Public Funds (RTPF) Checker is embedded into NRPF Connect and allows an online record of a person’s immigration status to be instantly returned. If you believe a person may have valid leave, it is advisable to do a look-up first and then create the case using the returned information, if needed.  

To perform an immigration status ‘look-up’ on the embedded RTPF checker you will need a qualifying document number, such as a:

• Passport number
• National Insurance Number
• UKVI account number

You will also need to enter a:

• Name 
• Date of birth
• Nationality

Please enter the person’s information precisely without including additional spaces, and double check the information with the person if you expect to get a return but have not been successful.  

If no status is returned, you will need to create a case in the usual way via the search page. 

You will need to create a case if you need the Home Office NRPF Team to confirm the immigration status of an individual, or you have an ongoing involvement in a case where you have obtained information about their immigration status using the embedded RTPF Checker. 

To create a case, you will need to:

1. Perform a search on the search page to see if a case already exists (you do not need to create a new case if there is already a case for the person recorded by your council)
2. Complete the principal applicant page by adding mandatory personal details, including their name, nationality, gender and date of birth (the principal applicant will be the lead adult in a family household)
3. Complete the referral page, adding any relevant information in the ‘note’ section about your involvement or to make the Home Office aware of any urgent matters
4. Press submit on the referral page and go to the summary page to add any dependants  

When you create a case, as a minimum, you will need to provide the main applicant’s:

• Full name (including middle names)
• Nationality
• Gender
• Date of birth

You can help the Home Office to accurately match the case against their records if you also:

• Add reference numbers where you have them
• Add an address if this is known
• Make sure that all dependants have been correctly recorded
• Use the notes field on the referral page to explain your teams’ involvement or anything specific that you need the Home Office to address in their immigration status check 

A new case will be an ‘open-referral’ until finance information is added to the finance page. 

Adding finance information (person and accommodation-related costs) demonstrates that you are providing financial support to an individual or family. The Home Office has read-only access to the finance page.  

When a case has finance information added to it, the Home Office NRPF team will:

• Flag the local authority’s involvement on Home Office systems
• Be able to highlight the support costs incurred by the local authority when requesting that other Home Office teams expedite or prioritise claims
• Include the case in targeted work to progress long-standing cases (a case is ‘long-standing’ if the person or family has been supported by the local authority for over 1000 days)

Other Home Office teams will:

• Have evidence that an individual is receiving local authority support when this is relevant to the person’s application, such as a fee waiver or change of conditions  

Councils will need to actively use NRPF Connect to chase up the progress of outstanding immigration claims or to get updates about a person’s immigration matter. 

You will receive an immigration update alert when the Home Office has completed a status check following the creation of a new case. 

To obtain a subsequent update or information about the person’s immigration status, go to the summary page of the record to:

• Perform a ‘look-up’ using the embedded RTPF checker button, and/or
• Raise a query, using the ‘add query’ button at the bottom of the page

When using the query function you will need to:

• Make sure the address, finance, and dependants details are all accurate before sending the query
• Keep the requests as specific as possible and explain why any additional information, such as a full immigration history, is required 

The service level agreement sets out the agreed timeframes for Home Office responses:

• A digital status can be accessed by the local authority user immediately by using the embedded RTPF Checker
• When a new case is created, an immigration status check will be provided within 5 working days
• When the local authority sends a query, a response will be provided within 10 working days 

If you need a Home Office update urgently (within 24 hours) for a new case that you have created or a query raised relating to an existing case, you can:

• Perform a look up on the embedded RTPF Checker
• Email the duty line (available via the ‘help’ button), including the Connect case ID number and following the agreed protocol

When you email the duty line you will need to:

• Confirm whether the request relates to an open ‘new case alert’ or an open ‘query’
• Explain why the request is urgent
• If clarification of previously provided information is needed, outline the issue and specify what is required

Examples of when the duty line can be used include when a Home Office update is required for legal proceedings, if such information would assist with an urgent safeguarding or child protection matter or you are requesting a reconsideration of a Home Office decision.   

Please do not use the duty email to request routine case updates. The Home Office NRPF team will not provide updates on cases that are not on NRPF Connect, are closed on Connect, or do not have a live alert. The duty email address should not be shared with other departments or with councils that are not subscribed to Connect. 

An ‘immigration update alert’ will be generated when the Home Office completes an initial immigration status check or updates the immigration page. 

The number of outstanding immigration update alerts for the council can be seen on the home page. You can add the filter ‘my cases’ to only see the alerts relating to cases that are allocated to you. When a case is allocated to you, you will also receive an email informing you of the alert.  

You must review any outstanding alerts and close the alert.   

To review the information provided and close the alert, you will need to:

• Review the information provided by the Home Office on the immigration page, including the drop-down values and any notes added
• Close the alert by pressing ‘accept’ on the immigration page, which clears the alert and the highlights 

When a case is allocated to you, you will receive an email informing you that the Home Office has responded to a query. 

The number of outstanding query responses for the council can be seen on the home page. You can add the filter ‘my cases’ to only see the queries relating to cases that are allocated to you.  

The query chain can also be accessed from the summary page of the person’s record.  

You will need to:

• Review the response
• Check the record for any Home Office updates added to notes and the immigration page

Within 10 working days you will need to:

• Reply to the query if you need more information or clarity regarding the same topic, or
• Complete the query chain using the ‘complete’ button if you do not need any further information (there is no need to respond with a ‘thank you’!) 

When a case is allocated to you, you will receive an email informing you that the Home Office has sent a new query. 

The number of new queries from the Home Office can be seen on the home page (‘new HO queries’). You can add the filter ‘my cases’ to only see the queries relating to cases that are allocated to you.  

The query will also appear on the summary page of the person’s record.  

You will need to:

• Review the query
• Make any required updates to the person’s record, if information, such as the address or finance page, is not accurate
• Respond within 10 working days 

You must review any outstanding alerts and close the alert.   

To review the information provided and close the alert, you will need to:

• Review the information provided by the Home Office on the immigration page, including the drop-down values and any notes added
• Close the alert by pressing ‘accept’ on the immigration page, which clears the alert and the highlights.

A ‘closure required alert’ will be generated when the Home Office updates the immigration status field on the immigration page and this indicates that the person has ‘recourse to public funds’.  

The number of outstanding closure required alerts for the council can be seen on the home page. You can add the filter ‘my cases’ to only see the alerts relating to cases that are allocated to you.  

When a case is allocated to you, you will also receive an email informing you of the alert.  

The case closure alert will remain active until the case is closed by the council on the closure page.  

Adults with care needs and family cases 

If you are supporting an adult with care needs or a family, when you receive a case closure alert you will need to:

• Consider what steps need to be taken to end the provision of accommodation and financial support – for more information see the NRPF Network families practice guidance or adults practice guidance
• Close the case when you stop providing accommodation and financial support, which may only be when other support is in place, such as benefits and mainstream housing

We recommend that you regularly review cases with case closure alerts and ensure that they are closed on the system when local authority support has ended.  

Looked after children and care leavers 

If you are supporting a looked after child or care leaver, when you receive a case closure alert you will need to:

• Close the case (as they now have a form of status in the UK permitting recourse to public funds)

We recommend that you regularly review cases with case closure alerts and ensure that they are closed on the system when the child or young person has obtained access to public funds or the local authority’s involvement has ended. 

To close a case, please navigate to the closure page and complete the following fields before saving the change:

• ‘Closure reason’
• ‘Referral route’
• ‘Closure date’

For financially supported cases, the closure date will usually be the date that financial support ends.  

For non-financially supported cases, the closure date may reflect the approximate time where your council was no longer involved in a case, or the date that recourse to public funds was confirmed and no further action was required.  

Cases added by your council that have been closed can be reopened from the closure page if the person or family subsequently present for further assistance.  

If you accidentally create a duplicate case, please review both case records to identify which one should be removed.  

On the case record that you want removing, go to the principal applicant page and edit the principal applicant’s name by adding ‘duplicate’ next to it, then save the change.  

Send an email with the Connect ID number of the case that needs to be removed to LoCTA Limited at support@Locta.co.uk. LoCTA Limited will then remove the duplicate case from NRPF Connect. 

The person must be advised that their personal details have been shared with the Home Office and of any information the Home Office has returned about their immigration status or immigration claim.  

If the person thinks that the information provided is not correct, then you would need to ask the person to provide further details and query this with the Home Office. For example, if the person tells you they have submitted an application but the Home Office has no record of this.  

It is good practice to advise the person to inform their immigration adviser (if they have one) so that their adviser is aware of what information has been shared and that the council is able to obtain updates on the person’s pending claim through NRPF Connect.  

The Home Office publishes current processing timeframes for in-country immigration applications.  

The dedicated Home Office NRPF team working with councils using NRPF Connect to progress cases can request that the relevant casework team expedites a pending application.   

In order to support the Home Office to expedite cases, you will need to:

• Ensure that finance information is added on the finance page
• Raise a new query, setting out why the case should be given priority, including the support costs incurred to date and any exceptional vulnerability concerns

The Home Office will:

• Flag local authority involvement on Home Office systems when finance information is recorded
• Liaise with other Home Office teams on the local authority’s behalf to ensure that case resolution is expedited where possible
• Include the case in targeted work to progress ‘long standing’ cases if the case has been supported by the local authority for over 1000 days

If you have followed the steps above and you have not received the response that you hoped for, please contact us with details of the case, including the Connect ID number.  

When an appeal has been lodged with the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) Chamber or another court, the Home Office NRPF team will not be able to request that the case is expedited.  

A person with an appeal (the appellant) or their legal representative can write to the relevant court to request that an appeal is expedited. Therefore, you may wish to contact the legal representative (with consent) to find out whether there are any grounds for expediting an appeal and how the local authority can support such a request. 

To find out whether a person or family you are supporting can be transferred to Home Office asylum support, please refer to our families practice guidance or adults practice guidance. 

If a person or family’s transfer Home Office support is delayed, you will need to:

• Ensure that the case information is accurate and that the finance page is up to date
• Upload any correspondence from the Home Office relating to the person’s asylum support application or cessation
• Raise a query outlining the situation, including any difficulties encountered, and request assistance with progressing the transfer

Notify us about the case, providing the Connect ID reference number. 

The Home Office NRPF team will:

• Investigate the case on behalf of the local authority
• Work with the Home Office asylum support team to resolve the issues being encountered
• Provide an update to the local authority user 

A person making an application under the family or private life rules, or some other categories of the Immigration Rules can apply to the Home Office for a fee waiver if they cannot afford the application fee. A person receiving local authority support may qualify for a fee waiver and the Home Office may contact the council for more information to inform its decision. Read more about fee waivers.  

If a person is refused a fee waiver whilst they are receiving financial support and you think there has been a mistake or that the local authority’s support was not considered in the decision, you will need to:

• Raise a query outlining your concerns about the decision
• Email the duty line (available via the ‘help’ button) to request an urgent update, including the Connect case ID number and following the agreed protocol

For more information about the protocol, see the FAQ ‘what if I need an urgent update from the Home Office?’. 

The Home Office NRPF Team will make enquiries with the relevant casework team. 

The Home Office must not impose the NRPF condition on a person who is granted leave to remain under one of the following routes when the person has provided evidence that they are destitute or at risk of destitution, there are child welfare concerns or exceptional circumstances:

• Appendix family life
• Appendix private life
• Appendix child relative (sponsors with protection)
• Appendix Hong Kong BN(O)

When such a person is receiving local authority support, they will usually be granted leave to remain with access to public funds. A person with any other type of visa, such as a work or student visa, can only be granted a change of conditions on a discretionary basis. Read more about the change of conditions policy.  

If a person is refused a change of conditions whilst they are receiving financial support and you think there has been a mistake or that the local authority’s support was not considered in the decision, you will need to:

• Raise a query outlining your concerns about the decision
• Email the duty line (available via the ‘help’ button) to request an urgent update, including the Connect case ID number and following the agreed protocol

For more information about the protocol, see the FAQ ‘what if I need an urgent update from the Home Office?’.

The Home Office NRPF Team will make enquiries with the relevant casework team. 

The Home Office expects people to apply for leave to remain using the relevant application form. An applicant may be required to pay a fee but, in some cases, can apply for a fee waiver if they cannot afford the fee. Read more about fees and waivers. 

Therefore, you will need to support the person to access immigration advice in the first instance.  

However, there may be very exceptional cases where a person is genuinely unable to make an immigration application — typically only in the most severe medical or vulnerability-related situations, such as individuals with terminal cancer diagnoses or those lacking mental capacity due to serious health conditions. In such cases, the Home Office National Returns and Preparation Command (NRPC) may consider whether leave can be granted based on information provided to them. There is a very high threshold for the NRPC to accept a case with a view to granting leave to remain. 

If you are supporting a person who is unable to make an application in the usual way, you will need to:

• Raise a query setting out why the person is not able to follow the standard procedure for making an immigration application

The Home Office NRPF team will:

• Consider whether the case can be escalated with NRPC
• For cases that are escalated, confirm whether the person’s case has met the high threshold for the NRPC to consider granting leave, and if not provide feedback where possible
• Update the council regarding next steps

If you have followed the steps above and you have not been able to find a way forward or need further advice about the case, please contact us with details of the case, including the Connect ID number.   

The Home Office will confirm when a person has no lawful status in the UK and when there is no legal barrier, such as an outstanding application or appeal, preventing return.  

In such cases, the Home Office will provide information about the Home Office Voluntary Returns Service, which the person can be signposted to.  

The council’s human rights assessment will need to be completed or reviewed to take account of the person being without lawful status and having no outstanding immigration claims. If you need any further information relating to the person’s immigration position, you can raise a query. The Home Office will act on any further queries raised to help inform the human rights assessment, providing the request is compliant with data protection law.  

If the outcome of the human rights assessment is that support can be withdrawn on the basis that the person or family can return, you can raise a query if the person does not agree to take up voluntary return. The Home Office will refer the case to the National Returns Progression Command or the Family Returns Unit, as appropriate. 

If the person does not have an outstanding immigration claim but the outcome of the human rights assessment is that there is another legal or practical barrier to return and you have explored all options, but return is not practicable, you will need to help the person to access immigration advice or refer to the FAQ ‘what if the person is not able to make an immigration application?’.  

For more information about human rights assessments, please refer to our practice guidance, which contains a link to a template assessment.  

If you are using NRPF Connect, there is no need to use any other Home Office service to get immigration status updates or to request that immigration claims are prioritised.  

HES can be accessed by other local authority teams, such as rough sleeping outreach services, when a person they are working with is not being assessed for support from social care.  

The report page is accessible to admin users and contains a range of reports that can be downloaded into Excel. Using Excel, you can filter columns, hide rows and create pivot tables to extract the information you need.  

Download the finance report to find out:

• How much has been spent on person and accommodation-related costs up to a selected date
• Projected spend at the end of the financial year

Download the referral report to find out:

• How many referrals have been recorded over a selected time-period
• The immigration status of people referred
• Which cases were taken on for financial support, and which cases were closed

Download the immigration and case resolution report to find out:

• Detailed information about the households receiving financial support throughout a specified time period
• How many days a household has been supported for and the cost to date
• The number of financially supported households closed within a specified time period
• The immigration status of people receiving support
• Dates of the most recent immigration status check
• Reasons for case closures 

The finance report will tell you:

• How much has been spent on person and accommodation-related costs to a specified date
• How much the spend is predicted to be by the end of the financial year 

The immigration and case resolution report will tell you:

• Current immigration status
• Date of the last Home Office immigration update  

All users can access the performance monitoring report on the home page. 

You will need to complete the parameters and filters in order to download key performance data. 

Your council’s list of open financially supported cases is the caseload that you are officially reporting through NRPF Connect and only these cases will benefit from prioritisation work undertaken by the Home Office. For more information see the FAQ ‘Why do I need to add finance information?’. 

Open financially supported cases can be filtered by team, caseworker or legislation.  

Your count of ‘open financially supported’ cases will be accurate when the finance page has been completed for all the households that your council or team is providing with accommodation and/or financial support.  

To see if your data is accurate, you can check the current number of ‘open financially supported’ cases and compare this to the number of households you are supporting:

• If you are supporting more households, you are under-reporting and will need to review the current cases and add the missing data
• If you are supporting fewer households, you will need to review the list of cases and close any that you are no longer supporting
• If you do not know which households you need to be recording or are unclear how to establish how many households you are supporting, please contact us for further advice.