Newly immigrated persons, whatever their origin, tend to fall in the lower socioeconomic levels. In fact, failure of an asylum application renders one destitute in a large proportion of cases, often resulting in a profound lack of access to basic necessities. With over a third of HIV positive failed asylum seekers reporting no income, and the remainder reporting highly limited resources, poverty is a reality for the vast majority. The purpose of the study was to determine the basic social processes that guide HIV positive undocumented migrant's efforts to gain health services in the UK. The study used the Grounded Theory Approach. Theoretical saturation occurred after 16 participants were included in the study. The data included reflections of the prominent factors related to the establishment of a safe and productive life and the ability of individuals to remain within the UK. The data reflected heavily upon the ability of migrants to enter the medical care system during their asylum period, and on an emerging pattern of service denial after loss on immigration appeal. The findings of this study are notable in that they have demonstrated sequence of events along a timeline related to the interaction between the asylum process and access to health-related services. The results reflect that African migrants maintain a degree of formal access to health services during the period that they possess legal access to services and informal access after the failure of their asylum claim. The purpose of this paper is to examine the basic social processes that characterize efforts to gain access to health services among HIV positive undocumented African migrants to the UK. The most recent estimates indicate that there are a total of 618,000 migrants who lack legal status within the UK. Other studies have placed the number of undocumented migrants within the UK in the range of 525,000-950,000. More than 442,000 are thought to dwell in the London metropolitan area. Even in cases where African migrants enter the UK legally, they often face considerable difficulty in their quest to gain legal employment due to barriers inherent to the system that grants work permits. With over a third of HIV positive failed asylum seekers reporting no income, and the remainder reporting highly limited resources, poverty is a reality for the vast majority. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Health seeking behaviors African migrants HIV disease Undocumented migrants

refugee Human immunodeficiency virus infection human immigration Refugees statistics and numerical data health service priority journal general practitioner African HIV Seropositivity Great Britain Social Work human rights asylum seeker Humans migrant Black person African Continental Ancestry Group male female Article legislation and jurisprudence grounded theory migration United Kingdom Emigration and Immigration health care system Transients and Migrants medical care Health Services Accessibility health care delivery