Public transport travel card for asylum seekers
Asylum seekers can get free public transport on Translink buses and trains for six months. Check if you are eligible for this travel card trial scheme.
Who can get free transport
You can get an iLink travel card if you are an asylum seeker aged five or over living in Mears accommodation on 29 February 2024.
You are not eligible to get this iLink travel card if you:
- do not live in Mears accommodation
- have already received an iLink travel card
- were in Mears accommodation on 1 November and missed your housing inspection or Mears clinic, so did not receive your travel card
- arrived in Northern Ireland after 29 February 2024
iLink travel card
Your iLink travel card will allow you to travel:
- on any Translink bus or train
- at any time of day, on any day of the week (including weekends)
- to any location within Northern Ireland only (asylum seekers should not enter the Republic of Ireland – this could result in your asylum claim being treated as withdrawn)
Your iLink travel card will be activated the first time you use it on a Translink bus or train and it will expire six months later.
You might want to take a note of the date when you first use your iLink travel card so that you will know when it will expire.
After this time, you will need to pay standard fares if you wish to travel on public transport.
You will not be able to claim a refund for the value of your card from Translink and are not permitted to give it to someone else to use. If you feel that you will not use your card, return it to Mears as soon as possible.
If you let anyone else use the card, or try to sell or loan any of the cards issued under your application to someone else, the cards will be ‘hotlisted’. This means that nobody will be able to use them and you will be withdrawn from the pilot and will not get any further cards.
When you will get your card
Mears will distribute the iLink travel cards between 16 April and 19 April 2024.
Mears will only distribute the iLink travel cards directly to primary asylum applicants. The primary applicant is the person whose name is on the asylum claim.
If you are a single adult, you will get your iLink travel card directly.
If you are part of a couple or a family, the primary applicant will get one card for themselves and one for each eligible person linked to the claim, such as their partner, children, or other dependents.
Living in Mears accommodation in Belfast
If you live in Mears accommodation in Belfast (this could be a hotel or house), you will receive your travel card at a clinic at Mears’ office.
You will receive a letter from Mears before 16 April 2024 to tell you the date and time of your clinic.
Living in Mears accommodation outside Belfast
If you live in a hotel outside Belfast you will receive your travel card at a clinic held at your hotel. The date of the clinic will be displayed on a poster in your hotel.
If you live in a house outside Belfast, a Mears housing manager will come to your house and give you your card during your housing inspection.
The housing manager will contact you by telephone before 16 April 2024 to tell you the date of your housing inspection.
If you miss your clinic or housing inspection, you will not have a second chance to receive your card and will become ineligible for the scheme.
Using your iLink travel card
Take your iLink travel card out of your wallet before you use it. If you do not do so, the card reader may take the fare for your journey from another debit or credit card in your wallet. If this happens you will not be able to get a refund of the fare cost.
On Metro, Ulsterbus or Goldliner bus
- get on to the bus and look for the ticket machine beside the driver
- hold your iLink card against the reader on the ticket machine, with the front of the card facing upwards
- when the ticket machine reads your iLink card, it should bleep once, and a green light will appear
- the machine will then issue a ticket which you should keep with you on your journey
On Glider bus
- find the ticket validator machine at the Glider stop (this is not the large ticket machine in the middle of the shelter – it is a small, waist-high podium at the end of the shelter)
- before you get on the Glider bus, hold your iLink card to the target below the screen on the ticket validator
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when the ticket validator accepts the card, the machine will bleep once and a tick (✔) will appear on the screen
- the ticket validator does not issue a ticket or receipt – it just checks that your iLink card is valid to make a journey and records when you scanned it
At rail stations
- hold your iLink card to the target at the bottom of the validator machine at the barrier to the train platform
- when the validator reads the iLink card, the machine should bleep once, and a green light should appear
- the validator machine does not issue a ticket or receipt - it only checks that your iLink card is valid to make a journey
- if there is no barrier to the train platform, staff at the train station or the conductor on the train will validate your iLink card for you
School bus passes
If your child already has a bus pass to travel to school, they will also get an iLink travel card.
Your child should use their new iLink travel card to get to and from school. They can also use their iLink travel card to travel in the evenings and at weekends.
It is important to keep your child’s school bus pass safe, as your child can start using their school bus pass again to travel to and from school when their iLink travel card expires.
Asylum support payments
Getting a card will not affect your asylum support payments.
Lost, damaged, or stolen cards
You are responsible for the safety of your iLink travel card.
Make sure you keep your iLink travel card somewhere it will not get lost or be damaged. For example, your card will be safer in your wallet than loose in your pocket.
If your child has an iLink travel card, it might be safer for you to keep it while it is not being used.
If you live with others, it is a good idea to write your name or mark your iLink travel card so that you can identify it as yours.
If you lose or damage your iLink travel card, it will not be replaced as there are no extra cards.
Mears, the Department for Infrastructure, and Translink will not be responsible for any cards lost, stolen or damaged.
Report a lost, damaged, or stolen card
If you lose or damage your iLink travel card, or if your card is stolen, you must report it within 48 hours so that it can be ‘hot-listed’ – this will stop other people using it.
If you do not do this, you may not be able to take part in any future transport schemes.
Claiming for travel expenses
You cannot claim travel expenses for any journey you make using your iLink travel card (for example for health-related appointments, from a voluntary organisation or Home Office). This would be a fraudulent use of the card.
If you claim or try to claim travel expenses for a journey you make using your iLink card, it will be deactivated and you will no longer be able to use it.
You will also be unable to take part in any other transport initiatives in the future.
Filling out the survey – why it’s important
Before this ‘Local Links’ iLink travel card pilot scheme ends, Mears will email you a link to take part in a voluntary survey.
This survey will ask questions about how you have used the iLink travel card and if it has helped you.
This information will help understand the needs of asylum seekers and how free transport could help others in the future.
Make sure that you have given Mears an up-to-date email address to allow them to send you this survey.
Further support
If you need any further information on the travel card pilot scheme, email: LLsupport@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
To report your card as lost or stolen, email: LLlost@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk