The government's plan to grant indefinite leave to remain to up to 15,000 families of asylum seekers could be fraught with difficulties, delegates were warned.

The Home Office announced in October that up to 15,000 families who sought asylum in the UK more than three years ago would be considered for permission to live and work in the UK in a one-off asylum amnesty.

But Dorcas Falode, a solicitor with Tower Hamlets Law Centre, said many eligible asylum seekers would miss out because they could not read or write English.

Mike Canham, a consultant working for the Home Office on the project, confirmed that the questionnaires being sent out to families who could be considered for the scheme were written in English and the helpline was staffed by English speakers.

Falode raised further concerns that the questionnaires were sent directly to asylum seekers, rather than their legal representatives.

Although an asylum seeker would recognise a letter from the Home Office or their legal adviser by the logo, they might not recognise documents from the National Asylum Support Service and realise the importance of the document, she said.

Canham confirmed it was the "wish and expectation" of Home Office minister Beverley Hughes that the project would be completed by April.

But Tauhid Pasha, legal, policy and information director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, warned that there was still a "backlog" of cases from an amnesty in 1998.