APPENDIX 2
Letter to Mr Eric Illsley
MP from Mr David Winnick MP, 12.1.98
Thanks for your note and enclosure over the sub-committee
set up to conduct a short enquiry into entry clearance procedures
at overseas posts.
The most important need I believe at the moment over
this is to restore the right of appeal in visitors' refusal cases.
When MPs write to the appropriate Minister at the Foreign Office
on behalf of those associated with our constituents the response
tends always to be the same: the entry clearance officer had interviewed
the applicant and there was no reason to change the decision.
An adjudicator hearing both the sponsor as well as
the Home Office official representing the ECO used to decide the
rights and wrongs of such refusals, and a good percentage of appeals
were upheld. While I was out of the House I represented a number
of such cases when working for the Immigrants Advisory Service
which, as you know, is publicly funded.
The other related matter is the curse of agents on
the Indian sub-continent who are totally ruthless in obtaining
money and giving the worst possible advice, including encouraging
the telling of lies to Immigration officials. In this country
there remain far too many firms who charge exorbitant fees to
sponsors, and often just for writing a short letter to the Home
Office and then later telling clients to see their MP. I hope
the Government will soon be able to deal in some way with such
abuse in Britain.
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