Conclusions and recommendations
1. UKvisas has made significant progress in
streamlining the processing of visa applications, but there needs
to be more robust quality control by managers of the quality of
decisions. In particular,
more use could be made of peer review and consistency checks,
and this should be reflected in guidance to staff.
2. UKvisas should examine whether more time
is required for rigorous scrutiny of applications.
UKvisas' benchmark is that, on average, every officer should process
a visa application every 11 minutes. Some applications can be
dealt with quickly but an average of 11 minutes seems scarcely
sufficient to review the application details and supporting documentation,
let alone to carry out additional checks to verify the authenticity
of the documentation.
3. Using risk assessments to target resources
where they will have most effect should become the rule rather
than the exception. Risk assessment units
have currently been established in only a small number of key
posts, although UKvisas is extending the number of these units.
Risk assessments need more and better intelligence information
for assessing applications. Databases maintained locally and in
the United Kingdom should contain complete and up-to-date information
on suspect or criminal activity, and details of previous visa
applications.
4. 50% of appeals by applicants intending
to visit family members in the United Kingdom have led to the
original decision being overturned in the appellant's favour.
Indicators which UKvisas could use to provide more information
for monitoring purposes on the quality of decisions include analyses
of refusal rates, appeal outcomes and the number of decisions
which are overturned following management review. Such analyses
could highlight differences between posts and categories of application,
and trends across years, in the consistency and quality of decision-making.
5. There is currently no systematic check
on whether visa holders comply with the conditions of their visa
once they are in the United Kingdom. So
UKvisas is not able to evaluate whether it is achieving its objectives
in entry clearance. The Home Office's 'e-Borders' programme is
intended to provide the facility to electronically track everyone
entering and leaving the country. The Home Office and UKvisas
should use this information to provide systematic feedback to
entry clearance staff on when visa holders leave the United Kingdom.
6. Meanwhile UKvisas, together with the Home
Office, should carry out more tracking exercises to establish
whether visa holders comply with the terms of the visa. In
addition to tracking exercises for particular categories, the
Home Office and UKvisas should use statistically based sample
checking to provide an overall estimate of the number of people
who are not complying with the terms of their visa.
7. 100 out of 400 colleges cited by 'students'
in visa applications have been found to be bogus. The
Home Office is only now compiling a list of approved colleges.
It also needs to establish a programme of checks on whether
students actually attend the approved colleges after entry into
the United Kingdom.
8. UKvisas should identify and disseminate
good practice methods of accepting and processing applications
to encourage more systematic improvements in efficiency.
It should review working processes in each country, and promote
models for wider adoption in guidance to staff.
9. UKvisas should predict future demand for
visas, identifying where the risks and constraints lie, to assist
it in deploying resources to meet demand.
A modest capital budget, allocated to UKvisas for small scale
improvements, would enable it to tackle accommodation problems
which are causing bottlenecks at visa sections.
10. The Home Office should not have dismissed
objections from visa staff in Bulgaria and Romania to granting
visas on the basis of standardised business plans, of which the
applicants had no knowledge. The Home
Office should have obtained legal advice on whether its interpretation
of legal precedents was correct. It now needs to focus on removing
individuals who have not set up a valid business.
11. As a joint Home Office/FCO body, UKvisas
should facilitate better communication between its parent departments,
including face-to-face communication.
12. Disciplinary procedures are under way
in respect of staff who challenged shortcomings in the administration
of the European Community Association Agreements scheme.
We note that no action has been taken to discipline those who
ignored or tolerated those deficiencies.
13. The Departments should establish proper
procedures for reporting concerns to the appropriate internal
authority, particularly where there is
more than one Government department concerned. These procedures
should be clarified and disseminated to staff. Departments should
also ensure that all staff are aware of the correct channels for
making disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
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