6 UK Visas and Immigration
Service standards
47. In January 2014, Mark Harper MP, the then Minister
for Immigration, wrote to the Committee to explain that UK Visas
and Immigration (UKVI) would be publishing its performance against
service standards that would apply for applications received from
1 January 2014. He said that this was part of UKVI adopting a
clear customer focus:
This is about encouraging business and genuine
visitors to come here in the knowledge that UKVI is working to
serve their needs. To offer this certainty to customers, UKVI
will move to a more transparent set of standards. [53]
48. Immigration data for Q1 2014, published in May
2014, included performance reports against the old service standards
going back over the last four years.[54]
The standards are given by type of application.[55]
In addition to the old service standards it also contained a table
giving the service standards as they would apply to 2013-14.[56]
On 22 July 2014, the NAO report on the Reforming the UK border
and immigration system listed "selected UK visas and
immigration service standards" that would apply for 2013-14.[57]
These differed slightly from those given to us in the Q1 2014
data. When the Committee received the data for Q2 2014, we received
a third version of the service standards as they applied to 2013-14.
For example, the proposed service standard as it applied for applications
in 2013-14 in the Q1 data was 85% in four weeks, in the NAO report
it was 85% in eight weeks, and in the Q2 2014 data it was an unspecified
percentage in eight weeks.
49. We recognise that applications received and concluded
before 31 December 2013 will be assessed according to the old
service standards. We recognise that applications made in December
2013 but concluded after 1 January 2014 will be assessed according
to the old service standards. Only cases raised on or after 1
January 2014 will be assessed according to the new service standards.
This makes comparisons difficult.[58]
50. Sarah Rapson, Director General of the UK Visas
& Immigration Directorate, said the old service standards
were not particularly helpful:
One of the service standards had something like
65% of people get a decision in a particular amount of time and
I took the view very strongly that meant that you did not know
whether you were going to be in the 65% or in the 35%.
She said standards were changed so that they give
a more transparent perspective, and so anyone who makes a straightforward
application will get a decision in a particular amount of time.[59]
And when asked why the standards for 2013-14 appeared to have
changed three times since the letter from Mr Harper, Ms Rapson
said:
There is a good reason for that, which is that
some of the service standards, particularly in permanent migration,
are six months and so we have yet to report on the beginning of
March plus six months, which would take you to September. In our
next set of data you will get the Q2 numbers.[60]
The next set of data, for Q3 2014, would enable enough
time to have passed for the applications for permanent migration
to be assessed according to the service standard—currently
99% in six months.[61]
51. Sarah Rapson explained that UKVI had decided
on the new service standards in temporary and permanent migration,
in consultation with customer groups and interested parties.[62]
Furthermore, she said the timescales could be reviewed: "we
will run this for a period and then we may want to look at whether
some of these timings are appropriate or not. […] Our intention
was always to go back to that once we had got this system working
properly."
52. This Committee has in the past expressed concern
about the way in which internal service standards operate. We
understand that there is a difference between the service standards
for applications submitted before 1 January 2014 and those submitted
after that date. However, we have seen three different versions
of what service standards apply to applications made after 1 January
2014. Changing service standards without consultation or explanation
is like moving the goal posts once the game has started, and brings
more uncertainty into a system that already, for many, is incredibly
complex, Kafkaesque and slow. We recommend that the UKVI send
us a single, definitive copy of the service standards for applications
submitted after 1 January 2014 by 31 December 2014. We also recommend
that in future, whenever service standards are reviewed and changed,
that this Committee be notified in a letter from the head of UKVI.
STRAIGHTFORWARD AND NON-STRAIGHTFORWARD
53. Not all applications to UKVI are covered by these
service standards. There is a distinction between "straightforward"
cases, where the standards apply, and "non-straightforward"
cases, where the service standards do not apply. The Q1 data explained
the classification of cases as:
Straightforward cases are non-complex cases where
the customer has been compliant and met all of their obligations.
Non-straightforward cases are more complex cases,
for example Human Right Claims. In this type of case the department
informs the customer of their non-straightforward status and where
appropriate takes additional steps such as gaining additional
information from the customer, interviewing the customer or undertaking
additional checks.[63]
54. It is not clear if this means that a complex
case is automatically a non-straightforward case, which is relevant
as in his January letter Mr Harper told us that the Home Office
would "report quarterly on UKVI performance against all application
types including complex cases so that there is transparency on
performance."[64]
Sarah Rapson said that UKVI do monitor the proportion of straightforward
and non-straightforward cases.[65]
A large proportion of non-straightforward cases outside service
standards would be a concern, because it would leave UKVI open
to the suggestion that it was deliberately categorising difficult
cases to be outside service standards.
55. There are further factors that appear to affect
if a case is outside service standards. In cases where the Home
Office has informed the applicant that they have not provided
the correct information, and the Home Office is awaiting that
information, then the case is declared 'blocked' during this time,
and the clock stops with regard to service standards. Once the
reason for the case being blocked has been removed, the case becomes
'workable' again.[66]
Only when workable cases have not been concluded within the required
standard will the Home Office consider them part of a 'backlog',
and only within the last year did the Home Office even know how
old many of these cases were. Sarah Rapson had previously described
it as "just a great big number and we did not know what was
within the service standard and what was genuinely backlog."[67]
As of 30 March 2014, the Home Office considered there to be "no
such backlog cases."[68]
56. We recommend that the Home Office publish
the method by which it is assessing the performance of UKVI in
dealing with those cases that fall outside the service standards.
57. We recommend by the 1 January 2015, the Home
Office produces a flow chart that illustrates how an application
makes progress through the system, showing the possible routes,
and the implications of an application being either straightforward
or non-straightforward, but also complex or non-complex, and if
workable or blocked. The Home Office should send a copy to this
Committee and to all Members of Parliament. It should also place
a copy on the Home Office website so the public can understand
it.
Backlogs
58. The Committee has regularly published a list
of backlogs on a quarterly basis.[69]
These include:
· the
live immigration cohort,
· the
live asylum cohort,
· the
number of FNOs living in the community,
· the
migration refusal pool,
· the
number of cases not yet loaded onto the Casework Information Database
(CID), and
· the
temporary and permanent migration pool.
The NAO calculated the current backlog as of Q1 2014
to be 301,000. Sarah Rapson took issue with the word 'backlog'
and disputed the usefulness of a single sum total and that: "adding
all that together really gives you a sense of the work in the
system in that way".[70]
The Minister said it was more useful to look at the different
components that make up the backlogs and the work UKVI has done
to try and work through some of the more historical cases.[71]
One of the biggest backlogs is the temporary and permanent migration
pool. This has decreased from 176,500 in Q1 2013 to 88,300 in
Q4 2013, and carried on falling until Q2 2014 when it went up
to 96,000. Sarah Rapson explained why it had gone back up:
There are a couple of reasons for that. First,
we have included in there for the first time 6,000 dependent applications,
which we were not previously counting. In the interests of being
fulsome and transparent about the work, we have put some additional
cases into that pot.[72]
59. The second reason was that UKVI lent some case-working
staff to Her Majesty's Passport Office to help with their backlog.
She also felt that many of these cases would be straightforward
cases,[73] and that according
to the UKVI definitions, they would not be backlogs, but cases
in the system, and the Home Office consider only those cases that
are workable but outside service standards as backlogs.[74]
Backlogs of cases have become a feature of application and
visa work at the Home Office. We do not believe that the Home
Office has explained adequately why there is a backlog in straightforward
cases.
60. The Home Office is attempting to reduce all these
backlogs at the same time as the Home Office budget is being further
constrained.[75] UKVI
were on budget in 2013-14 because of increased income cancelling
out £6 million of over-expenditure. The NAO said the Department
faced "a tough challenge" to improve performance in
the face of further budget cuts next year.[76]
The Home Office needs to find a sustainable solution to the
problem of providing a consistent level of service within the
context of diminishing resources. Caseworker staff being moved
to address a backlog building up in the Passport Agency during
the summer, which contributed to a rise in the temporary and permanent
migration pool, is a good example of a short term solution to
the latest area of concern that does not deal with the enduring
problem. However, removal of staff from one area of the Home Office
to another should not result in further backlogs being created.
Asylum service standards
61. In his January letter explaining the new service
standards, Mark Harper said that service standards for asylum
applications were under review, and would be "published in
due course."[77]
In November, James Brokenshire said that the Department was working
on the backlogs in asylum, in an effort to bring asylum claims
within service requirements by April 2015.[78]
62. There are a considerable number of old asylum
cases waiting for a decision. When UKVI was created there were
41,000 pre-2007 asylum and migration cases, now being addressed
by the Older Live Cases Unit. We have been told in the past that
once the backlog is cleared, then staff can be moved to address
the current cases and decisions will be made within a more reasonable
length of time.[79] Sarah
Rapson said that all of these would receive a decision "by
the end of this calendar year and we are on track to do that."[80]
In Q2 2014 there were still 23,974 asylum claims in the Live Asylum
Cohort—persons with an older asylum case, with an application
pre-dating 5 March 2007.[81]
63. UKVI do produce statistics on the number of asylum
applications that receive an initial decision within 30 days,
and how many are concluded within 6 months, within 12 months,
and within 36 months. We know that in Q1 2014, 40% of cases had
waited more than 6 months for an initial decision, and in Q2 2014,
this had increased to 47% of cases had waited more than 6 months
for an initial decision. The next step would be to decide what
level of success is an acceptable service standard.
64. We welcome the move to establish service standards
for asylum claims. However, we do not know what these service
standards are or when they will be introduced and we recommend
that the Home Office does so immediately to bring certainty into
the asylum system.
65. We consider it entirely unacceptable that
almost half of asylum applicants do not receive even an initial
decision within 6 months. This is a very long time period for
people to have to wait for a first response. We further recommend
that the Home Office publish the method by which it intends to
assess the performance of UKVI in dealing with the asylum cases
that fall outside the service standards.
Visa applications
VISAS ISSUED
66. The UK point based system provides for visas
in separate categories: Tier 1 is for "high value" individuals.
Tier 2 is for skilled workers from outside the EU with a skilled
job offer (Tier 2 is subject to an annual upper cap of 20,700).
Tier 4 is for students and Tier 5 is for people whose reason to
work in the UK is temporary and not for work reasons, e.g. artists.
The service standard target for in-country postal visa applications
is 90% in four weeks. The service standard target for premium
visa applications is 90% in 24 hours.
In country processing - worse performance
The chart below shows the proportion of in country
visas applications process within target by Tier for postal and
premium applications in Q1 2014.
- Performance on postal applications is below
target for Tiers 1, 4 and 5 in Q1 2014. Performance on premiums
applications for Tier 1 is also below target.
The Home Office has changed the format in which the
data for in country visa applications is provided. As a result,
we do not have data setting out the performance on postal applications
nor premium applications for Tiers 1, 4 and 5 in Q2 2014.
Work in progress - improved performance
- In Q1 2014, there were 88,364 in country visa
applications which were work in progress of which 3% were un-input
cases. This is a decrease from Q4 2013 when there were 113,243
in country visa applications which were work in progress, of which
22% were un-input cases.
- In Q2 2014, there were 96,450 in country visa
applications which were work in progress of which 3% were un-input
cases.
Out of country processing - worse performance
The chart below shows out of country visa applications
processed within 15, 30 and 60 days by Tier in Q1 2014.
- There are 56,120 out of country visas applications
that are work in progress in Q1 2014. This is a decrease from
58,919 in the previous quarter.
The chart below shows out of country visa applications
processed within 15, 30 and 60 days by Tier in Q2 2014.
- There are 91,434 out of country visas applications
that are work in progress in Q2 2014. This is an increase from
56,120 in the previous quarter.
Sponsors and licensing
67. Applications under Tier 2, Tier 4 and Tier 5
require a sponsoring body. Under Tier 2 and Tier 5 (Temporary
workers) the sponsor must be an employer based in the UK. Under
Tier 4, the sponsor must be an education provider. Such organisations
have to apply to UKVI to get sponsor status.
Applications
The chart below shows sponsor application made by
Tier.
- In Q1 2014 2,075 applications were made in
Tier 2, 44 applications were made in Tier 4 and 156 applications
were made in Tier 5.
- In Q2 2014 2,007 applications were made in
Tier 2, 49 applications were made in Tier 4 and 117 applications
were made in Tier 5.
Sponsor application processing - improved performance
- UKVI are processing sponsor applications faster.
In Q4 2013, it took an average of 20 days to process, in Q1 2014
it took an average of 19 days, and in Q2 2014 it took an average
of 14 days
Follow up visits - worse performance
- In Q1 2014, 1,422 follow up visits were made
to visa sponsors in Tiers 2, 4 and 5. This is a decrease from
1,536 in the previous quarter.
- In Q2 2014, 1,045 follow up visits were made
to visa sponsors in Tiers 2, 4 and 5.
Unannounced visits - worse performance
The chart below shows the proportion of follow up
visits to visa sponsors that were unannounced.
- In Q1 2014 there was an increase in the proportion
of follow up visits that were unannounced compared with Q4 2013.
- In Q2 2014 there was a decrease in the proportion
of follow up visits that were unannounced compared with Q1 2014.
66% of Tier 2, 81% of Tier 4 and 36% of Tier 5 follow up visits
to sponsors were unannounced.
New asylum cases
68. The text box below shows the Home Office's performance
in processing new asylum applications.
Applications
- 7,479 applications were made for asylum (main
applicant and dependents) in Q1 2014.
- 3,622 initial decisions were made in Q1 2014,
a fall from 3,964 initial decisions in the previous quarter. 36%
of the initial decisions were grants (some of these decisions
may related to applications made in previous quarters).
- 6,885 applications were made for asylum (main
applicant and dependents) in Q2 2014.
- 4,740 initial decisions were made in Q2 2014,
a rise from the previous quarter. 39% of the initial decisions
were grants (some of these decisions may related to applications
made in previous quarters).
Asylum applications pending initial decision -
worse performance
- The chart below shows that 26,480 asylum applications
were pending an initial decision in Q1 2014, up from 23,070 in
the previous quarter.
- In Q2 2014, 28,525 asylum applications were
pending an initial decision.
Asylum applications pending initial decision for
more than 6 months - worse performance
- There has been a rise in the proportion of
cases waiting more than 6 months for an initial decision. In Q1
2014, 40% of cases had waited more than 6 months.
- In Q2 2014, 47% of cases had waited more than
6 months for an initial decision.
Asylum and immigration caseload
69. Legacy cases and the Older Live Cases Unit. The
OLCU, formerly the Case Assurance and Audit Unit (CAAU). The CAAU
inherited 124,000 archive cases in March 2011, cases that the
Case Resolution Directorate (CRD) could not trace before closing.
The 124,000 cases included 98,000 asylum cases—where the
claim had been made before 5 March 2007; and 26,000 older immigration
cases where the CRD had been unable to locate the applicant. Legacy
cases are concluded by granting leave, removing individuals from
the country or by cleansing clear data errors and duplicates.
ASYLUM
Asylum cases concluded - improved performance
- The chart below shows that in Q1 2014 3,112
legacy asylum cases were concluded, up from 1,846 in the previous
quarter.
- In Q2 2014, 2,206 legacy asylum cases were
concluded
The chart below shows the total number of asylum
cases in the Older Live Cases Unit has continued to fall since
Q4 2012.
- At the end of Q1 2014, 50% of all legacy asylum
applications concluded had been granted leave to remain, 23% were
removed and 26% were found to be duplicates.
- At the end of Q2 2014, 50% of all the legacy
asylum applications concluded had been granted leave to remain,
22% were removed and 27% were found to be duplicates
IMMIGRATION
Legacy immigration conclusions - improved performance
The chart below shows the number of legacy immigration
applications concluded since Q2 2012.
- 4,463 legacy immigration applications were
concluded in Q1 2014, up from 4,045 in the previous quarter.
- 5,243 legacy immigration applications were
concluded in Q2 2014.
- At the end of Q2 2014, 46% of all legacy immigration
applications concluded had been granted leave to remain and 24%
of applications were removed. 30% were found to be duplicates.
New asylum and immigration cases
70. The text box below shows the Home Office's performance
in processing grants of settlement.
Grants of settlement
The chart below shows grants of settlement by category.
- There were 26,854 grants for settlement in
Q1 2014, 39% of which were for employment, 33% for family formation
and reunion, 9% for asylum and 19% for other reasons.
- There were 26,356 grants for settlement in
Q2 2014, 38% of which were for employment, 32% for family formation
and reunion, 19% for asylum and 11% for other reasons.
Appeals and tribunals performance
71. The text box below shows the Home Office's performance
in the First Tier Tribunal.
FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL (IMMIGRATION
AND ASYLUM CHAMBER)
The chart below shows First Tier Tribunal disposals
that were determined.
- 20,350 First Tier Tribunal disposals were determined
in Q1 2014. 44% of appeals were allowed, the same as the previous
quarter.
- The proportion of successful asylum appeals
at First Tier Tribunal was 31%, up from 29% in the previous quarter.
- 18,429 First Tier Tribunal disposals were determined
in Q2 2014. 41% of appeals were allowed.
- 30% of asylum appeals in Q2 2014 at First Tier
Tribunal were successful.
Bundling performance - improved performance
- In Q1 2014, the Home Office got 67% of bundles
to court five days in advance of the appeal hearing, up from 66%
in the previous quarter.
- In Q2 2014, the Home Office got 73% of bundles
to court five days in advance of the appeal hearing.
Representation rates
- In Q1 2014 the Home Office achieved a 99% representation
rate at First Tier Tribunal, the same rate as in the previous
quarter.
- In Q2 2014 the Home Office achieved a 99% representation
rate at First Tier Tribunal.
MPs' correspondence
72. The text box below shows the Home Office's performance
in responding to correspondence from MPs.
The chart below shows the proportion of MPs' emails
and enquiries made via the MPs inquiry line responded to in target
time.
Response to emails - improved performance
The Home Office aims to respond to 95% of emails
within 20 days.
- 89% of emails were responded to within 20 working
days in Q1 2014, an increase from 83% in the previous quarter.
- In Q2 2014, 87% of emails were responded to
within 20 working days
Response to MPs' inquiry line - improved performance
The Home Office aims to resolve 90% of queries via
the MPs' inquiry line within 10 working days.
- In Q1 2014, 73% of queries were resolved in
10 working days, up from 69% in the previous quarter.
- In Q2 2014, 75% of queries were resolved in
10 working days.
Staff numbers
73. The text box below shows the number of full-time
equivalent staff working in UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration
Enforcement.
UKVI and Immigration enforcement staffing
- In Q1 2014, there were 11,798 full-time equivalent
staff working in UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement,
down from 11,916 in the previous quarter. 12% of staff were agency
staff.
- In Q2 2014, there were 11,905 full time equivalent
staff working in UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement.
11% of staff were agency staff.
53 Letter from Mark Harper MP, Minister of State for Immigration,
to the Chair of the Committee, 13 January 2014 Back
54
Transparency Data and Additional data on the borders and immigration system
on www.gov.uk Back
55
Family, visitors, employment, study, permanent residence, European
casework, British citizenship, sponsor licencing, non-settlement
visas and settlement visas. Back
56
Home Office Quarterly data - Migration service standards 2014 Q1,
p7 Back
57
NAO Report, Reforming the UK border and immigration system, HC
445, Figure 4 Back
58
Q1 2014, Footnote 5 "A new service standard was implemented
on 01 January 2014. This new standard applies to cases raised
after 31 December 2013. The new service standards will be reported
in Quarter 2, 2014. Data reported for quarter 1 of 2014 reflects
cases to which the old service standard applies, and excludes
cases with a raised date after 01 January 2014. Quarter 1 of 2014
data on the number of cases decided should not therefore be compared
with data from previous quarters as the quarter 1 data does not
include all cases decided." Back
59
Q 183 Back
60
Q 185 Back
61
Qq 186-187 Back
62
The work of the Immigration Directorates (Q1 2014), HC 501, 22
July 2014, Q 22 Back
63
Additional data on the borders and immigration system Back
64
Letter from Mark Harper MP, Minister of State for Immigration,
to the Chair of the Committee, 13 January 2014 Back
65
Q 189 Back
66
Further information on categorisation of cases at Additional data on the borders and immigration system,
p8 Back
67
The work of the Immigration Directorates (Q1 2014), HC 501, 22
July 2014, Q 22 Back
68
Additional data on the borders and immigration system Q1 2014,
page 8-9 Back
69
Home Affairs Committee, Third Report of Session 2014-15, The work of the Immigration Directorates (October-December 2013),
HC 237; Home Affairs Committee, Eighth Report of Session 2013-14,
The work of the UK Border Agency (January-March 2013), HC 616;
Home Affairs Committee, Fifteenth Report of Session 2013-14, The work of the Immigration Directorates (April-September 2013),
HC 820 Back
70
The work of the Immigration Directorates (Q1 2014), HC 501, 22
July 2014, Q 23 Back
71
Q 179 Back
72
Q 175 Back
73
Q 175 Back
74
The work of the Immigration Directorates (Q1 2014), HC 501, 22
July 2014, Q 21 Back
75
Q 25 Back
76
NAO Report, Reforming the UK border and immigration system, July
2014 Back
77
Letter from Mark Harper MP, Minister of State for Immigration,
to the Chair of the Committee, 13 January 2014 Back
78
Q 37 Back
79
Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Immigration Directorates (October-December 2013),
HC 237, paras 44-47 Back
80
Qq 181-182 Back
81
Asylum Transparency Data, Table OLCU_1 Back
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