Hi all this is the letter i wrote:
UKBA Complaints Allocation Hub
Lunar House
Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2BY
2nd May 2013
I am writting with regards to my FLO (O) application forwarded to yourselves on the 31st of October 2012. I would like to complain about the length of time its taking to process my application. It took 4 months for me to receive a biometrics invitation after my solicitor wrote you a letter chasing this up.
I received the Biometrics letter on the 6th of March dated the 28th of February. I then submitted my biometrics on the 7th of March and again i have been waiting for another 2 months.
I appreciate the UKBA receives a number of applications on a daily basis however what i do not understand is how someone esle who applied on the same day as me got their biometrics letter a month and a half before me and also has recently received their visa and i am still waiting with no hope of hearing from you anytime soon. Our circumstances were identical therefore the argument your are likely to give me that our cases may be different is not valid in this instance.
If the UKBA requires further information i would appreciate it if they would respond to my solicitor or myself so that i can provide this as soon as possible. I have been asked to go on busines trips with work and have been unable to go due to this situation and this is putting my job at risk and as im a single parent it is not acceptable that my livelihood is being put at risk with no just cause. I pay a significant amount in tax and have done for a number of years.
I would appreciate an explanation why the Home Office/UKBA can process such a straight forward application in person same day, often with no more than twenty minutes effort and a couple of hours for the passport vignette to be applied yet keep postal applicants waiting for months.
Over the last few years the processing times appear to have increased from approximately four weeks to eighteen or more weeks. At the same time application fees have risen astronomically.
I accept some applications are more complicated than others and enquiries are required on occasions but this does not account for the difference in service standards detailed on your website.
If 90% of applications can be processed on the same day please explain why it is felt acceptable for 95% of, presumably similar, postal applications to take up to six months to be processed.
For many the extra costs and inconvenience involved in applying in person make it impractical.
The length of time for postal applications makes it difficult or impossible to find work because employers fear being fined for employing people not entitled to work. This can and does lead to significant hardship for many families.
Applicants are prevented from travelling abroad for significant periods and this can lead to hardship particularly as requesting the return of a passport in emergency leads to the application being 'withdrawn'. I have been unable to travel to see my family this Easter and i am in a position where i cannot book or pay to go and see my family during the August school holidays as there is no guarantees i would have received my passport back. This prevents my mother from seeing her grandaughter and my daughter spening time with my family.
All applicants have a right to be treated in a fair, considerate and timely manner which the Home Office is clearly failing to do at present. It is obvious to those of us unfortunate enough to have to deal with the UKBA that it is unfit for purpose, a situation that is only getting worse.
Why is it taking up to six months to complete applications that take minutes to process? What steps are being taken to improve the standards of service? Is it acceptable to use minimum standards as targets?
I would like to know if my case has actually been allocated to a case worker and how long its going to take until i receive my paperwork whatever the decision is going to be. Living in limbo is not a very nice place to be especially when have ill family members abroad.
I am copying this letter of complaint to my Member Of Parliament and to the Immigration Minister.
I await your response with interest!
And the responses are below. i apologise they are long emails:
Thank you for your email to Rob Whiteman.
>
> Firstly on behalf of the Home Office I would like to apologise for the delay in processing your application. In 2012 the number of applications we received across a number of migration routes was higher than anticipated and consequently it has taken us longer to process them. I am pleased to say that the majority of our migration routes are now dealing with applications within the relevant service standard.
>
> Your application is for leave to remain outside the Immigration Rules on compassionate grounds. This type of application falls within our family cohort and our published service standard for this type of application makes clear that we aim to decide 65% of applications in 4 weeks. Applications for leave outside the rules are some of the most complex our caseworkers handle and many take longer than four weeks to decide. We have given a commitment that these more complex cases will be dealt with by the summer. We do recognise that some applicants have an urgent need to travel and we will expedite cases where they meet our published criteria. I am afraid that travel for a holiday does not meet this criteria but we will consider expediting a case where travel is necessary to visit a very seriously ill relative. We do though need evidence of the illness from the patient's hospital doctor.
>
> You have raised the difference between premium and postal applications. Premium applications are dealt with in our Public Enquiry Offices and you are right that the service standard is that 90% of applications will be decided within 24 hours. But you may not know that applications for leave outside the rules such as yours cannot be dealt with under our premium service. This is because we know that they cannot be dealt with quickly and it would be wrong to charge applicants a premium fee in these circumstances.
>
> I have passed your email to our caseworkers in Sheffield so that they are aware of concerns.
>
>
> Karen
>
> Karen Milne
i responded with the email below:
Dear Ms Milne
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my enquiry i am ever so grateful. I have read your response however i am not a hundred percent happy about some of the points you have made. you have kindly highlighted that the agency aims to clear 65% of the applications within 4 weeks. I am not sure what this figure is based on as there has been an enormous build up of unprocessed applications mine included. I would like to know what happens to the other 35% as you havent highlighted how long you anticipate to clear the other 35%. I am finding it incredibly hard to beleive that it would take more than 5+ months to process the remaining 35%.
I appreciate that some family cases are complicated and probably need more time than a straight forward application however i really dont feel that it takes more than 6 months to do this considering the agency doesnt even contact applicants regarding any information that might feel is missing or even to ask for further documentation. i feel that my application had not been looked at at all until my solicitor contacted the agency for a biometrics invitation. There is nothing particularly complex about my case at all compared to other people that have applied after me and they have had a response already. the agency has pointed out in a lot of statements that applications are dealt with in order however this is clearly not the case and the inconsistencies are unbeleivable.
If this is the case i dont think there would be people waiting for years for their cases to be resolved.
I know you cannot comment on other peopl`s cases and i wouldnt expect you to however i just feel that your response is a standard one that doesnt actually explain to me why my case has not been dealt with. if there is an issue with my application i would like to be notified of it so at least i know something is a) being done about it and b) maybe i didnt submit the right paperwork c) i dont have sufficient grounds to be here the list goes on. lack of communication to me is not acceptable considering that this is not a free service.
I meantioned i am unbale to travel i was not suggesting that my applciation was processed quicker on those grounds i am merely highlighting the inconvenience and also the fact that my daughter is being deprived of seeing her other side of the family and there is no legitimate reason for it.
I would also like to comment on your comment regarding the premium service. yes the premium service is great when it works and considering the fees it is right these applications are processed promptly however i dont think its fair to then say all the other appklications because they are complex its ok to stick them in crates and deal with them whenever. the £561.00 i paid is a large sum of money and for the service that the agnecy is providing i do not feel its a justified fee. When the visa applications were free the services was up to standard and i wount fault it at all. i feel that i am being punished for the inefficiency of the agency and becuase i am an immigrant i dont really have a right to question your agency or argue my point and i dont feel that this is how its supposed to be in a democratic country.
If the agenc is prepared to charge extortionate fees for applications the least they can do is process people`s applications in a timely manner and where its not possible communication is vital. i patiently waited for 6 months however it clear if i wait i could be another one of the 100k people waiting in 5-10 years time.
Apologies for the long email however i just feel your response would help me understand whats going on within your agency.
Thank you very much for your time
Then her final response is below:
Thank you for your email. Can I apologise in advance for the length of this email but I thought it right to try to answer the questions you have raised and I am sorry that you felt my earlier email did not fully answer your questions.
For some time the Government has believed that the level of fees charged for applications from both abroad and within the UK should cover the cost of processing them. The fees charged are approved by Parliament. It is not intended that we should make a profit – merely that we should recover the costs of processing applications. Both Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency and Government Minister have accepted that the service we provided in 2012 was not up to the traditionally high standards we have set ourselves. No one is complacent about that and we have taken steps to eradicate the delays which are working. We believe we are now on a much stronger footing and that, going forward we will be more efficient and customer focused. In particular Rob Whiteman made clear that we needed to put the customer at the heart of everything we do and although the Agency has now been disbanded the Home Secretary made it clear that going forward she expects us to deliver high quality decisions in time and within the targets we are set. You have mentioned 100,000 plus cases which have been reported as awaiting a decision and I believe this figure has been taken from a report by the Independent Chief Inspector. It is true that within this figure there were some awaiting an initial decision and I can assure you that these have been decided. But the majority had received an initial decision and the applicant had contacted us to ask that the decision be reconsidered.
As I explained in my earlier email the number of applications received in 2012 was higher than anticipated. This affected all stages of the application and consideration process. It may help if I briefly explain how that works. Postal applications are received by our office in Durham where our commercial partner takes the fee. Despite what you may think the Home Office does not receive the fee until such time as the application is decided. Once the relevant fee has been cleared (this can take up to one week depending on the applicant’s choice of payment method) the application is passed to the relevant office responsible for deciding the application. The application must then be recorded on our computer system and our aim is to do this within one week of receipt of the application. Unfortunately the level of applications received meant that some applications were waiting much longer than this. As part of the process for inputting the application the applicant is sent a request to enrol their biometrics. Additional staff were recruited in 2012 to assist us in reducing the time between receipt of the application and inputting and I am pleased to tell you that we are now inputting applications within one week of receipt.
The application is then held until the applicant has successfully enrolled their biometrics. As our website makes clear the enrolling of biometrics forms part of the application process and the service standard does not start to apply until we have received the biometrics.
In order to be as fair as possible to all applicants we try to deal with applications in order of receipt of the applicant’s biometrics. Applications are not however held in one queue – they are sorted according to type of application. This is necessary because, as you are aware, we have different service standards for types of migration routes. Again we have recruited additional staff to assist us in dealing with the detailed consideration of applications and, as I said in my earlier email, the majority of routes are now being dealt with in accordance with the relevant service standard. I have already explained that the service standard for your type of application is that we aim to deal with 65% of applications in four weeks of receipt. I am afraid that for some time it has not been possible to meet the service standard in these cases, although we are making much greater progress now and, as I have already said, we have committed to Ministers that the applications will be dealt with by the summer. If we can improve upon this timescale we will but I am afraid I cannot give you a more precise timeframe for the consideration and decision on your case.
Karen
Apologies again its a lot of words
- FAQ
- Login
- Register
- Call Workpermit.com for a paid service +44 (0)344-991-9222
I rang UKBA twice and same answer as " We won't be able to access an application which applied less than 6 months". But I do hope ALL OF US will hear a good news soon !! 
