How long does HO keep records for?

[Seder]

I first came to this country as an au-pair in 1997 (left two years later). Would the Home Office still have record of this? I'm about to fill out a SAR form and I'm sure about the dates. Thanks

[Casa]

Immigration records should be held on permanent record.

[vinny]

What to keep: Home Office guide to managing information.

SAR.

How do we stop Home Office files from going missing?

According to the Home Office’s website, the records of applicants are only kept for 15 years from the date of the "last action" with exceptions extending to 25 years.

Surprised Brits.

[Seder]

Thanks for your responses

[secret.simon]

Can vinny's post be incorporated into a sticky? Alternatively, can this thread be stickied?

Now that ILR BRPs must be destroyed on naturalisation, I believe that this question will come up more often.

[CR001]

Can vinny's post be incorporated into a sticky? Alternatively, can this thread be stickied?

Now that ILR BRPs must be destroyed on naturalisation, I believe that this question will come up more often.

Done.

[MissyD]

to Original Question Poster:

a suggestion - you my want to request a copy of all the documents the Home Office holds about you.

I had to do one recently.....

here's the info from their page.....

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... mmigration

These requests are called subject access requests. You should expect a response from us within 40 days.

Anyone can make an subject access request for information that we hold about them. You should read the guidance notes at the end of the form before making a request.

To make an subject access request, you should provide:

a valid cheque or postal order for £10, payable to ‘the Home Office Accounting Officer’
enough personal information to identify you, like a copy of your passport or driver’s licence, original utility bills and your Home Office reference number if you have one
an original, signed authority from the person you’re applying for if you’re applying for someone else - we can’t accept copies

If you’re applying for a child who is under 12 years old, you don’t need to provide a signed authority. Instead you should provide evidence that you’re the legal guardian of the child.

If you don’t provide these, we’ll reject your application and return it with a letter telling you what is missing. Your request won’t be processed.

You should make a separate application for each person making a request. Each request should include the fee, identification and authority.

Please send your subject access request to:

Subject Access Request Unit
UK Visas and Immigration
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road
Croydon CR9 2BY

[vinny]

As far as I know, it is up to the Home Office to prove that I am not eligible for naturalisation so the fact that they destroyed my file shouldn't be an issue.

It is actually the other way round. It is your responsibility to prove that you meet the requirements, not theirs to disprove.

There is no legal obligation for the Home Office to naturalise you at all. Naturalisation is a privilege and is entirely a grant, not something that anybody has a right to.

I recently sent off a SAR to request a copy of my old file before starting with the naturalisation process. I've just received a letter from the Home Office that the file was destroyed some time ago under their routine file destruction policy.

As regards the data, the Home Office, like all organisations, periodically reviews the data it has and destroys that which will not be required in the future. It seems that visa files are retained for a period of two years.

Read the Home Office Personal Information Charter. Details for more information are towards the bottom. You may wish to contact them for more details of their data and information retention policy.

[Frontier Mole]

There is a date that there is a definitive break in the information held and management and that is 1998. Prior to then everything was paper based, so it is virtually impossible to say what exists and what is held in archives and storage, what has and has not been kept. The general rule of thumb is that before 1998 expect very little to be held that is retrievable or even traceable. There are exceptions - deport order cases and cases of note.

Post 1998 there will almost certainly be an electronic record of some form. It maybe basic but it is immediately available and readily searchable. This is for applications both in and outside the UK. As each stage of development of the systems more and more information was gathered and stored. The electronic information is a permanent record.

For those individuals looking to seek information to support claims of long residency etc the onus remains with the individual not the HO. If the HO records support the claim that is a bonus but in itself will not get a claim through the process. The documentary evidence that will be needed still remains the same.

Think of it as a cartoon animation - where there are frames of information that give fixed points of reference but you still have to fill in the gaps.

[mkraja]

Hi there

Can someone please advise whether AFTER becoming a British citizen, a migrant can (or should) ask HO to remove all his data from their records under the right to be forgotten provision?

If yes, how

Kind regards

[vinny]

Actually, the records are also for your benefit. If they are deleted and you lost your documents, including naturalisation certificate, then you may have problems proving that you are British, similar to the problems recently faced by the Windrush generation.

[Frontier Mole]

Some information is deleted such as your image and your fingerprints. Which essentially puts you in the same position as a born British citizen, without a criminal record. Of course if you have a passport or a driving license the Government has your image in any event.

[Rbkr16]

How your personal information is used within the Borders,
Immigration and Citizenship System
Last updated 25 May 2018.

How long do we keep your personal information?
We will keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for permitted purposes. In the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System, we maintain a long-term record of immigration history and immigration offending to support future decision-making and enforce penalties. Personal data will be typically retained for 25 years after a decision to grant settlement or naturalisation and for 15 years after the last action in other cases. Information on Foreign National Offenders may be retained until the death of the data subject. At the border, passenger name records data is retained for 5 years.

Advance passenger information may be retained for 10 years. Arrest and detention records may be held for 6 years. We continue to keep retention periods under review to ensure they meet our role of securing the UK border and ensuring we can support those who are seeking to enter or remain in the UK.

However, it should be noted that the Jay Inquiry, which commenced in February 2015, has placed a moratorium on the disposal of all records throughout the Home Office, including all operational records and case files. This is currently in force and will remain so until further notice. It does not apply where there is a statutory requirement to delete data.

[Frontier Mole]

The policy statement for GDPR purposes
If a question was put to the Home Office say at parliamentary level about the methods and processes to delete information I would love to hear the official answer.....
There “may” be a gap between the policy and the reality.......