Inspection of Nationality Casework
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published his report on the inspection of nationality casework.
The key findings were as follows:
- There was a strong focus on providing good customer service in Nationality Casework.
- The majority of applications were decided well within the service standard and the Nationality Team had received the Customer Service Excellence Accreditation.
- The Nationality Checking Service, which allowed applicants to submit their applications at a number of local authorities throughout the UK, was working well.
- The Nationality Casework were not scrutinising applications appropriately and caseworkers were not taking account of evidence of character in order to ensure the requirements of the British Nationality Act 1981 had been met.
- British citizenship had been granted to applicants with very poor immigration histories.
- Almost no other checks, apart from automated police and immigration checks were being conducted to establish the good character of applicants who had applied to be naturalised as a British Citizen.
- Eligibility requirements in respect of referees were disregarded and played no part in the decision-making process.
- There was also no evidence of any consideration being given to prosecuting applicants who had used deception to obtain British citizenship, other than in a small number of cases involving organised crime.
The full report can be read here. The Home Office's response to the report can also be viewed here.
Natualisation as a British Citizen: updated booklet (Form AN)
Revisions have been made by UKVI to the booklet accompanying Form AN, which is the form used by those applying for citizenship by naturalisation if they are living in the UK. The updated booklet can be viewed here.
Illegal migrants opening Bank Accounts
New powers to stop illegal migrants from opening bank accounts were introduced on 12 December 2014, as part of the Immigration Act.
Banks and building societies will be barred from opening a current account for immigration offenders who are on the anti-fraud CIFAS database.
Inspection of Nationality Casework
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published his report on the inspection of nationality casework.
The key findings were as follows:
The key findings were as follows:
- There was a strong focus on providing good customer service in Nationality Casework.
- The majority of applications were decided well within the service standard and the Nationality Team had received the Customer Service Excellence Accreditation.
- The Nationality Checking Service, which allowed applicants to submit their applications at a number of local authorities throughout the UK, was working well.
- The Nationality Casework were not scrutinising applications appropriately and caseworkers were not taking account of evidence of character in order to ensure the requirements of the British Nationality Act 1981 had been met.
- British citizenship had been granted to applicants with very poor immigration histories.
- Almost no other checks, apart from automated police and immigration checks were being conducted to establish the good character of applicants who had applied to be naturalised as a British Citizen.
- Eligibility requirements in respect of referees were disregarded and played no part in the decision-making process.
- There was also no evidence of any consideration being given to prosecuting applicants who had used deception to obtain British citizenship, other than in a small number of cases involving organised crime.
Natualisation as a British Citizen: updated booklet (Form AN)
Revisions have been made by UKVI to the booklet accompanying Form AN, which is the form used by those applying for citizenship by naturalisation if they are living in the UK. The updated booklet can be viewed here.
Illegal migrants opening Bank Accounts
New powers to stop illegal migrants from opening bank accounts were introduced on 12 December 2014, as part of the Immigration Act.
Banks and building societies will be barred from opening a current account for immigration offenders who are on the anti-fraud CIFAS database.
Banks and building societies will be barred from opening a current account for immigration offenders who are on the anti-fraud CIFAS database.
Recognising fraudulent identity documents
UKVI have updated their guide on how to detect basic forgeries in identity documents when provided as proof of identity, nationality, status and employment in the UK.
The updated guide can be viewed here.
The updated guide can be viewed here.
Inspection of overstayers
The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine has published his inspection report of how the Home Office handles the cases of individuals with no right to stay in the UK (overstayers).
Since his previous inspection, the Home Office has signed a contract with Capita plc to review, and where possible close, the records of migrants in the Migration Refusal Pool (MRP) who had been refused further leave but who had not left the UK or were not known to do so. The Home Office had also restructured enforcement casework with a view to resolving outstanding cases and increasing the number of those who are removed.
A further 223,600 records, predating December 2008, which had not previously been included within the MRP were identified at the start of the inspection. The scope of the inspection was therefore expanded to include the Home Office's management of these cases.
The key findings were as follows:
- Both Capita plc and the Home Office had made considerable efforts to manage this work. However, many of the expected financial benefits had not materialised.
- Far fewer migrants had been persuaded to depart than anticipated. Of the 120,000 people whose cases were sent to Capita, less than 1% had left as a result of Capita's intervention.
- There was a high level of inaccuracy in the classification of MRP records, with more than a quarter of departures in the sample being recorded incorrectly. Individuals had also been wrongly recorded as being immigration offenders, which could have led to them being stopped and delayed at the border.
- Inefficiencies were found in every part of Removals Core Casework.
- Workflow teams were not allocation cases optimally and cases were not being progressed as swiftly as possible.
- A lack of management information also hampered managers from monitoring caseloads and case progression adequately.
- There was a lack of coordination and cooperation within Immigration Enforcement, particularly between Removals Core Casework and Immigration Compliance & Enforcement Teams.
- Case progression was being impeded by the lack of communication, absence of shared targets and inconsistent processes.
2015 Allocations for Tier 5 Youth Mobility
An updated list of the countries and territories participating in the Youth Mobility Scheme and annual allocations of places for 2015 can be viewed here.
Applications for Settlement: returning residents
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) have updated their guidance on settlement applications from returning residents in respect to who qualifies for this.
The updated guidance an be viewed here.
The updated guidance an be viewed here.
