Asylum seeker had to wait 18 months for routine decision on application to settle in UK

What happened

Mr D sought asylum in the UK at the age of 15. He was allowed to stay on a temporary basis until his 18th birthday. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) then granted him discretionary leave until autumn 2011.

Mr D applied for further leave in 2011. But UKVI put his application into an already large backlog of old asylum cases and did not look at it for over 18 months. It finally granted him leave in late 2013.

What we found

Mr D's application was straightforward. UKVI should not have put his application in the asylum backlog that was full of difficult and complex cases. When it did this, the application got stuck in the queue. UKVI should have found a more suitable team to deal with this application; had it done so, there is no reason why it would not have made a decision by early 2012.

Mr D suffered unnecessary delay, which caused him stress. Had there been no delay, Mr D would not have had to pay his solicitors £300 to chase up his application.

Putting it right

Following our report, UKVI reimbursed Mr D's solicitor's costs and paid him £250 to recognise the stress that arose from its errors. It also apologised to Mr D.