UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) delayed making a decision on a second application from an Iraqi asylum seeker who had previously been asked to leave the UK.
What happened
Mr K, an Iraqi Kurd, came to the UK in 2005 and claimed asylum. His claim was rejected and UKVI attempted to return him to Iraq. However, because of the situation in Iraq, it was unable to do so.
In 2010 Mr K asked again to stay, but was rejected, and UKVI asked him to make arrangements to leave the UK. Mr K asked again to stay in 2012. By this time he was receiving asylum support, which should have led to UKVI prioritising his case. But UKVI put his case into an already large backlog of old asylum cases, and did not look at it for sixteen months. His further request was refused in winter 2013.
What we found
As Mr K was receiving asylum support from mid-2012, UKVI should have prioritised his case. But it put his case in the backlog of asylum applications and continued renewing his asylum support for almost eighteen months. Mr K suffered an unnecessary delay in receiving a decision. However as Mr K's applications had all been rejected, there is no reason to think that, had his most recent application been dealt with quickly, there would have been a positive outcome. Therefore, Mr K benefited from the delay by being able to remain in the UK during this time, and he did not suffer an injustice.
Putting it right
We did not make any recommendations.
UK Visas and Immigration
UK
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