UK Visas and Immigration refused to compensate Mrs S fully when it lost her passports

What happened

In winter 2012 Mrs S applied for British citizenship and enclosed two passports from her country of origin – one passport had expired and one was live. UKVI granted the citizenship application the next month but sent the papers with enclosed passports to the wrong address. The error was discovered in spring 2013.

She sought costs towards the lost passports, assurances they had not been used by others illegally, and improvements to the service to avoid a repeat occurrence.

UKVI apologised and offered to reimburse the costs Mrs S had incurred in replacing the lost documents on the provision of receipts. Later in 2013 it advised Mrs S it would not reimburse her £700 claim without receipts.

What we found

We discovered that the process for obtaining a replacement passport from Mrs S's country of origin was complicate as it required Mrs S, or a friend/relative, to visit the visa section in Mrs S's country of origin. Mrs S told us that she did not feel able to return to her country of origin and did not have a friend/relative who could attend on her behalf.

Mrs S told us that she sought £700 because the two passports held sentimental value for her. Therefore, she wanted both passports back exactly as they were, including the costs for the expired passport, and the expired 'indefinite leave to remain stamps' she had obtained prior to her gaining British citizenship.

It was reasonable for UKVI to refuse to reimburse Mrs S for a passport that had expired and the 'indefinite leave to remain stamps' that she had previously needed but no longer did. However, we noted that UKVI had failed to properly explore Mrs S's reasons for claiming £700, or to consider that a compensation payment might be appropriate.

Putting it right

UKVI apologised for its handling of this case and the worry and distress caused. It paid Mrs S £200 in compensation.