Asylum seeker should have had an earlier decision on his case

What happened

Mr L came to the UK in late summer 2003 and unsuccessfully claimed asylum, although he incorrectly continued to receive financial support. He remained in the UK, met his partner and had three children with her between 2006 and 2011.

In early 2011 Mr L applied for leave to remain in the UK. UKVI put his case in the backlog of old asylum cases that it had promised to finish by summer 2011. However, UKVI did nothing more on his case until late 2013, when it granted Mr L leave to remain for thirty months.

What we found

UKVI made a decision on Mr L's case in late 2013 but it should have done so by the middle of 2011. UKVI communicated poorly with Mr L. However, Mr L may have benefited from UKVI's delay in making a decision  because he continued incorrectly to receive some financial support for ten years.

Mr L suffered stress and uncertainty about what would happen to his case, and he lost the opportunity to look for work from summer 2012 when he would have been granted discretionary leave.

We partly upheld the complaint.

Putting it right

UKVI apologised to Mr L and paid him £250 for the injustice because of its delay in deciding his case.