UKVI's incorrect advice led to woman losing her permanent status in the UK

What happened

Mrs P and her British family wanted to return to the UK having lived some years in her home country, New Zealand. Previously they had had Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status, but this had expired. Before returning to the UK Mrs P telephoned UKVI to enquire about visas. She explained that she had previously lived in the UK and had permanent status here but she was not advised to apply for a Returning Resident visa, which would have been the correct visa in her circumstances. Instead, she was advised to apply for a spousal visa valid for 27 months, costing her an extra £570. On the expiry of that visa she would then need to apply for a new visa, incurring further costs.

Once in the UK Mrs P complained to UKVI but it did not agree that it had done anything wrong.

What we found

We listened to the telephone calls and found that UKVI had not given correct advice to Mrs P in her circumstances.

UKVI state that its staff does not give immigration advice. That is a reasonable approach as staff would be unlikely to be able to probe a potential applicant's circumstances in sufficient detail to give reliable advice over the telephone.

However, in Mrs P's case, UKVI gave advice which had turned out to be incorrect, albeit perhaps for trying to be helpful.

This was poor customer service.

Putting it right

UKVI reinstated Mrs P's permanent status in the UK. It also refunded the difference between the two types of applications (£570) and paid £600 in recognition of the distress, upset and frustration caused.