Errors and delays in making a decision on asylum seeker's application

What happened

Mr T came to the UK in 2004 and applied for asylum. UKVI rejected his claim. In autumn 2010 Mr T asked UKVI to grant him leave as he now had a partner and was well settled in the UK. He wrote again at the end of 2010, but UKVI put his case into storage in early 2011. During 2011 Mr T, his representatives, and his MP all contacted UKVI asking for an update on his case.

In early 2012 UKVI told Mr T that he had to make further representations in person, which he did in summer 2012, telling UKVI that he now had two British born children. At that point UKVI took his file out of storage but did not work on his case until early 2014. In spring 2014 UKVI granted Mr T discretionary leave to remain for 30 months (until autumn 2016).

What we found

UKVI should have told Mr T in 2010/early 2011 that he needed to make further representations in person, but it did not do so until January 2012. UKVI should not have placed his case in storage without first checking whether he or his representatives were in contact with UKVI. If his case had not gone into storage we can see no reason why it would not have been decided by early 2012, once he had had the opportunity to make his further representations in person. His case should not have stayed in storage until summer 2012 because Mr T and his MP made contact with UKVI in 2011. There was no good reason for UKVI delaying eighteen months to make a decision once Mr T had put in his further representations.

If UKVI had made a decision in early 2012, it was likely that it would have made a positive decision. This unnecessary delay caused Mr T anxiety and frustration. Mr T was denied an opportunity to look for work for 12 months.

Putting it right

UKVI paid Mr T a consolatory payment of £500 for the anxiety and lack of opportunity to look for work that he experienced as a result of its errors. We also recommended that UKVI apologise to Mr T.