Asylum seeker waited 18 months for routine decision on application to settle in UK

What happened

Mr D sought asylum in the UK in 2004. He was allowed to stay on a temporary basis because of the situation in Iraq. When he had been here for more than six years, he applied for indefinite leave to settle in the UK, as he was entitled to do. But UKVI put his application into an already large backlog of old asylum cases and did not look at it for more than 18 months. It finally granted him leave in August 2013. It also did not respond to letters from Mr D's representatives, who wrote many times to ask what was happening.

What we found

Mr D's application was straightforward. UKVI should not have put his application in the asylum backlog full of difficult and complex cases because it became stuck among these cases. It should have found a more suitable team to deal with his application and, had it done so, there is no reason why it would not have made a decision by early 2012. We also found that its customer service was poor and it failed to update Mr D about his application. As a result, Mr D suffered unnecessary delay, causing him extra levels of stress and uncertainty.

Putting it right

Following our report, UKVI apologised to Mr D and paid him £250 in recognition of the stress, uncertainty and difficulty in finding employment and a place at college that arose from its errors.