UK Visas and Immigration failed to process an application for leave to remain because it lost the payment form

What happened

Mrs P complained on behalf of her father, Mr B, about his application for leave to remain in the UK as a dependent relative. She said that UKVI lost the payment page of Mr B's application, which meant that it did not accept it, and Mr B could no longer apply for leave to remain under the dependent relative criteria because of this. Mrs P said that UKVI made no effort to resolve the problem and failed to respond to her complaints about the payment form for almost a year.

What we found

UKVI did not act properly when processing Mr B's application for leave to remain as a dependent relative. But, on the balance of probability, we found that Mr B had enclosed a valid payment form. This error denied Mr B the chance to have his application considered in time, and resulted in the loss of his appeal rights. The UKVI then mishandled the complaint because it failed to recognise, acknowledge and respond to it within its service standards or any reasonable time frame. This denied Mr B the opportunity to have his complaint fully resolved, or to receive a remedy.

Putting it right

UKVI apologised to Mr B and agreed to reconsider, and waive the fee for it. It treated this as an in–time application, with full appeal rights. It agreed to refund the fee paid for Mr B's application, and paid compensation of £350 for the frustration and distress it caused. It also agreed to address Mrs P's outstanding queries about what systems UKVI has in place to make sure documents do not go missing.