Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said:
A mother and her family were forced to endure a living nightmare for months on end because of the Home Office's repeated mistakes. Our investigation found vital opportunities to protect the family were missed because procedures weren't followed, allegations weren't followed up and two of the complainant's letters lost.
'We are pleased the Home Office has completed three reviews based on our recommendations into the way it handles allegations and correspondence.
'The Home Office have committed to doing further work on the important issue of the robustness of information checks into the criminal records of visa applicants. We will be checking compliance in this area against the recommendations in our investigation in six months and reporting back to Parliament.'
Read the Home office report.