Policy paper

Home Office response to report on re-inspection of family reunion applications

Published 21 February 2023

The Home Office thanks the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) for his report.

The department is grateful for the ICIBI’s assessment of family reunion applications and the engagement with staff in the areas inspected, and for setting out the recommendations in his report.

The department is committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications and acknowledges the need to dedicate more resource to support this safe and legal route, as well as reviewing processes to streamline decision making to make it more effective for our customers.

The department welcomes the ICIBI’s proposals on how to further improve the family reunion application process, to ensure that these applications are handled appropriately in a way that takes account of the inherent and sometimes acute vulnerability of customers, particularly unaccompanied children.

Recommendation 1

Dedicate staffing resource to urgently address the work in progress (WIP), including the appeals WIP, prioritising applications from children separated from both parents.

Accepted

The Home Office has already undertaken a review of its resourcing for consideration of Family Reunion visa applications and is in the process of uplifting the number of decision makers to address the WIP including on appeals.

An initial process review has been undertaken, with actions documented to ensure delivery against milestones.

Recommendation 2

Introduce a criteria for expediting applications based on vulnerability.

Accepted

We are undertaking work in this area, with a view to outlining criteria for expedition of applications into forthcoming family reunion policy guidance.

Recommendation 3

To increase efficiency and streamline allocation of decisions, implement a mechanism to triage family reunion applications after biometrics have been submitted and before the decision-making stage.

Accepted

A dedicated team whose function will be to review the WIP is being created. Going forward, this team’s function will be to ensure that applications from unaccompanied children and the most vulnerable people are prioritised. The team will also ensure that decision makers have the correct information to enable them to make prompt decisions.

Recommendation 4

In consultation with decision team managers (DTM), conduct a review of the DTM role and responsibilities.

Accepted

As a result of the reviews, we have undertaken a restructure of the decision team manager role, forming separate technical specialist and line manager capability to specialise as appropriate in this area.

The restructure, and formation of a new pre-decision case-working team, will provide focus on specific case-working tasks, which were previously undertaken by the decision team managers.

Recommendation 5

Review progress on recommendations two to four from ICIBI’s 2019 inspection of family reunion applications (in the context of the new Croydon team), with a view to implementing them as soon as possible:

• Recommendation two: Complete the review of the resourcing of Asylum Operations (Sheffield) (now Reunion and Returns (Croydon)), ensuring that it has the capacity, skills, and experience to manage the global intake of family reunion applications, plus co-located administrative support and access to relevant IT systems and technical support (for example, document fraud experts, country specialists, interpreters, experts in assessing vulnerabilities).

• Recommendation three: Ensure that Management Information (MI) in respect of family reunion applications is sufficient not just to support the efficient processing of applications and to assure decision quality, but also to provide insights into the profiles and circumstances of applicants, the reasons why applications succeed or are refused, and any trends, to check that both the operational response and the underpinning policies are fit for purpose.

• Recommendation four: Pending any new legislation, clarify the Home Office’s position (with supporting evidence) in relation to those areas of the present policy that have been the subject of Parliamentary and stakeholder interest, in particular: child sponsors; [dependent family members over 18 years of age]; funding for DNA tests; availability of legal aid.

Accepted

Recommendation Five (2)

Resourcing requirements has already been covered in this response. All staff have access to the relevant IT systems and the administrative support and decision-making team are predominately based in Croydon. Appropriate leads on technical elements of the decision-making process have been put into place.

Interpreters in the Home Office are co-ordinated centrally by the Home Office Interpreter Language Service Unit. There is guidance and information in place to engage their support and services should it be required.

Recommendation Five (3)

Since the transition of work, resettlement, relocation and reunion services have been working with management information and data specialists within the Home Office to develop mechanisms to monitor progress of applications, and hand-offs.

Internal management information is already in place to monitor decision maker quality, performance, and productivity, and is being developed for the other areas of the process.

We are working with appeals and litigation specialists who are feeding back outcomes of withdrawn or allowed appeals to help inform decision making. Working with policy officials, work is being undertaken on development of consideration of Article 8.

If appropriate, specific behavioural insight work may be commissioned on an ad hoc basis, rather than as regular MI reporting on family reunion operational activities.

Recommendation Five (4)

Child sponsors

The government has made clear in the past its concern that allowing children to sponsor parents would risk creating incentives for more children to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family and attempt hazardous journeys to the UK. This would play into the hands of criminal gangs, undermining our safeguarding responsibilities. This remains the position.

Government policy is not designed to keep child refugees apart from their parents, but in considering any policy we must think carefully about the wider impact to avoid putting more people unnecessarily into harm’s way. There is a need to better understand why people choose to travel to the UK after reaching a safe country. It is important that those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.

Dependent family members over 18

As part of the June 2022 Immigration Rules, individuals over the age of 18 may be eligible under family reunion, in exceptional circumstances, as defined in paragraph 352DB of the Immigration Rules.

Should the child or children who are over 18 make a family reunion application but do not meet the exceptional circumstances as defined under paragraph 352DB of the Immigration Rules, the child or children who are over 18 must be refused under the Immigration Rules. However, the caseworker must go on in every case to consider whether there are exceptional or compassionate circumstances, including the best interests of other children in the family, which warrant a grant of leave to enter or remain outside the Immigration Rules on ECHR Article 8 grounds.

With regard to dependent family members over 18 years of age, there are other provisions in the Immigration Rules that cater for extended family members.

Funding for DNA tests

As per our response in 2019, it is for applicants to provide evidence in support of their application, including the nature of their relationship with their sponsor. Applicants can volunteer a range of evidence to prove a family relationship, which can include DNA evidence. The Home Office cannot mandate applicants to provide DNA evidence to prove a family relationship and is not responsible for meeting the costs of DNA tests.

Availability of legal aid

As the 2019 report highlights, legal aid is a Ministry of Justice policy. Legal aid for refugee family reunion may be available under the exceptional case funding (ECF) scheme, where there is a breach or risk of breach of ECHR or enforceable EU rights, and subject to means and merits tests.

The Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with the Home Office, amended the scope of legal aid via the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid for Separated Children) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2019 to include separated migrant children. This makes provision for separated migrant children to be eligible for legal aid for civil legal services in relation to their application or an application by another person, including family members and extended family members, for entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK granted either under the immigration rules or outside the rules based on exceptional circumstances or compassionate and compelling factors.