Immigration professionals usually agree on how things could improve at UKVI, particularly when it comes to protecting children in vulnerable families. Some of the proposed changes in the article below would be relatively easy to implement, and the benefits for all involved, not just migrants, considerable.
Current fees and processing times are an additional burden on anyone's immigration journey, but particularly those in the "10 year route to settlement". While a first application normally requires careful consideration, extensions tend to be straight forward and approved in the vast majority of cases. It would therefore make sense to review the need for anyone to have to submit five applications to reach settlement stage, six counting a potential citizenship application.
This would be a a refreshing approach and a break from the Hostile Environment trend, which has now proved not to deter illegal migration. Its main legacy has been to make lawful residents face additional burdens and complications they should not be subject to.
If you need to discuss your immigration needs, please get in touch with Marta Mendiondo, Head of Immigration at Ince.
Every contact, or interaction, a person has with the Home Office is very stressful and very expensive. Applications cost a fortune. The process of applying is emotionally draining and frustrating, particularly when the risk of refusal, however tiny, is taken into account. Decisions take months. This all makes yet more work for civil servants who, quite frankly, have more important things to do. And yet the vast majority of these applications are successful, meaning the work done on them is basically a waste of time.
