UKVI announces that from 26 January 2015 all further submissions must be submitted in person in Liverpool
Right to Remain and Asylum Support Housing Advice (ASHA) have both reported that the Home Office has announced a change to the further submissions process. That is, new asylum claims by those who have exhausted their appeals rights but who have not left the UK.
A letter by UK Visas and Immigration to National Asylum Stakeholder Forum (NASF) members announced that from 26 January 2015 all further submissions must be submitted in person at the Further Submission Unit (FSU) in Liverpool.
The letter was published by Right to Remain here (as a scanned PDF) and we've reproduced it in full below.
ASHA says the change will have a major impact on its clients as the cost of the journey may prove to be an insurmountable barrier for many.
For more information, see the Right to Remain page here.
The Home Office UK Visas and Immigration letter to NASF members follows:
_____________________________
UK Visas & Immigration
Mike Wells CBE
Chief Operating Officer
UK Visas and Immigration
1st Floor Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
www.homeoffice.gov.uk
By email
13 January 2015
Dear NASF Members
I am writing to you to let you know that from 26th January 2015 we are changing the process for making further submissions on asylum and human rights cases (i.e. new asylum claims by those who are appeals rights exhausted but who have not left the UK). We are also centralising management of post Appeal Rights Exhausted asylum cases into the Complex Casework Directorate in Liverpool.
As you will know, we currently have two processes for lodging further submissions - one for asylum claims lodged prior to 5 March 2007, where further submissions must be made in person to the Older Live Cases Unit in Liverpool, and one for asylum claims lodged on or after March 2007, where further submissions can be submitted either via appointment at a UKVI reporting centre or at a regular reporting event. We want to streamline this process so that we are better able to provide an effective customer service by considering further submissions much more quickly, granting protection to those who need it much sooner and deciding unfounded claims more quickly to progress them to removal.
From 26th January 2015 we will require all failed asylum seekers wishing to submit further submissions to make a prior appointment to do so, in person, in Liverpool. The appointment will be requested by telephone. We will aim to make appointments within 10 working days of the initial telephone contact.
At the initial contact to make an appointment, we will ask customers to complete a pro forma to set out the grounds of their further submissions. This is intended to clarify the type of information required and ensure that all relevant points are covered, which will make it easier for caseworkers to properly consider the evidence provided and avoid delay in reaching a decision.
On the appointed day, we will take receipt of the pro forma and any other relevant documents, and confirm identity. We will also take the opportunity to address any points which require clarification. We will then take a decision on the papers, as soon as possible.
Just as now, we will consider exceptional circumstances for when further submissions in person is not appropriate, for example if an individual is unable to travel due to a disability or severe illness. In such cases further submissions may still be accepted by post.
We will notify this change in our reporting centres immediately and on Gov.uk from 26th January. Where a reporting centre has already booked an appointment for further submissions to be lodged, we will honour that appointment and accept any further submissions lodged.
We are doing this for a number of reasons:
- Failed asylum seekers who lodge further submissions are a significant proportion of the supported asylum population and we want to consider the new information provided as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Building on the work we have already done in Liverpool to clear pre 2007 cases we want to ensure that the flow of new cases (running at around 70 cases a week) is properly managed by processing applications in good time
- The Older Live Cases Unit (OLCU) in Liverpool has now decided, and communicated, decisions on the cohort of older asylum cases where asylum was claimed before 5 March 2007. However, we recognise that UKVI has not been able to focus enough effort on post 5 March 2007 cases with outstanding further submissions. The change we are introducing will help address this by re-balancing the system; ensuring those who have been refused asylum upheld by the Courts but who wish to make further submissions get a quicker decision, and bringing more cases to conclusion. It makes good business sense to use the skills and expertise of OLCU to both receive and make decisions on the further submissions in Liverpool. OLCU will also continue to be responsible for any new submissions lodged by those who claimed asylum prior to 5 March 2007.
- Centralising further submissions casework will mean that the OLCU resource can be effectively deployed to make decisions on the existing stock of further submissions and will also mean there is a resource in place to prioritise consideration of new submissions where appropriate, including where an applicant is applying for or already in receipt of asylum support. Requiring further submissions in person in Liverpool will allow us to consider most cases within 5 working days - offering a much improved service to those wishing to make further submissions. Where possible we intend to make a decision on the same day and as with existing arrangements we reserve the right to detain any case that is readily removable.
- Centralising the procedure for lodging further submissions will also provide the opportunity to ensure that any applicant who is not currently reporting to the Home Office can be set up with reporting requirements.
Whilst I appreciate that we are introducing this change quickly, we believe it is right to act swiftly to make best use of trained staff to provide faster decisions on those wishing to submit new information to us. This is part of our efforts to ensure a firm but fair immigration system. We would appreciate your assistance in making this work by ensuring that those wishing to make further submissions are aware of the new process.
I understand that Gabrielle Monk, Director of Complex Casework, will be meeting with Stakeholders on 22nd January at the regular CCWD stakeholder forum - many of you are also members of that forum and she will be happy to talk through the changes in more detail then. If any of you do not normally attend that forum and would wish to discuss this change further, you are welcome to either attend on 22nd, or to contact Gabrielle to make separate arrangements. Partners from Still Human, Still Here, who have a particular interest in failed asylum seekers, will also have the chance to discuss this change with Rob Jones, Head of Asylum and Family Policy, at their meeting in London on 13 January.
Yours sincerely
Mike Wells CBE
Chief Operating Officer
UK Visas and Immigration