The general quality of the UK Border Agency’s decision-making can and must be improved, said John Vine CBE QPM, the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, publishing his global review of entry clearance decision-making.
The global review inspection took place between December 2010 and June 2011, and involved an examination of almost 1,500 visa cases from 84 visa decision-making posts worldwide.
At the time of inspection, the Chief Inspector was pleased to find that: the Agency was meeting its customer service targets in the vast majority of cases; there were examples where entry clearance officers had used their discretion to make additional checks in order to support their decision-making; more action was being taken to verify information that had been provided by applicants; the quality of refusal notices was good and, in the majority of cases, refusal grounds were clearly communicated to applicants.
However, the Chief Inspector was concerned to find that: the overall quality of decision-making left considerable room for improvement; in a third of visa cases sampled, errors were found in the way evidence was assessed by entry clearance officers; visa case reviews undertaken by entry clearance managers were not always effective; and applicants were refused entry clearance for failing to provide information which they could not have been aware of at the time of submitting their applications.