Visa delays crippling lives of hundreds of UK migrants – even when they have British children

Published

9 months ago

December 5, 2024

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Hundreds of migrants living in the UK are facing agonising delays in finding out if they can stay, despite some having British children.

Most immigrants in the UK have to apply to extend their stay every 30 months – before qualifying to remain indefinitely after either five or 10 years – paying thousands of pounds each time.

In many cases, the Home Office aims to respond within eight weeks, but figures obtained by Sky News show 902 immigrants seeking study or partner visas have been waiting more than a year.

Lengthy delays can cause applicants to lose their jobs, have their benefits suspended and leave them dealing with crippling debt, even if they already live in the country legally.

Independent migration policy researcher Zoe Gardner said the figures, which also show 167 cases have remained unresolved for at least 20 years, “point to a problem” at the Home Office.

“These delays can seriously impact people’s lives, even if it’s 900 people waiting over a year – this is potentially life-ruining for those people and it’s clearly systemic,” she told Sky News.

Applicants are charged £1,258 just to submit forms for what the Home Office refers to as Leave to Remain visas, £1,035 per year to use the NHS plus potentially thousands more in legal fees.

Parents of four children Ali and Sade, who qualified for spouse visas after visiting Britain, said they applied for a fee waiver to dodge an £8,000 bill for their third extension in May 2023.

Three of their children are British citizens – having been born in the UK and lived here for 10 years – while their eight-year-old daughter is part of their current application.

But more than 18 months later they are still waiting for an answer – a delay they told Sky News has cost Ali his job over the uncertainty, left them in debt and relying on food banks.

“Now my husband’s work is gone, we are relying only on my end, it’s not enough,” said Sade, who works as a carer and like Ali didn’t want to give her real name in the wake of the Southport riots.

“It’s taking food away from our children’s mouths, so we go back to food banks and this all impacts our health. It makes you feel like you’re in the wrong place, even with British children.”

Why can delays be a problem?

Immigrants who aren’t asylum seekers and submit their application to extend their stay before their current visa expires are allowed to remain in the country while their case is processed – this is known as “3C leave”.

But in some cases the Home Office fails to provide documents – or a share code – for applicants to prove they are in the country legally.This means potentially thousands of people are at risk of losing their jobs each year through no fault of their own.

In June this year, a High Court judge ruled the government had acted unlawfully by failing to provide applicants with proof of their status.

Mr Justice Cavanagh said the absence of proof has “serious adverse consequences”, adding: “Where these problems bite, the consequences are very severe indeed.”

He ruled in favour of healthcare worker Cecilia Adjei, who has two children – one of whom is a British citizen. She waited nearly a year for a decision and was suspended from her job twice in that time.

Processing time aims may vary according to demand and could be as long as 12 months for certain spouse applications. Anyone who doesn’t apply in time faces a much longer wait than usual and won’t qualify for 3C leave.

‘How long can we do this?’

Ali said he lost his job in security when his contract was due for renewal in September after he couldn’t prove to his employers he has the right to work.

He fears they won’t be able to afford their next round of applications, adding: “How will I work and raise money while paying bills in just another two and a half years for three applications?

“Even if I work every month I can’t afford the fees. We don’t know if we will qualify for a fee waiver. We have to save now, but how long can we do this for?”

To make matters worse, Sade’s father died last month in Nigeria, but because she wouldn’t be allowed back in the country until her status is clarified she will miss the funeral.

The family had also planned to take the children, aged eight, 12, 13 and 18, on their first ever trip abroad over the summer – a holiday they had to cancel for the same reason.

Home Office ‘failure’

Since 2020, the Refugee and Migrant Forum Of Essex & London (RAMFEL) has been tracking how its clients have fared during 3C leave and claim 17% have suffered “serious detriment”.

If replicated on a national level, the groups estimates 40,000 people on 3C leave could lose their job each year – compounded by the Home Office’s “failure to respond to employment verification checks in a timely manner”.

RAMFEL’s head of campaigning, Nick Beales, told Sky News there are “crueller aspects” of the immigration system, but “nothing better evidences its dysfunction” than parents of British citizens waiting nearly two years for renewals.

The figures obtained by Sky News show 346 partner visa applications have been unresolved for more than 10 years, which Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, described as “puzzling”.

“In theory, delays are a problem addressed with more resources, it is fixable,” she told Sky News, adding another option could be to simplify the process by requiring fewer applications.

A Home Office source acknowledged applications can “sometimes take longer to process”, but said they can “vary in complexity” depending on the individual circumstances.

They added employers can check an individual’s status with the department while the application is pending.

It means little to Ali, who said they have already spent a costly year and a half waiting for a process that will need them to go through the same applications again within 30 months.

“Sometimes the children look at us and ask why we are sad,” he said.

“Even if they give it today, it doesn’t make sense anymore… we will need to raise money again to renew.

“I don’t know how we are going to do it.”

Politics

New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

Published

1 hour ago

September 8, 2025

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New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

The new home secretary will host talks on how to stop people smuggling in her first major engagement in the role.

Shabana Mahmood will host the so-called Five Eyes security alliance, holding talks between counterparts from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The security alliance discussion comes after an estimated 1,000 people arrived by small boat in Britain over the course of a single day, with French authorities saying 24 people were rescued while trying to cross the English Channel.

Ms Mahmood said the numbers, which take the yearly total to more than 30,000 in record time, were “utterly unacceptable” and that she expected migrant returns under a deal agreed last month with France to begin “imminently”.

She was promoted into the role Friday during a dramatic reshuffle of Keir Starmer’s top team, which followed in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs.

Politics latest: ‘One of the worst PMs in history’

Sir Keir will now be hoping to draw a line under the fallout of his former deputy’s departure, as well as a summer dominated by criticism of his government’s handling of the small boats crisis.

Ms Mahmood said the Five Eyes intelligence sharing pact would “agree new measures to protect our border”. The group will also discuss new measures to tackle child sexual abuse online, as well as the spread of deadly synthetic opioids, the Home Office said.

Ms Mahmood said: “Rebuilding our reputation on the world stage is how we tackle serious organised crime and secure our borders.”

“The Five Eyes might be drawn from different corners of the globe, but we are united by our alliance,” she added.

“As the security threats we all face become more complex and span continents, we are stronger and safer together.”

She will be joined at the talks by US secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, Canadian public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke and New Zealand minister Judith Collins.

The Prime Minister has told his new ministers to “go up a gear” in delivering on Labour’s agenda, part of which now involves a toughened immigration policy as he faces pressure in the polls from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

In Ms Mahmood’s first full day in the job, she met the head of Scotland Yard to receive a briefing on the policing operation in response to protests in London.

“Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing,” she said.

“An honour to visit Sir Mark (Rowley) and the Metropolitan Police to see them at work policing protests yesterday.”

Almost 900 people were arrested in central London at a protest against the banning of Palestine Action.

Politics

Labour ‘failing to deliver change that people voted for’ – TUC chief

Published

2 hours ago

September 7, 2025

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Labour 'failing to deliver change that people voted for' - TUC chief

The leader of Britain’s trade unions is to accuse Sir Keir Starmer of failing to deliver the change Labour promised during the election campaign last year.

In his keynote speech at the TUC conference in Brighton, general secretary Paul Nowak will claim that for too many people change still feels like a slogan, not a reality.

After a troubled first year in government that has seen Labour lose support to Reform UK, Mr Nowak will warn the lack of change cannot continue and the government must deliver on jobs, public services and living standards.

And he will claim Rachel Reeves’ budget on 26 November must include windfall taxes on bank profits and gambling companies, a wealth tax on millionaires and the lifting of the two-child benefit cap introduced by George Osborne during the coalition government.

Mr Nowak’s speech comes just days after the unions lost their champion in cabinet, Angela Rayner, prompting fears among delegates in Brighton that the government is poised to weaken its flagship legislation on workers’ rights.

The Conservatives have responded to Ms Rayner’s demise by writing to the new business and trade secretary, Peter Kyle, calling on him to scrap the Employment Rights Bill, claiming it will reduce jobs and mean more red tape and bureaucracy.

But Labour is losing support to Nigel Farage’s party, not the Tories, and will also – potentially – to left-wing parties in future. And in an unusual move, the new left-wing leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, will also address the TUC later.

Labour’s election manifesto last year showed a black and white photo of a shirt-sleeved Sir Keir on the front cover with the single word “Change” in red.

In his attack on the government’s first year in office, Mr Nowak will say: “The Tories took Britain to the brink. That’s why last July, the government was elected on a manifesto that promised change.

“But we have to be honest – for too many people, change still feels like a slogan not a lived reality.

“This can’t continue. Throughout our history, we’ve been at our best when we’ve been ambitious for working people.

“So today, my message to the government is simply this.

“Deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July. Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country. Deliver the change people voted for.

“And show working-class communities whose side you are on.”

On the budget, which Labour MPs believe will be crucial to the government’s hopes of recovery in its fortunes, Mr Nowak will declare: “Introduce a windfall tax on record bank profits and gambling companies. And back it with new taxes on wealth.

“If billionaires can afford fleets of private yachts. Day trips into space. Weddings that shut down Venice – they can pay a bit more tax.

“Do what’s best for those who go out to work, day in, day out, and still can’t get by. Deliver the Employment Rights Bill and deliver it in full.

“And make it clear – a Labour government will never stand aside and watch a child’s potential be wasted because of poverty. Lift the two-child cap, and give our kids the future they deserve.”

And on the issue set to dominate this week’s conference, workers’ rights, Mr Nowak will say: “The government has a manifesto promise to make work pay.

“Stronger rights at work are overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum.

“The public knows decent work is the best way to deliver the reset this country needs.

“The best way to improve living standards.

“And the best way to rebuild our communities hit hard by low pay and insecure work.

“So here is our challenge to government.

“Deliver that Employment Rights Bill in full and deliver the change you promised at the election.”

But the Tories’ shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith, in a letter to Mr Kyle, claims the bill will be deeply damaging to economic growth and reduce living standards.

“Rather than proceed at this time with a measure which on the government’s own impact assessment will reduce employment and growth, now is the time to put the national interest first,” he wrote.

“Any credible ‘reset’ of this government requires that this bill be shelved and the government look afresh at measures to promote the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy.”