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

Published

7 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

MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence

Published

55 mins ago

July 7, 2025

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MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence

An MP who decided until recently to “never speak” about the abuse he suffered as a child has shared his harrowing story so that “no kid has to go through” what he did.

Josh Babarinde describes being physically abused by his mother’s former partner from the age of four, and remembers crying himself to sleep under the covers “hearing shouts, hearing screams and things smash”.

He says he became hypervigilant growing up and felt safe at school but “like he was treading on eggshells” in his own home.

The Eastbourne MP, who is also the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson, says his experience has driven his politics. He is calling on the government to stop abusers “slipping through the net” and being released from prison early.

Opening up about his story in his twenties was “difficult” but looking back, Mr Babarinde says, he is “so proud of the resilience of that kid”.

The MP recently found his childhood diary containing Star Wars drawings alongside an entry he wrote from the bathroom. The diary, he recalls, wrote: “I’m really going to try to go (to the toilet) but I can’t. Oh my goodness, I’m gonna be in so much trouble, I’m going to get smacked so hard.”

Then an entry five minutes later: “I still haven’t done anything, I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

He says reading the entry reminded him of how “helpless” he felt.

“It was mortifying,” he says. “An abuser takes away your sense of self-worth.”

The 32-year-old is calling on the government to change the law to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence. The change would mean, he argues, abusers can no longer effectively disguise their history under other offences like assault.

He says the Ministry of Justice’s early release scheme, which has seen thousands of prisoners released early to ease overcrowding, has failed to exclude domestic abusers despite government promises because there is no formal categorisation for offenders.

It is impossible, he argues, to know exactly how many domestic abusers are in prison currently so perpetrators are “slipping through the net” on early release.

Mr Babarinde says the uncertainty means victims and survivors are not able to prepare for their abuser’s release.

He said: “They might need to move house or move their kids to a new school, shop in different places. All of these kind of things are so important, and so that’s why that commitment the government made was so important.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “Our thoughts are with all victims of domestic abuse – it takes immense courage to speak out.

“We are building a justice system that puts victims first – strengthening support, increasing transparency, and giving people the confidence to come forward and be heard.”

Politics

Another tantrum from the Labour backbenches is inevitable

Published

13 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

In common with many parents across the country, here’s a conversation that I have with my young daughter on a semi-regular basis (bear with me, this will take on some political relevance eventually).

Me: “So it’s 15 minutes until your bedtime, you can either have a little bit of TV or do a jigsaw, not both.”

Daughter: “Ummmm, I want to watch TV.”

Me: “That’s fine, but it’s bed after that, you can’t do a jigsaw as well.”

Fast-forward 15 minutes.

Me: “Right, TV off now please, bedtime.”

(Pause)

Daughter: “I want to do a jigsaw.”

Now replace me with the government, the TV and jigsaw options with axing welfare cuts and scrapping the two-child cap, and my daughter with rebellious backbenchers.

Politics latest: Former Labour leader calls for wealth tax on assets above £10m

That is the tension currently present between Downing Street and Labour MPs. And my initial ultimatum is the messaging being pumped out from the government this weekend.

In essence: you’ve had your welfare U-turn, so there’s no money left for the two-child cap to go as well.

As an aside – and before my inbox fills with angry emails lambasting me for using such a crude metaphor for policies that fundamentally alter the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society – yes, I hear you, and that’s part of my point.

For many in Labour, this approach feels like the lives of their constituents are being used in a childish game of horse-trading.

So what can be done?

Well, the government could change the rules.

Altering the fiscal rules is – and will likely remain – an extremely unlikely solution. But as it happens, one of Labour’s proverbial grandparents has just popped round with a different suggestion.

A wealth tax, Lord Neil Kinnock says, is the necessary outcome of the economic restrictions the party has placed on itself.

Ever the Labour storyteller, Lord Kinnock believes this would allow the government to craft a more compelling narrative about whose side this administration is on.

That could be valuable, given one of the big gripes from many backbench critics is that they still don’t really understand what this prime minister stands for – and by extension, what all these “difficult decisions” are in aid of.

The downside is whether it will actually raise much money.

The super-rich may have lots of assets to take a slice from, but they also have expensive lawyers ready to find novel ways to keep their client’s cash away from the prying eyes of the state.

Or, of course, they could just leave – as many are doing already.

In the short term, the future is a bit easier to predict.

If Downing Street is indeed now saying there is no money to scrap the two-child cap (after heavy briefing in the opposite direction just weeks ago), an almighty tantrum from the backbenches is inevitable.

And as every parent knows, the more you give in, the harder it becomes to hold the line.

Politics

UK restores diplomatic ties with Syria

Published

19 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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The UK has re-established diplomatic ties with Syria, David Lammy has said, as he made the first visit to the country by a British minister for 14 years.

The foreign secretary visited Damascus and met with interim president Ahmed al Sharaa, also the leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and foreign minister Asaad al Shaibani.

It marks the latest diplomatic move since Bashar al Assad’s regime was toppled by rebel groups led by HTS in December.

In a statement, Mr Lammy said a “stable Syria is in the UK’s interests” and added: “I’ve seen first-hand the remarkable progress Syrians have made in rebuilding their lives and their country.

“After over a decade of conflict, there is renewed hope for the Syrian people.

“The UK is re-establishing diplomatic relations because it is in our interests to support the new government to deliver their commitment to build a stable, more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has also announced a £94.5m support package for urgent humanitarian aid and to support the country’s long-term recovery, after a number of British sanctions against the country were lifted in April.

While HTS is still classified as a proscribed terror group, Sir Keir Starmer said last year that it could be removed from the list.

The Syrian president’s office also said on Saturday that the president and Mr Lammy discussed co-operation, as well as the latest developments in the Middle East.

Since Assad fled Syria in December, a transitional government headed by Mr al Sharaa was announced in March and a number of western countries have restored ties.

In May, US President Donald Trump said the United States would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria and normalise relations during a speech at the US-Saudi investment conference.