Independent report
An inspection of visit visa operations December 2022 to January 2023
This inspection sought to examine the efficiency, effectiveness and consistency of UKVI’s interim workflow routing solution in visit visa operations.
Documents
Details
Inspectors:
- reviewed open-source material, including published Home Office guidance and transparency data
- reviewed internal Home Office guidance and policy documents
- reviewed the ‘ICIBI report on entry clearance processing operations in Croydon and Istanbul, July 2017’
- on 12 December 2022, participated in a familiarisation session with Visas, Status and Information (VSI) Services staff
- on 15 December 2022, formally notified the Home Office of the scope of the inspection and requested readily available documentary evidence
- reviewed and analysed evidence provided by the Home Office, including a position statement providing a clear and concise summary of the status of the area being inspected
- undertook random case sampling of 100 electronic visit visa records received worldwide by the Home Office on 1 November 2022
- on 10 and 11 January 2023, observed operational immigration activity at visit visa decision-making centres in Croydon and Liverpool
- spoke with VSI staff from grades Administrative Officer to Grade 7 during the onsite visits, including in focus groups
- interviewed staff and managers from VSI Cross-Cutting Services who were involved in the design and ongoing review of the interim workflow routing solution
- on 17 January, provided a debrief to senior VSI managers on observations from the onsite phase of the inspection