Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125638, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of visa applications classified as non-straightforward.

UK Visas and Immigration continually reviews its operation to improve performance and accountability. Customer feedback, including complaints, are taken into account to ensure we offer value for money; which includes improving the services we offer, the quality of the decisions we make and the provision of an excellent customer service.

Visa applications are considered to be non-straightforward (identified as complex) when an Entry Clearance Officer determines that additional information is required in order for a decision to be made and that these enquiries will take longer than the published service standard.

The circumstances that call for this action are varied. For example it may be necessary for the officer to make enquiries of an external organisation or wait for the applicant to clarify details stated on their application or submit additional evidence.

Where an application has been classified as complex and cannot be concluded within published services standards, we will write to the customer to inform them that it will not be decided within the service standard and what will happen next.