US-Born MP Calls for Improved Immigration Process

Member of Parliament Joy Morrissey, who was born in Indiana, USA, has called for improvements in the immigration application process.

Ms Morrisey raised the issue of immigration applications whilst speaking earlier this week during a debate in the House of Commons on lessons learned from the Windrush scandal. Ms Morrissey thanked the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, "for committing to right the wrongs done to the Windrush generation", before asking "will she also consider further reforms to how the Home Office processes immigration applications?"

Explaining, Ms Morrissey said that "As someone who experienced the joys of Lunar House personally, I know it is a labyrinth of mismanaged records and cases. There are excellent civil servants, but we need to be people focused, rather than case focused." Lunar House in London, as many Americans living in the UK will know, is the the headquarters of UK Visas and Immigration.

Responding, the Home Secretary said "My hon. Friend speaks with experience of process, which is a point that has been touched on already. There are many lessons to be learned, but on process there are also issues with the management of case files, technology, record keeping, data retention—you name it. These are long-term, long-standing issues that the Home Office needs to grip and are part of wider changes to the machinery of government that we are looking at."

Immigration will come under the microscope in the next year, as the UK leaves the European Union and establishes its own points based immigration system. It's good news for Americans and others planning to move to the UK that there's a voice in Parliament who can attest to the experiences and difficulties under the current procedures for immigration applications.

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