Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 34
34
Home Office excludes complex cases from processing statistics, with significant delays for many.
Conclusion
The Home Office marks cases as ‘complex’ for reasons such as the customer not supplying the correct information, third party checks being required or the applicant having a pending prosecution. The times taken to process these cases are not included in the Home Office’s published processing statistics.95 The Home Office said it was not possible to determine a service standard for ‘complex’ cases as there are a wide range of factors that are outside of its control.96 Analysis of management information on Skilled Worker visa extensions showed that, between the start of 2021 and the end of 2024, it took the Home Office over 100 days to make a decision on 6,500 ‘complex’ applications.97
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 15 October 2025. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document ↗