Super Priority Visa Service - Toronto

David Hugkulstone made this Freedom of Information request to Home Office This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

David Hugkulstone

Dear Home Office,

The Super Priority Visa (SPV) is an optional service offered to UKVI customers applying for their visa in Toronto Canada. It is marketed as the fastest way to secure a visa decision.

Please can we kindly ask you to confirm the following:

- Between 1st April 2018 and 31st July 2018 - How many SPV applications were submitted via the Toronto Visa Application Centre for processing?
- Once you have confirmed the number of SPV applications submitted during this period, please can you confirm the duration each case took to complete using the following formular:
The date of a customer's booked SPV appointment counts as (DAY ZERO) against the date that the customer's documents were ready for collection (or despatch) from Toronto VAC (i.e. after full consideration of the SPV application) - counting working days only.

By way of example: A SPV appointment booked for Friday 6th July (DAY ZERO) and the case was completed and ready for collection on Tuesday 10th JULY = (DAY 2).

By gathering this information, we would therefore be in a position to determine the number of SPV cases during this period that were completed with 24 hours (DAY 1), 48 hours (DAY 2) etc.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

David Hugkulstone

FOI Requests, Home Office

Mr Hugkulstone

Thank you for contacting the Home Office with your request.

This has been assigned to a caseworker (case ref 49814). We will aim to send you a full response by 12/09/2018 which is twenty working days from the date we received your request.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact us

Thank you

J Douglas

FOI Requests
Home Office

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Dear FOI Requests,

(case ref 49814). Please kindly update the status of this outstanding request.

Yours sincerely,

David Hugkulstone

FOI Requests, Home Office

Dear Hugkulstone,

 

Thank you for contacting the Home Office. I have forward your email to the
case officer dealing with your request for a response.

 

Thank you,

 

N McKenzie

Home Office

 

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FOI Responses, Home Office

3 Attachments

[1]Logo for letterhead.png  

   

                     

 

Dear Mr Hugkulstone,

 

Please find attached a letter in response to your FOI request of 14
August.

 

Yours sincerely

 

J Rushton

CCT FOI

Customer Performance and Improvement

 

 

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References

Visible links

Dear Home Office,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Home Office's handling of my FOI request 'Super Priority Visa Service - Toronto'. FOI 49814

My request has been unlawfully classed as exempt from disclosure due to the requested information 'focusing on individual appointments in a very specific time and place'. We therefore reject this assessment and request an independent internal review.

The original FOI request did not focus on individual appointments. The FOI request centred on a 4 month period (1st April -31st July 2018) and related only to the NUMBER of Super Priority Visa (SPV) applications submitted via the Toronto Visa Application Centre and the duration it took the UKVI to complete each SPV case.

Toronto is the only UK visa centre in Canada that offers the SPV service to its visa customers and therefore services the entire country in respect of this provision. It is therefore justifiably appropriate to request data on this specific office's performance in delivering this service over a 4 month period.

Since the SPV service is openly marketed by the UKVI https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/ca/en/premiu... as the 'fastest way to secure a visa decision' and to 'Get a visa decision in 24 hours', it is also fair and appropriate to ask the UKVI to specify the duration each SPV case (during the requested 4 month period) took to process rather than receive an average time taken over the same period.

We therefore trust this request for an independent internal review is fully considered on its merits and the UKVI subsequently asked to comply with the original FOI request.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

David Hugkulstone

FOI Requests, Home Office

Mr. Hugkulstone,

Thank you for contacting the Home Office with your request.

This Internal Review has been assigned to a caseworker (case ref 49814). We will aim to send you a full response by 18/10/2018 which is twenty working days from the date we received your request.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

P. Zebedee
FOI Requests
Home Office

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FOI Responses, Home Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hugkulstone

 

Please find attached the Home Office response to your request for an
internal review of FOI case 49814

 

Yours Sincerely

 

M Riddle

Knowledge and Information Management Unit

Performance, Assurance and Governance Directorate

Lower Ground Floor, Seacole

2 Marsham Street

London

SW1P 4DF

T: +44 (0)20 7035 4848

 

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