Freedom of Information
Central Correspondence Team
Customer Planning &
Performance
PO Box 3468
Sheffield
S3 8WA
Charlotte Peel
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx
Email: request-407999-
.uk
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
www.gov.uk/ukvi
FOI Reference: 44030
8 June 2017
Dear Ms Peel
Thank you for your enquiry of 22 May in which you requested information on cases
currently on hold. Your request is being handled as a request for information under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Information Requested
Regarding the current hold placed on certain Appendix FM applications following the
judgment in MM & Ors v SSHD, please provide the following information from the
period 20 February 2017 to date:
1.
How many entry clearance applications have been put on hold?
2.
How many in-country applications have been put on hold?
3.
How many applications made under paragraph ex.1 have been put on hold?
4.
How many applications for further leave to remain have been put on hold?
5.
How many of the above cases involve a child under the age of 18?
6.
How many applications in the above categories have been granted in the
same period?
Please also provide copies of any guidance issued to caseworkers regarding the
hold on applications following the judgment in MM & Ors, including the criteria for
when an application should be placed on hold rather than refused.
UK Visas and Immigration is an operational command of the Home Office
Response
Following the hand-down of the Supreme Court judgment in MM (Lebanon) & Others
on 22 February, the Home Office paused decision-making on some applications
under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules. The applications affected are those
failing to meet the minimum income requirement and Appendix FM applications
falling for refusal which involve a child. Other Appendix FM applications continue to
be decided as normal.
Applicants using the priority visa and premium services are advised at their
appointment that, if they proceed with their application, it will be subject to this pause
in decision-making if it falls to be refused as above. UKVI are notifying applicants via
email if, after consideration of their application, that it has been placed on hold.
With regard to your questions, for all applications
we hold the information which you
have requested. Although we can identify the number of cases on hold, to produce a
report or data to further identify those cases that are on hold and fall within the
further parameters you have identified, such as cases involving applicants under the
age of 18, would require a manual trawl through cases and this would be neither cost
nor resource effective. Therefore under section 12(1) of the Act, the Home Office is
not obliged to comply with an information request where to do so would exceed the
designated cost limit as it would take more than 24 working hours to identify, locate
or retrieve the information we know we hold. We believe that to provide the
information you are seeking would breach this cost limit and as such we are unable
to supply it to you.
The Home Office is not obliged to comply with any information request where the
prescribed cost of supplying you with the information exceeds £600. The £600 limit
applies to all central Government Departments and is based on work being carried
out at a rate of £25 per hour, which equates to 24 hours work per request.
Prescribed costs include those which cover the cost of locating, retrieving and
extracting information. They do not include considering whether any information is
exempt from disclosure, overheads such as heating or lighting, or disbursements
such as photocopying or postage.
If you were to resubmit a more specific request of narrower scope then we would
reconsider it, although we cannot guarantee that any information covered by a
narrower request would be disclosed. Further information about resubmitting a more
specific request can be found at :
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/refusing-a-
request/
It is also open to you to resubmit a request that includes your other questions about
how many applications are on hold that have not been considered to be cost exempt.
If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal
review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months
to the address below, quoting reference 44030. If you ask for an internal review, it
would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.
Information Access Team
Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
e-mail
: xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your information request
will be reassessed by staff not involved in providing you with this response. If you
remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to
the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of
Information Act.
Yours sincerely
J Slater
Customer Planning & Performance
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http://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/108105TAZNG