Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has in place when reviewing asylum applications to (a) identify and (b) rectify the effect of departmental processing errors that may prevent applicants securing paid employment.

The Home Office will consider applications for paid employment or volunteering at the point a Permission to Work (PTW) application is made. The application for PTW would instigate a review of the circumstances around the delay and assess an individual’s right to work.

It is not part of the PTW decision process to routinely review the outstanding asylum protection claim to see if they have been affected by a departmental processing error that may prevent applicants securing paid employment; we are led by the information provided in the application and make the assessment based on evidence and individuals the right to work. Caseworkers dealing with a PTW application must first establish the reason for the delay and ensure that the case is not unnecessarily delayed any further.

Caseworkers follow Home Office published policy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/handling-applications-for-permission-to-take-employment-instruction) which reflects our obligations under Immigration Rule 360.

The Home Office does deal with a small number of cases in which an applicant’s right to work has been affected by not recognising extant leave at the point of claim. This is usually flagged by the applicant or the applicant’s legal representatives once they receive the Application Registration Card and quickly rectified where appropriate.