Asylum and Immigration: Coronavirus

(asked on 13th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of making (a) asylum and (b) other migration application processes available online during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 18th November 2020

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has worked at pace to ensure the application processes for our routes are Covid safe. Where we can, we have digitised the application process, but in some areas this is not possible.

Asylum in the UK should continue to be sought at the first available opportunity; on arrival, at a port of entry. Those who have failed to claim on arrival, or whose circumstances have changed since arrival, can lodge a claim at an in-country location – this is usually by appointment at the Asylum Intake Unit (AIU) in Croydon. The AIU has continued operate throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, however in line with Government Covid 19 guidance and restrictions, additional regional locations have been temporarily introduced to ensure asylum seekers are able to safely register their claims. In addition, the asylum screening and registration process has been temporarily abridged to minimise in person contact and limit travel required and remains under ongoing review.

Asylum claims registered at these temporary regional locations are processed in accordance with policy, fulfilling the UKs statutory obligations in relation to registering asylum claims in a Covid safe environment. The asylum registration process requires the enrolment of biometrics (photographs and fingerprints) to complete vital immigration and security checks against Home Office systems. This process requires attendance in person and so cannot be turned into an online process.

In relation to in-country further leave applications, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and government and public health restrictions put in place, the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS), which allows customers within the UK to enrol their biometrics, was suspended from the end of March to 1st June 2020.

As the UKVCAS service reopened, in parallel UKVI began reusing existing fingerprint biometrics for some customers which meant that instead of attending a service point in person to re-enrol, UKVI could reuse the fingerprints already recorded against a previous application. Once a customer has submitted their biometrics to UKVI, either through a physical appointment or verifying their identity in order that their existing biometrics can be reused, we are able to make a decision.

Finally, due to the digital nature of the EU Settlement Scheme, it has remained open throughout the pandemic for customers able to apply on line using the EU Exit: ID Document Check app”.

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has worked at pace to ensure the application processes for our routes are Covid safe. Where we can, we have digitised the application process, but in some areas this is not possible.

Asylum in the UK should continue to be sought at the first available opportunity; on arrival, at a port of entry. Those who have failed to claim on arrival, or whose circumstances have changed since arrival, can lodge a claim at an in-country location – this is usually by appointment at the Asylum Intake Unit (AIU) in Croydon. The AIU has continued operate throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, however in line with Government Covid 19 guidance and restrictions, additional regional locations have been temporarily introduced to ensure asylum seekers are able to safely register their claims. In addition, the asylum screening and registration process has been temporarily abridged to minimise in person contact and limit travel required and remains under ongoing review.

Asylum claims registered at these temporary regional locations are processed in accordance with policy, fulfilling the UKs statutory obligations in relation to registering asylum claims in a Covid safe environment. The asylum registration process requires the enrolment of biometrics (photographs and fingerprints) to complete vital immigration and security checks against Home Office systems. This process requires attendance in person and so cannot be turned into an online process.

In relation to in-country further leave applications, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and government and public health restrictions put in place, the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS), which allows customers within the UK to enrol their biometrics, was suspended from the end of March to 1st June 2020.

As the UKVCAS service reopened, in parallel UKVI began reusing existing fingerprint biometrics for some customers which meant that instead of attending a service point in person to re-enrol, UKVI could reuse the fingerprints already recorded against a previous application. Once a customer has submitted their biometrics to UKVI, either through a physical appointment or verifying their identity in order that their existing biometrics can be reused, we are able to make a decision.

Finally, due to the digital nature of the EU Settlement Scheme, it has remained open throughout the pandemic for customers able to apply on line using the EU Exit: ID Document Check app”.

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