Date
– 29th May 2009
To:
Jonathan Sedgwick
Deputy Chief Executive, UKBA
From:
Amit Kapadia
Executive Director (Chairman)
HSMP Forum
Dear Mr Sedgwick,
I would like to raise some of the following issues which are concerned
with our recent Judicial Review Implementation. I would appreciate if
you can address this at the earliest;
1. Many of our members have informed that they are unable to get an
appointment at the Public Enquiry Office (PEO). It seems individuals
have to wait on a premium number for hours together and ultimately are
given an appointment which is more than 30 days late. This is not
helpful and it defeats the intention of attending the PEO for
settlement. You did kindly inform me in your earlier communication dated
19th May 2009 that a special team has been allocated for this purpose.
It is important that priority is given to all those who benefits from
the Judgment and earlier appointments should be issued to them. The aim
of obtaining a deadline for implementation was to ensure those affected
will receive their settlement at the earliest and the delay will
definitely defeat the purpose of obtaining that order. This is also
applicable for postal applications. We believe the dates given for PEO
and the decision for postal applications should not exceed more than 15
days at the most.
2. The policy document does not say anything about those applied and
admitted between 3rd April 2006 and 7th November 2006. To be in
accordance with the court order (1), migrants in this group when
applying for settlement should not be asked for Life in the UK or
language test (as this requirement was introduced in April 2007) or any
other new requirement which was not there when they joined the HSMP
scheme.
Just to remind you, I have not received any response from your end on
the following point which I raised in my correspondence dated 15th April
2009, “Those migrants who left UK after the November 2006 changes and
returned back and those subsequently returning to the UK as per the HSMP
Forum Limited policy document of 9th July 2008 should be issued with a
letter confirming the time spent abroad will be acknowledged for their
ILR. Though the policy document acknowledges the time spent abroad will
be carried forward for their ILR application but no such letter is being
issued on individual basis in this regard. We believe this can have
possible problem in future for the individuals concerned when making an
application for ILR.”
Please feel free to contact me for any further information or
clarification.
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