Post
by Jeff Albright » Thu May 25, 2006 11:40 am
It is a very interesting case. Pleased to hear it ended up in your favour, although I had no doubt about it from the beginning.
My solicitor has told me that in 90% of all complex cases the IND will never give the first favourable decision even if you have a very strong case. The positive outcome can only be achieved with the second application or through the court.
To some extent I have the situation resembling the Boss's.
After bombarding the IND with letters from MP, my solicitors, telephone calls and letters and e-mails from myself for 6 months and sending the complaint to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Complaints Unit I finally got in touch directly with the caseworker from the Enforcement and Removals Directorate (=Immigration Service) who had been instructed to deal with my 8 year old matter. . It is interesting to note that the headquarters of this Department are based near Manchester Airport (Concorde Offices)- a newly built offices opened by Des Browne 2 years ago.
I was so much fed up with the delays of my case in the past and total ignorance to my case despite regular and persistent enquiries in the past, that my complaint to the IND supported by my MP and solicitors had a stong impact and I even received a letter written personally by Lin Homer - the Director General of the IND.
The "Enforcements and Removals" is just the name and there is nothing to be alarmed about. They deal with complex cases in particular, where the alleged unlawful residence of an applicant was in place.
I have had poor quality of service from the Home Office received in the last 8 years when two of my applications were lost, representations were not dealt with and the case was badly delayed. As a result, officially I was classed as an "overstayer". I have complained about it directly to the IND and once I got to know my caseworker I sent him the whole set of documents that ran on almost 30 pages including all the evidence (statements from my previous solicitors). Once my caseworker had received it I kept chasing him with my letters and e-mails every two weeks.
Last week he finally e-mailed me his decision but of course it was refusal but in a very nice and polite manner. It was very easy, however, to recognise that the decision was rushed and the evidence provided was not even considered properly. He also sent me some paperwork in the post including the IS75 form "One Stop Warning" and IS76 form "Additional Grounds" to fill in with additional grounds as to "why I should not be removed from the UK". Now the matter is in the hands of my solicitor and he is preparing the next set of documents to them.
Actually, my caseworker has shown himself to be a nice and open guy but still despite the massive evidence I have in support of my case they still refused to accept it - this is how they work in order to maintain the Fair and Efficient Immigration Control by all means possible! Because of this and also, because of poor quality of decision-making process lots of cases end up in courts resulting in huge waste of public money.