Bungling officials wrongly issue 300,000 visas to 'illegals' every year, MPs told

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By James Slack
Last updated at 12:08 AM on 19th November 2008

Bungling officials wrongly issue 300,000 visas to 'illegals' every year, MPs told
By James Slack
Almost 300,000 foreigners a year are allowed into Britain with wrongly approved visas.
Up to 15 per cent of short term visas issued by British embassies abroad are given in error, MPs were told.

Once here, migrants with dubious credentials are free to stay on illegally.

Waiting game: Queuing for a visa
The visas are granted because it is easier for staff trying to hit processing targets to approve an application than reject one, explained Linda Costelloe Baker, who monitors Government visa refusals.

She told the Commons Home Affairs Committee there were errors in about 15 per cent of short-term visa approvals.

Officials were 'under pressure' to issue visas rather than reject the applications because of productivity targets, she said.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'This makes a mockery of Labour's claims to have a grip on our immigration system. It is obvious that its operation is neither firm, nor fair.
A Polish man looks at a job message board outside a shop. There were errors in around 15 per cent of short-term visa approvals for foreigners, the Commons Home Affairs Committee heard
'This error rate not only increases the scope for increased illegal immigration, but is obviously a security threat.
'The public will be dismayed that Labour targets are making our border controls more vulnerable.'

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said: 'This will add massively to the scale of illegal immigration in Britain and is a direct result of the Government's failure to resource the immigration system they are putting in place.'

Linda Costelloe Baker said officials were 'under pressure' to issue visas

Almost two million visas are approved each year, giving foreign nationals the right to come to the UK for six months, said Miss Costelloe Baker.
Each year, embassies and consulates examine 2.4million applications from tourists, businessmen and those visiting relatives.

They check if they intend to leave after their visa expires, if they have enough money to live in the country and are not coming here to seek work.
The checks are to weed out those of dubious credentials who - rather than visiting for a few months - plan to stay here permanently.

But for officials considering visa applications, issuing was a 'much faster' process than refusal, Miss Costelloe Baker said.

'I don't think there has been adequate scrutiny of decisions to issue. I think there is pressure to issue visas because it helps people hit their productivity targets.'

Approving an application is quicker, as the staff do not have to list reasons for refusal, or carry out work to prepare for any possible appeal.

Tory MP David Davies asked if it was reasonable to assume that 15 per cent of approval notices were 'incorrectly approved'.

'I think that's a reasonable supposition,' she replied.

Once here, a migrant who might have been refused a visa if staff were less rushed, has a good chance of remaining for good. It could mean that the Government's current estimates of 570,000 illegal immigrants is a vast underestimate.

LibDem spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'Exit checks must be reintroduced immediately so we know how many people, whether their visas are dodgy or not, are leaving when they are supposed to.'

Mark Sedwill, international director of the UK Border Agency, said: 'Our decisions are fair and objective, and last year the independent monitor determined they were right and reasonable in 99 per cent of cases.'