Staff in the Home Office’s asylum directorate are undertrained, overworked and operating in a “constant state of crisis”, two whistleblowers have claimed, as applicants endure long waits to have their case dealt with due to internal pressures. The Home Office staff have also told the Guardian that asylum case workers are making poor decisions about applications because they are under pressure to focus on more profitable visa applications. Spousal visas, also known as settlement visas, cost more than student visas but take much longer to process. They describe a similar state of constant crisis: “We currently have staff who are trained for one week before doing live cases. There is a high turnover (in the unit), staff are leaving and coming every week,” they said.

Source: The Guardian December 25, 2017 23:37 UTC