Immigration cases with media interest handled faster, report claims

Immigration cases that attract adverse media publicity for the Home Office are being fast tracked through the system, according to the BuzzFeed online news service.

It reveals that the then Home Secretary Amber Rudd set up a rapid response strategy last year as criticism grew of the "hostile environment" approach.

Senior immigration staff have been allowed to make decisions outside the rules and grant visas and citizenship to individuals whose cases are reported in the press.

Amng various instances the report covers the experience of Glasgow and Edinburgh solicitors McGill & Co, which says it has had several cases fast-tracked after media attention, including one where a family who claimed they had been waiting for 18 years for a decision went on hunger strike outside the Home Office’s Glasgow building – and the media coverage led to a meeting being immediately for the following week, and visas being granted before it even took place.

Solicitor John Vassiliou is quoted as saying that whereas they would never in the past have had any contact with the media about their cases, "it now almost seems like a more appropriate tool than litigation in many instances. It’s disappointing for me as a lawyer as it completely undermines what we do and suggests that, rather than following normal procedures and channels to get a correct outcome, it’s better to seek publicity and your case will be resolved".

He added: "My disappointment is that if I or one of my clients ask the Home Office about a case, we get no response or they say no, but when a case publicised in the media portrays the Home Office in a negative light, then all of a sudden it’s different."