UK · Missing: publication date
The Home Office visa 'streaming tool'
Image: Civil Service World, the article's lead picture of the Home Office building. All rights reserved by the owner.
- Reported by
- JCWI, Foxglove
- Methods
- Document review
- Legal challenge
From 2015 the UK Home Office used a 'streaming tool' that rated visa applications red, amber or green, which decided how much scrutiny they got. After a long effort to find out how it worked, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and Foxglove brought a judicial review arguing it discriminated on nationality. In August 2020, before a hearing, the Home Office confirmed nationality was one of its factors and dropped the tool pending a redesign, without accepting the claims.
civilserviceworld.comThe Home Office visa 'streaming tool'An automated tool used by the UK Home Office from 2015 to give visa applications a red, amber or green risk rating, which shaped how much scrutiny caseworkers gave them. The Home Office confirmed that nationality was one of its factors.United Kingdom · Brought by JCWI and Foxglove (opens in a new tab)How they investigated
Document review
The tool drew press criticism in 2019, and the independent chief inspector of borders had urged the Home Office to be more open about it. JCWI and Foxglove spent a long time trying to get information on how it worked. They found it sorted applicants into red, amber and green, and that some nationalities appeared to be streamed into the high-risk group automatically.
Legal challenge
Represented by Leigh Day, and with a Digital Freedom Fund grant for the pre-action letter, they applied for judicial review, arguing the tool was discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010 and irrational, and that no data protection impact assessment had been done. In a letter of 3 August 2020 the government's lawyers confirmed nationality was one of its factors and said it would stop from 7 August, pending a redesign due by 30 October 2020.