People are upset with the Home Office because it doesn’t keep track of whether foreign workers stay in the UK after their visas expire. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sent a report to MPs that showed the government is not doing a good job of keeping track of people who leave the nation. The PAC points out that there aren’t enough complete procedures in place to keep track of visa expirations and departures, which raises worries about possible unlawful overstays. This mistake has raised major doubts about how well the present immigration rules work.

Why is it hard for the Home Office to keep track of when visas expire?

The PAC, which looks at how the government spends money, has said that the Home Office should have looked at exit checks since the skilled worker visa route was created in 2020. The goal of this method was to fill skill gaps in the UK workforce, especially in areas like health and social care. More than 1.18 million people have applied to immigrate to the UK using this route since it was first available.

The committee’s findings, on the other hand, show that the Home Office doesn’t have the basic mechanisms in place to keep track of when people leave the country when their visas expire. This might mean that people are staying in the country illegally.

What Happens When the Home Office Doesn’t Do Anything?

The PAC report says that the Home Office still uses old airline passenger data to keep track of departures, but there hasn’t been any major examination of this information since the skilled worker visa was introduced in 2020. The committee has asked the department to come up with a full plan for keeping track of when workers leave the UK so they don’t stay too long.

The report also talks about how foreign workers are being taken advantage of, in addition to concerns regarding tracking. It points to a lot of evidence of problems like debt bondage and working too many hours, especially in industries that rely on foreign workers. The PAC says that the Home Office is slow and doesn’t do enough to stop these kinds of abuse.

What has the government done in response to the criticism?

The Home Office has agreed with the report’s conclusions. A spokesperson said they are striving to make the border safer and strengthen digital exit checks. In May, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the government would stop hiring care workers from other countries to lower net migration. This is in line with the government’s larger goal of lowering immigration levels.

Dame Antonia Romeo, the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, has also said that overstaying is still a big problem. She said that the department is working to fix the problem, but she also said that the existing system is not clear enough to help people locate new jobs. Here is the link to our article on Ford Jobs Restructuring

What does this mean for the UK’s immigration system in the end?

It is very worrying that the Home Office does not keep an eye on foreign workers once their permits expire. This raises questions about how well and openly the UK’s immigration rules work. The UK still needs foreign workers to fill important jobs; therefore, the government needs to put strong tracking systems in place to make sure they follow the rules and don’t take advantage of them.