Refund Delays
Monday, 17 November 2025
Contributions
Peter Lamb (Crawley) (Lab)Labour
8. What steps she has taken to tackle delays in the payment of refunds by her Department.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mike Tapp)Labour
UK Visas and Immigration makes millions of decisions every year about who has permission to visit or stay in the UK, protecting our borders and delivering excellent customer service across the globe. Where customers require refunds, UKVI officials ensure that they are made as swiftly as possible.
I thank the Minister for his response. I have several residents who have been waiting almost a year for a refund from the Home Office. Given the dramatic improvements that we have seen in asylum application processing in the last year, can I trust that the Minister will put the same zeal into ensuring that the other Home Office processes work just as efficiently?
I am aware of those three specific issues, and I reassure my hon. Friend that we are looking at them. I am happy to talk to him in more detail offline.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)Democratic Unionist Party
I thank the Minister for his answer. Application costs are significant, and sometimes push those who apply to the wall. Whenever it comes to getting moneys back from someone who owes them, the Government are very zealous—as they should be. I suggest that when it comes to those that they owe money to, the Government should be just as zealous.
I thank the hon. Member for his question, and of course we will be just as zealous with those receiving refunds.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5007538.