56% of calls to EU Settlement Scheme helpline can’t get through
The Home Office has revealed that only 44% of calls to the EU Settlement Resolution Centre got through to a caseworker, between November 2020 and November 2021.
Of the 1,464,392 calls to the helpline, more than half didn’t get through to a caseworker.
The helpline is one of the only ways for EU citizens to get in touch with the Home Office for questions regarding their applications to the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as getting help for those struggling to prove their digital-only immigration status. In July 2021, right after the scheme’s 30th June deadline, 92,982 calls were not connected (69% of overall calls made).
The Home Office claims the average waiting time of the helpline has been under 15 minutes since the deadline to the EU Settlement Scheme. However, this metric is not very meaningful given that it disregards the over 50% of calls which aren’t allowed to join the waiting queue.
People calling the Resolution Centre often receive the following message, after which their call is disconnected:
“Thank you for calling the resolution centre. We are experiencing high demand for our services and currently have no more space in our call queue. [...] Your call will now be disconnected.”
Luke Piper, Head of Head of Policy and Advocacy at the3million, the EU citizens' group, said:
“We have seen time and time again reports of people not being able to get in touch with the Home Office helpline. They can’t fix the problems they are having with their application or digital status and this has a significant impact on their mental health, ability to work, rent and travel.”
Examples of issues people are experiencing
“I’ve updated my passport and tried to link my new passport to my Settled Status. In this period, I’ve had no communication. I’ve tried to phone the Home Office repeatedly to ask when it will be updated, but can’t get through. I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait. It could be days, weeks or months. I'm frustrated because there's no way to chase this up, as I can't get through to the Home Office on the phone. I can’t go visit my mum abroad, as I won’t be able to return to the UK if I travel."
“I need to share my code with a potential employer but I can't log in my account. This has been an ongoing issue. The website says I am already logged in but I am not. The helpline says they are busy and there is no way I can get through, they are just ending my call and asking me to call another time.”
“I rang the helpline. 20 times I was unable to join a queue because of call numbers. When I finally was able to join the queue I was 500th in the queue. I waited for 5 hours on hold.”
“I was told to provide evidence of the years 2013-2021, but I am not sure what and how much exactly they require. So I have been trying to ring the helpline which so far has always ended in the call being terminated. I sleep even worse than usual, some nights not at all.”
NOTES:
At the3million we have written to Kevin Foster MP asking how the Home Office will resolve this issue and provide an effective service to EU citizens.
The Home Office has provided data included in this release in response to a Freedom of Information request. All correspondence can be found here and the response including data can be found here.
the3million is the leading grassroots organisation representing EU citizens in the UK, formed in 2016 after the Brexit referendum. Our work ranges from monitoring the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, advocating for the integration of EU citizens through a pathway to citizenship, informing people of their rights, and giving EU citizens a voice in British society to change the narrative on migration.
Get in touch
For more information, please contact: Andreea Dumitrache, Communications Manager at the3million, [email protected], 07598 893045
