‘Utter contempt’: Thousands of Turkish nationals in Britain trapped in limbo due to Home Office delays

Exclusive: Businesspeople who were welcomed to UK are falling destitute as they wait more than a year for visas

Kerim Beyaz (left), who was running a successful business supplying products to the likes of M&S and Boots, was forced back to Turkey due to lengthy visa delays (Kerim Beyaz)

Thousands of people who were welcomed by the UK government to start businesses in Britain have been left in limbo due to “arbitrary” Home Office delays.

Ministers have been accused of “treating a huge business community with utter contempt” after it emerged that many Turkish businesspeople who have been living and working in the UK for at least a year are now struggling to make a living because they have had to wait a year for visa decisions.

While they wait they are unable to travel, take out leases and, in some cases work, which has had a detrimental impact on their income, leading to some families falling into poverty and even losing their homes.

In one case, a self-employed music teacher became homeless with his family after he could no longer afford to pay rent on their property because he could not get work on an expired visa, according to a charity. They reportedly had to move between the homes of charity workers for months, and sometimes had to sleep in a community centre.

In another, a man was split from his wife and young son for seven months due to Home Office delays on his visa extension application. Another had to miss the funerals of three family members because he could not travel to attend them as a result of the delay.

Turkish Ambassador Ümit Yalçın told The Independent he was “following very closely” the issues related to the processing of European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) visas for Turkish nationals, adding: “We trust that British authorities will swiftly finalise the pending cases, which are essentially bureaucratic.”

All of those affected were living and working in the UK on an ECAA visa, designed to allow Turkish businesspeople and their families to move to Britain to establish a business. The route ceased to exist after the Brexit transition period ended after 2020, but those already in the UK can still apply to extend their visas.

Home Office data shows that, as of the end of September 2021, 8,251 people were waiting for a decision on their ECAA visa extension application – an increase of 54 per cent on the previous year and 297 per cent on 2019.

Labour MP Feryal Clark, who raised the issue in the House of Commons last week, told The Independent: “Every day I’m getting hundreds of emails in my inbox about this. Businesspeople are here, they’ve sent in their papers, they’ve got all of their tax returns and receipts in – done all the right things – but they’re left waiting.

“The Home Office says that if they don’t want to wait they can go back to Turkey, but many of these people have been here for years, their children are in school. They don’t want to leave and they’re clinging on.”

Ms Clark called on the Home Office to grant individuals who do not receive a decision within reasonable time frame a temporary visa to enable them to travel, rent and continue to run their businesses effectively.

“It’s not good for Britain’s reputation globally. They are treating a huge business community with utter contempt,” she added.

Israfil Erbil, president of charity the British Alevi Federation, said hundreds of ECAA applicants had visited the charity’s food bank over the past year because they are suffering financial hardship as a result of Home Office delays.

He told of one man who had a music teaching business, but was unable to secure employment while waiting for his visa extension decision because he could not prove his immigration status. With no income, he and his family were evicted from their home and became homeless.

“He had been waiting more than 15 months. We had to help them. They stayed in our homes and sometimes slept in the community centre. They lived like this for more than three months until he eventually got his visa,” Mr Erbil said.

In another case, Kerim Beyaz, 44, came to the UK on an ECAA visa at the start on 2020 and started a business importing sanitation products, which are sold at outlets including Marks and Spencer’s and Boots.

Mr Beyaz supplies sanitation products to retailers (Kerim Beyaz)

He applied for a visa extension at the end of 2020 but is yet to receive a decision. He said that being unable to travel as part of his business has meant he has lost thousands of pounds in lost revenue.

His wife and young son had been planning to join him in the UK, but the delay meant they were not able to, and instead he wasn’t able to see them for seven months. He recently decided to return to Turkey, meaning he now can’t come back to the UK until a decision is made on his visa.

“I’m feeling depressed. I’ve been unable to attend business meetings and I’m worried I will lose customers. This question mark hanging over my business and over my family’s future is so stressful,” he said.

Razem Ahmed, an immigration partner at London Solicitors, who is currently supporting around 55 clients who are facing delays on their ECAA visa extension applications, said most were waiting in excess of nine to 12 months for a decision.

“There is no evidence to justify or explain the protracted and what one might surmise as arbitrary delays in reaching decisions for ECAA extension applications. They are often highly detrimental to applicants and they seriously undermine the Home Office’s credibility and transparency in the decision-making process,” he said.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Where applications to the ECAA are straightforward and non-complex, the majority are concluded within our published six-month service standard.

“If applications are more complex they may take longer to consider – we have notified customers of this and we aim to conclude each application as quickly as possible.”