Guidance

Make a complaint to the Independent Examiner of Complaints

The Independent Examiner of Complaints will investigate if you are unhappy with the Home Office’s final response to a complaint.

From:
Home Office
Published
17 October 2022
Last updated
233 JuneAugust 2023 — See all updates

The Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC) is a new independent complaint investigation service for people who are unhappy with the Home Office’s final response to a complaint.

Find out about the IEC

About the Independent Examiner of Complaints

The Independent Examiner of Complaints is Moi Ali. Moi has a background in independent complaints review. Previously she served as:

  • chair of the Independent Complaints Review Panel at Postwatch
  • Scotland’s first Judicial Complaints Reviewer
  • a review body member in the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office

She has also had a role in overseeing complaints about senior police officers. For the last 4 years she has been the Independent Assessor of Complaints for the Crown Prosecution Service and she continues in that part-time role.

Moi is passionate about providing a genuinely independent service, and about helping organisations to identify learning and wider lessons from complaints in order to improve their service.

Her approach is to understand the complainant journey and perspective, and to support staff to provide a complainant-centric service, while maintaining her impartiality.

The role of the IEC

The IEC is not a civil servant or Home Office employee. They are an independent post holder, appointed under contract. This allows them to make fully independent decisions based on the merits of each complaint on a case-by-case basis.

The Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints (OIEC) reviews complaints about the Home Office for people who are unhappy with how their complaint has been handled.

They will look at whether the Home Office has worked in-line with its own procedures and guidance.

When to contact the OIEC

The OIEC can only look at your complaint if:

  • you have received a final response to your complaint, that explains you can bring it to the Office for the OIEC if you are unhappy with the outcome
  • you contact us within 3 months of receiving the final complaint response

Complaints the OIEC can look at

The OIEC looks at complaints about these business areas:

  • UK Visas and Immigration
  • Immigration Enforcement
  • Border Force
  • Detention Services
  • HM Passport Office
  • General Register Office

Your complaint may be about

  • a delay or error
  • poor service, advice, or information
  • a failure to follow the correct procedures

The OIEC is unable to look at complaints:

  • about Home Office decisions that carry review or appeal rights
  • about Home Office policy or legislation
  • that are, or have been investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
  • about how the Home Office has acted as an employer
  • that are, or have been the subject of judicial review or other court proceedings
  • which fall under the remit of the Windrush Compensation Scheme
  • about serious misconduct which are being reviewed by the Professional Standards Unit
  • about the Home Office’s compliance with data protection regulations

Make a complaint

You can make a complaint to the OIEC if you are unhappy with the Home Office’s final response to your complaint.

IEC complaint form

MS Word Document, 62.950.3 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email alternativeformats@homeoffice.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

You can download this form and email it to iec@homeoffice.gov.uk or print it and post it back to:

Home Office
Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints
PO Box 6147
Sheffield
S2 9JD

If you contact us by email or by post it will save time if you fill in and return the form.

If you have a representative

If you would like someone to act on your behalf, please download this form and email it to us or post it back to us together with your complaint form.

IEC consent form

ODT, 2525.1 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email alternativeformats@homeoffice.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

If you have not yet made a complaint to the relevant business area, you can do so using the below links:

How the OIEC will handle your complaint

The OIEC has a clear process for handling your complaint.

Registering your complaint

When the OIEC receives your complaint, its Business Support Team will:

  • register your complaint
  • decide if the OIEC can look at your complaint

The OIEC may ask you for more information. This may include a copy of the business’s final response to your complaint.

If it cannot look at your complaint, the OIEC will let you know why, within 2 working days of receiving your complaint.

If you have not yet made a complaint to the relevant business area, you can do so by contacting them.

If you have received a final response to your complaint, the OIEC will contact you within 5 working days of receiving your complaint to:

  • agree the elements of complaint the OIEC can look at
  • ask what you think needs to be done to put things right
  • ask you to explain how any service failures have affected you

Resolving your complaint

Once the elements of complaint have been agreed with you, the OIEC may try to resolve your complaint using the information you have given.

This may include asking the business to take action to put matters right.

The OIEC will only resolve a complaint if you agree the action the business has agreed to take puts matters right for you. If so, the OIEC will send you a resolution closure letter.

The OIEC aims to complete the cases that can be resolved within 6 weeks of you agreeing the elements of the complaint.

If they cannot resolve your complaint, they will ask you and the business for more information.

Once the OIEC have all the information they need, your complaint will be ready to allocate to an investigator. All complaints are allocated in strict date order.

The OIEC will contact you to let you know when your complaint has been allocated to an investigator.

Settling your complaint

Once the OIEC has looked at all the information provided by you and the business, they may try and settle your complaint if it is clear what went wrong and what needs to be done to put matters right.

This may include the business giving you an apology or financial redress.

The OIEC will only settle a complaint if you agree the action the business has agreed to take puts matters right for you. If so, they will send you a settlement closure letter.

The OIEC aims to complete the cases they settle within 8 weeks of your complaint being allocated to an investigator.

Investigation report

If the OIEC cannot settle your complaint, the investigator will document the facts of your case and the Independent Examiner of Complaints will decide whether to uphold your complaint and if any recommendations for redress are needed.

You will receive an investigation report which explains the outcome of your complaint.

The OIEC aims to complete the cases that result in an Independent Examiner of Complaints investigation report within 14 weeks of the complaint being allocated to an investigator.

If you disagree with the outcome of the investigation or the content of the investigation report, you can contact the OIEC about it.

If the business does not act on the OIEC’s recommendations within the given timeframe, you can contact the OIEC about it.

What you can expect from the OIEC

The OIEC will:

  • treat you with respect and courtesy
  • look at your complaint in a fair and open way
  • be clear about their process
  • keep in contact with you

What the OIEC expects from you

The OIEC expects you to:

  • treat OIEC staff with respect and courtesy
  • give correct and relevant information about your complaint
  • let the OIEC know of any reasonable adjustments you may need

Unacceptable behaviour

The OIEC knows that having an unresolved complaint can be frustrating, and that you may be stressed or annoyed when you contact them. However, the OIEC has to consider the safety and wellbeing of its staff.

The OIEC may change the way it communicates with you, if:

  • your behaviour to staff is abusive, offensive or threatening
  • your contact with the OIEC becomes unmanageable

Complain about the IEC

If you are unhappy about the service the OIEC have provided, the attitude or behaviour of a member of staff, or if you are unhappy with the Independent Examiner of Complaints investigation findings, you can complain in writing or verbally.

They will first try to resolve your complaint, for example, by giving an update or explanation. If you are still unhappy, your concerns will be registered as a formal complaint.

You can make a complaint at any point of the OIEC process, including after your case has closed.

You can make your complaint in writing or by phone, using the contact details below.

Email: iec@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 071 5679 between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Home Office
Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints
PO Box 6147
Sheffield
S2 9JD

In making a complaint, you can appoint a representative to act on your behalf, if you wish to do so.

Complaints about service or the behaviour of a member of staff

The OIEC will consider your complaint and give you a full response, usually within 15 working days. If they are unable to do so, they will let you know when they hope to be able to give you a final response.

They will reply to your complaint in writing unless they have agreed a reasonable adjustment with you.

If you are unhappy with the outcome, the OIEC will explain how to escalate your complaint or signpost you to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Complaints about the outcome of an investigation report

The OIEC will consider complaints about the outcome of an investigation report if they are made within 3 months of the report being sent to you.

You must provide new evidence that has not already been considered or show that there are factual errors in the report.

The OIEC will reply to your complaint in writing, and explain how you can escalate it to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) or the Prisons and Probation Service Ombudsman if you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint.

Learning from complaints

The OIEC works hard to make sure that it learns from customer feedback. This helps them to improve the service they provide to their customers.

Contact us

You can contact the OIEC in writing or by phone, using the contact details below.

Email: iec@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 071 5679 between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Home Office
Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints
PO Box 6147
Sheffield
S2 9JD

Published 17 October 2022
Last updated 233 JuneAugust 2023 + show all updates

  1. Accessibility work on complaint form.

  2. Updated the title of a business area to Detention Services.

  3. Changes have been agreed on service targets, to take effect from 1 April 2023.

  4. The General Register Office now falls within the remit of the IEC.

  5. Complaint form updated and consent form for third party representation added.

  6. First published.

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