“Policies such as the Employment Extension and Seasonal Permit Break Exemption allowed employees to retain vital staff during this challenging period. Over the last two years this has led to a significant increase in application volume and complexity,” said Population Management Administrator, Gary Salter. 

“We are continuing to work through a large number ofapplications but it is important to note that the vast majority of these are considered ‘in-policy’ renewals, so applicants can continue to live and work here lawfully whilst the application is awaiting processing.  

“It’sreally important to highlight that we make sure no one is left in limbo and unable to work while they’re waiting for the full application to be processed. We can also quickly issue temporary permits should anyone need one for any reason.” 

Express reached out to the government after a member of the public told us they had been informed of a delay to how fast their updated residency permit could be processed. 

Population Management explained that work to implement a new combined population and immigration policy framework has increased the team’s workload. 

“This is a different way of working which, while it will have huge long-term benefits in providing even greater flexibility for businesses in their efforts to recruit and retain the staff they need, has contributed to our outstanding workload in the short term.  

“This ambitious project will further streamline and digitalise application processes as well as allowing businesses to recruit more easily from a worldwide pool.” 

Mr Salter said the team at Population Management is small but “very hard-working". 

"Whilst our process times for in-policy applications have become a little longer during this transitional period, we are making good progress.  

“I would always encourage the public to contact us in the normal manner if they are worried about anything or need general advice. We are, however, currently experiencing an unprecedented volume of calls and emails regarding pending applications. I would ask people to bear with us, and I thank customers for their patience while the team work hard to process applications so we can avoid further delays.”