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Guidance: Make a complaint to the Independent Examiner of Complaints

Home Office

November 18
09:54 2022

The Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC) is a new independent complaint investigation service for people who are unhappy with the Home Offices 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
  • Scotlands 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 and Escorting Service
  • HM Passport 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 Offices compliance with data protection regulations

Make a complaint

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

IEC complaint form

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 aversion 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 us or print it and post it back to us.

Or you can complain to us in writing or by phone using the contact details below.

Email: iec@homeoffice.gov.uk

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

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

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 aversion 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:

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