Home Office secretly uses algorithms to process visa applications
The UK Home Office used a secretive algorithm to process visa applications, p rompting lawyers and civil rights groups to warn the software could discriminate against applicants based on nationality, race or age. The Financial Times revealed that UK aut horities had been using an algorithm to process work, study and visitor visa applications but were refusing to provide any detail about the factors used to assess risk, or how regularly the algorithm is updated because it feared this could encourage fraudulent applications. The system had only come to the attention of immigration professionals when a group of lawyers were shown the streaming process during a visit to a visa processing centre in Sheffield. The finding prompted lawyers and civil rights groups to express concerns that the system may disadvantage UK visa applicants by reinforcing existing societal prejudices. It also resulted in calls for the Home Office to provide more information on how it assesses applications. ➕ October 2019 . J ustice advocacy group Foxglove and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) launched a legal case to force the Home Office to explain on what basis the algorithm streams visa applicants. ➕ August 2020. The Home Office settled a lawsuit brought against the Visa Streaming system and halted it s use. System 🤖 UK Visa Streaming traffic light system Operator: UK Home Office Developer: UK Home Office Country: UK Sector: Govt - immigration Purpose: Assess visa applications Technology: Risk assessment algorithm Issue: Bias/discrimination - race, ethnicity; Transparency
- Date it happened
- 2019-06-01
- Organisation involved
- UK Visas and Immigration
- Product, system or model
- Visa Streaming
This incident was imported from AIAAIC and is used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.