Home Office has lost track of up to 200,000 with right to remain

Up to 200,000 people who have lived in the UK legally for decades are at risk of being caught up in a Windrush-style scandal because the Home Office does not know their whereabouts or have their details on government computer systems.

- Diane Taylor

There are fears that some of those in this group will get left at serious risk of being undocumented as the Home Office converts immigration records from paper to digital. The news has emerged at a time when the Home Office says it is taking back control of its immigration system.

Many of those affected are older people and some are not digitally literate. Many came from Africa and Asia in the 1970s and 80s and were granted indefinite leave to remain by the Home Office with an ink stamp or vignette in their passports, or a piece of paper confirming their grant of indefinite leave to remain. This physical proof of right to remain is known as a legacy document.