UK Border Agency computer failure leaves thousands unable to travel

UK Border Agency computer failure leaves thousands unable to travel

Hundreds of people queueing at UKBA's public inquiry office in Croydon, applying to extend or renew biometric residence permits, were told to go home on Thursday because the computer system could not cope.

The details of more than 600,000 foreign nationals living in Britain have been logged on the biometric residents' identity card database since it was set up four years ago.

But it has suffered repeated failures in recent weeks which culminated in a complete breakdown on Thursday. All afternoon appointments have now been cancelled for the next two weeks.

It wasn't only at Croydon, I was at Glasgow PEO yesterday for a settlement appointment and they said it was national.

Sheesh!! I wonder what this means for people renewing visas?? Hopefully UKBA will be compassionate and not start throwing people out for overstaying. Hopefully it's resolved soon. It would be a mess if all that info was lost, though.

This is the quote I find most horrible:

"It seems quite incredible that UKBA can arbitrarily cancel people's appointments, send people an email claiming that people have cancelled their own appointments, and then offer absolutely no alternative other than to rebook at a much later date for an appointment at the other end of the country," said one applicant in an email to the Guardian after having an appointment cancelled.

I have an American expat friend stuck in Spain this week due to UKBA problems and I reeeeally hope he was able to make it back before this happened.

Sheesh!! I wonder what this means for people renewing visas?? Hopefully UKBA will be compassionate and not start throwing people out for overstaying.

They were telling most of us to go home and try booking again on the phone line... not bloody likely, I've never been able to get through on the phone line and we'd just driven 4 hours to get there. I went for lunch and came back a half an hour later and they let me in the waiting room, they were trying to make new appointments for people close to their expiry or with other reasons not to do it by post (in my case I have to travel for work in the coming few weeks, and one trip overlaps my expiry). Most people they were trying to convince to change to a postal application. There was a family who were very close to the visa expiry date told to go over to Belfast today, but that they could not provide a time when an appointment might be available!

They rebooked me for early next week but bet a lot of people will be shafted again by the planned union walkout on Thursday. Sigh.

Ugh, what a disaster. I definitely feel for the people caught in this mess! I hope it works out ok for anyone here who is affected.