UK Home Office manages 2x the number of expected residency applications

The Business Issue

The Home Office (HO) is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom’s government. Within its remit of keeping the country secure and citizens safe, the department is responsible for controlled, safe immigration.

In 2016, the UK voted to withdraw from the European Union, leaving countless EU citizens living and working in the UK unsure about the future. They knew that they would no longer be exempt from the need for a visa after the UK completed its separation from the EU. The Government wanted to ensure they offered welcome continuity to those who have invested years making their home in the UK.

After the vote, the Home Office suddenly need to manage millions of applications for residency in the UK. They needed a system that could:

• Allow current residents to register and submit their applications
• Support a variety of evidence and complex eligibility criteria
• Be rapidly deployed to meet target deadlines

The Solution

Using Pega Government Platform, Home Office successfully harnessed a case management service that manages residency application workflows within the organization and collaborates across other government bodies, including Border Force, UK Visas and Immigration, the Department for Work & Pensions, HM Passport Office, and HM Revenue & Customs.

Their new solution can effortlessly verify an applicant’s identity, map any dependents, and assesses their right to remain in the UK. In contrast to paper-based processes, the Home Office’s Pega-powered solution can score applications based on complexity and then prioritize and route them accordingly. While most applications are straightforward, their new solution easily triages and manages more complex cases that require additional review. This simplifies the work for HO’s 1,500 caseworkers freeing up their time to focus on more difficult cases. At the peak, up to 30,000 cases were processed in a day.

The Results

With the help of Accenture, HO rapidly deployed the app – taking only 12 months from the project’s inception to having a live system capable of handling 1,500 caseworkers and millions of cases.

Using Pega for Government, Home Office was able to:

• Rapidly adapt to changes in the scope and rules as the requirements were developed
• Be ready for Brexit well ahead of an immovable deadline
• Integrate with other systems in real time unlike previous case work processes
• Handle nearly double their anticipated 3.6 million applications
• Better serve the public
• Improve service quality and efficiency

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