Three Labour MPs have raised serious concerns with the Home Office over the treatment of Turkish businesspeople applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain under the Ankara Agreement route, warning that applicants are facing delays, administrative errors and what they describe as an increasingly harsh decision-making process.
Bambos Charalambous MP, Feryal Clark MP and David Lammy MP have written jointly to Home Office minister Jo White after receiving substantial correspondence from constituents experiencing difficulties with applications under the Turkish Businessperson visa route.
The MPs say that while the Ankara Agreement route closed to new applicants after Brexit, people who were already in the UK remain eligible to extend their status and apply for settlement after five years of continuous residence.
They warn, however, that the way applications are being assessed appears to have changed.
The letter says solicitors and constituents have reported that assessments of genuine business activity are increasingly being replaced by attempts to identify technical issues or minor inconsistencies in paperwork.
The MPs write that there is now a perception that “the goalposts have been shifted unfairly”, with errors on business invoices and other technical matters increasingly being cited as reasons for refusal.
MPs cite Home Office errors
The letter highlights a number of cases in which MPs believe mistakes were made by Home Office officials.
In one case, a business owner was recorded as having left the UK despite attending an in-person Home Office appointment during the same week.
In another, an application was refused after officials allegedly miscounted the number of days the applicant had spent outside the country.
The MPs say such errors can have serious consequences, including long delays, uncertainty and additional administrative burdens for applicants and their businesses.
They also say they have already helped challenge some refusals successfully.
Hundreds waiting more than six months
The MPs further warn that delays are compounding the problem.
According to the letter, hundreds of applicants are now waiting longer than six months for decisions.
They say people protected by Section 3C leave while applications are pending can face practical difficulties, including being unable to travel abroad, struggling to secure new business leases and lacking the long-term certainty needed to make investment decisions.
The MPs warn that this uncertainty could itself undermine businesses and potentially threaten applicants’ continued eligibility for settlement.
They describe the danger of a “vicious cycle” in which delays weaken a business, which could then be used against the applicant.
Concern over treatment of Turkish business community
The MPs say they are particularly worried that some people may have been wrongly refused but have not sought help from their MP.
They also warn that the wider approach is creating “an atmosphere of hostility towards our Turkish business community”.
The letter says:
“We are equally concerned that Home Office staff either don’t understand the Ankara Agreement or have been given instructions to assess claims to a different standard, a change which we have not been made aware of and would not support.”
The three MPs have asked Jo White for a meeting to discuss the issue and seek a solution for affected constituents.
Ankara Agreement legacy after Brexit
The Ankara Agreement was signed in 1963 to strengthen economic ties between Turkey and the European Community.
Under the ECAA route, Turkish nationals were able to establish businesses in the UK under special provisions and, after the required period of lawful residence, apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Although the route closed to new applicants after Brexit, transitional arrangements remain for people who entered under the scheme before it ended.
The MPs’ intervention puts pressure on the Home Office to explain whether its approach to Ankara Agreement settlement applications has changed and to address concerns that administrative mistakes and long delays are unfairly affecting Turkish entrepreneurs who have spent years building businesses and lives in Britain.
