Rise in Turkish residency refusals draws Windrush comparisons

A rise in the number of Turkish nationals facing removal from the UK after being refused permanent residency has brought accusations that the Home Office has not learned from the Windrush scandal. Lawyers and affected applicants have raised concerns about incorrect decisions, unsupported requirements and the handling of serious family and medical circumstances.

The cases involve holders of European Community Association Agreement visas, a longstanding route allowing Turkish nationals to establish businesses in Britain. Home Office figures show that settlement grants through the route fell from 3,378 in the first six months of 2025 to 745 in the same period of 2026, a decline of 78%. Hundreds of applicants have received refusals this year.

Lawyers told the Guardian that the tougher approach appeared to affect applications submitted from September 2025, with some decisions taking longer than the usual six months. That period preceded home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s announcement at the Labour conference of proposals to tighten settlement conditions. The Home Office says neither its rules nor its approach to these applications has changed.

One woman was refused after beginning cancer treatment in Turkey, where she was diagnosed while visiting during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the NHS restricted such care. The department treated her decision to start treatment there as a choice, although her medical team warned that transferring her care posed a significant clinical risk. Following a review, the Home Office maintained its decision and told her in October that she and her three young children should leave the UK.

In another case, a window cleaner’s business was questioned because it lacked a social media presence, despite there being no such requirement. A woman who had travelled to Turkey because her father has terminal Alzheimer’s was also refused settlement. The department argued that his illness had been known for years and that her absences therefore did not arise from an urgent, unforeseen situation.

Other errors included a false assertion that an applicant had not supplied all their bank statements and an incorrect calculation claiming another had spent more than 180 days abroad within a year. One refusal involving the absence of a business website or social media presence was subsequently overturned. Lawyers said compassionate circumstances that previously led to routine approvals were now receiving harsher treatment.

Freedom of information figures show that ECAA applications under administrative review, through which the department reconsiders refusals, rose from 145 in 2025 to 395 between January and mid-August 2026. Former foreign secretary David Lammy, whose Tottenham constituency has a large Turkish-speaking population, said constituents who had built families and businesses in Britain had been devastated by an apparent policy shift. He urged the department to revisit the Windrush Lessons Learned review.

That independent review recommended clearer guidance on evidence, more direct communication with applicants and revised procedures for vulnerable people. Its recommendations were accepted by then home secretary Priti Patel. Responding to the concerns, a Home Office spokesperson said: “There has been no change to how ECAA settlement applications are considered.” The department said each application continued to be assessed individually under published rules and guidance.