Go to (on this page): content, search field of menu.

U bevindt zich op: Home › Publications › Audits › 03

Immigration and Naturalisation Service; Impact Assessment 2010

Published on: 25 March 2010

In September 2005 we published a report entitled Immigration and Naturalisation Service. At the request of the former Minister for Immigration and Integration, we audited the primary process in place at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) for the standard admission of aliens. The audit concerned the relationship between charges and efficiency at the IND.

The Impact Assessment we published in 2010 presents the situation at the IND in 2009: to what extent has the IND followed up the recommendations we made in 2005 and what has been the impact? We found that the IND had followed up all our recommendations and implemented all the measures set out in the government's response to our audit. The IND's performance has improved but it has not yet achieved all the goals sought from the measures.

Conclusions

The IND has achieved a great deal since 2005 and made improvements in its operational management, in part through a twining project with the Social Insurance Bank. The main improvements are:

  • The time needed to deal with applications for standard residence permits remains within the statutory limit.
  • The number of links in the chain has been reduced and a management model has been developed for the chain.
  • The new INDIGO* process system has shown how the production process can be made more efficient and improved the supply of information. 
  • Centralisation of client services has improved telephone accessibility, considerably reduced the number of complaints and increased client satisfaction.


We also found, however, that a number of risks and problems have still not been resolved: 

  • The IND did not deal with most objection notices within the statutory term in 2009. 
  • Agreements with partners in the chain are still not set out in concrete terms or worked out to prevent undesirable admission or continued residence wherever possible. 
  • Policy intensifications and quality improvements have created budgetary problems at the IND. The cost effectiveness of the charges has also fallen from 69% to 37.4%. 
  • Although the IND says it will complete the plans to roll out INDIGO despite delays in the development of the new process and information system in 2009, we think considerable steps still have to be taken. Only after INDIGO has been rolled out in full can the efficiency and information supply improvements required from the system be achieved.


*INDIGO stands for IND go!

Recommendations

The IND has achieved a lot in the past five years. Nevertheless, time does not stand still and risks still need to be addressed.

In our opinion the risk of visas being incorrectly issued or renewed must be reduced further. The partners in the chain must together ensure that existing risks are analysed and identified more precisely, and agreements within the chain must be documented and translated into concrete actions.

Although the IND cannot fund its activities by means of charges alone, its budget and the budgeted charges should be sufficient. The outgoing Minister of Justice had proposed a revised list of products and charges.

Responses

The outgoing Minster of Justice responded to our Impact Assessment on 4 March 2010. His response is summarised point for point below.

Settlement of applications
The IND has opted to concentrate on the timely settlement of applications. It will further reduce the average time taken to deal with objections in 2010.

Cooperation in the chain
The management tool will be developed further. Cooperation in the chain is concrete and worked out at many levels and in many forms. In addition to the existing cooperation in the chain, enforcement will be intensified.

Charges and costs
Full cost recovery is not possible. However, the minister will study the costs and charges and make a proposal to the House of Representatives in 2010.

Twinning with the Social Insurance Bank
The twinning project had been successful and had been a useful tool.

ICT support of the primary process, management and control information
INDIGO will be rolled out as from 15 April 2010. The introduction of electronic files is already producing efficiency gains. But the IND must still go to great lengths to implement INDIGO.

Client-based work and learning ability, complaints settlement
The IND is now able to learn from complaints and there have been visible improvements in its service.

Identification and prevention of fraud
The IND's information position will eventually be improved with regard to fraud and misuse (also in relation to the systems used in the chain).

Quality of the work, further improvement
The IND has made many improvements in response to the report we published in 2005. The quality tools it has introduced will be developed further in a changing organisation.

Conclusion
A great deal has been achieved but there are still more than enough challenges.

 

Full version