Lunar House facts for kids
Lunar House is a large, 20-storey office building located in Croydon, a town in South London. You can find it at 40 Wellesley Road. This building is the main office for UK Visas and Immigration. This is a part of the Home Office, which is a government department in the United Kingdom. It helps manage who can come into and stay in the UK.
About the Building
Lunar House was finished in 1970. Its name, along with a nearby building called Apollo House, was inspired by the exciting Apollo 11 mission. This was when humans first landed on the Moon in 1969. For many years in the 1970s and 1980s, different government offices used parts of the building.
What Lunar House Does
Lunar House is well-known for its role in helping people with immigration matters. Many people in Britain see it as a key place for the country's immigration services. This is because it used to have the main Public Enquiry Office (PEO) for these services.
In the past, there were some concerns about the services and facilities at Lunar House. For example, in 2004, inspectors looked at how families were treated. They found that the building needed better ways to protect children.
In 2005, another report looked into the services. It suggested that the comfort standards for people waiting at Lunar House were not always good enough. People were concerned about the facilities, how fair the services were, and even the working conditions for staff. After these reports, Lunar House was updated and improved in 2005. Today, if you visit the building, you need to go through security checks, much like at an airport.
Public Enquiry Office Services
The Public Enquiry Offices at Lunar House used to offer a special service. For an extra fee, people could get quick decisions on their applications. These applications were usually for extending their stay in the UK or getting permission to live there permanently. This was known as 'leave to remain' or 'settlement'.
Most simple applications could be decided on the same day. This process usually took about two and a half hours. If an application was approved, people would receive a Biometric Residence Permit card. These cards were sent by mail later, not printed at the office. Sometimes, if an application was complicated, it could not be decided on the same day.
The office also helped people with other things. For example, they could return important documents or answer general questions. However, the Public Enquiry Office at Lunar House has been closed since July 2015. Now, all questions and applications must be made through the official UK government website.
