The UK Home Office confirmed on 12 January that career civil servant Paul Morrison CBE has taken up the post of Director-General for Visas, Passports, Citizenship and Resettlement Services. The position – effectively the chief operating officer for UKVI and HM Passport Office – carries day-to-day responsibility for more than eight million applications a year and for delivering the government’s target to cut net migration while safeguarding service standards.
Morrison’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment. The visa system is contending with a higher-level English-language requirement, full Electronic Travel Authorisation rollout next month and an end-to-end digital status programme slated for Q3 2026. He also inherits the politically sensitive backlog of asylum and family-route cases.
![Home Office Appoints Paul Morrison CBE as New Director-General for Visas, Passports and Citizenship]()
Amid these sweeping reforms, many employers and travellers are turning to expert facilitators for help navigating the shifting landscape. VisaHQ’s dedicated UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) offers step-by-step guidance across every visa category, automated status tracking and instant alerts when Home Office rules change, ensuring that applications remain compliant and on schedule.
Colleagues point to Morrison’s operational pedigree: he previously ran the 3,500-strong in-country migration case-work directorate and, more recently, led the Ukraine Humanitarian Task Force that issued over 200,000 visas at short notice. Corporate mobility advisers expect the new DG to accelerate automation of sponsorship compliance and to pilot data-sharing with HMRC to spot under-paid skilled workers.
In a brief statement Morrison said his priority is “a customer-focused, digitally enabled system that commands public confidence”. Industry groups, while welcoming the focus on efficiency, warned that sudden rule changes without sufficient transition time continue to create uncertainty for employers and international assignees.
Morrison’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment. The visa system is contending with a higher-level English-language requirement, full Electronic Travel Authorisation rollout next month and an end-to-end digital status programme slated for Q3 2026. He also inherits the politically sensitive backlog of asylum and family-route cases.
Amid these sweeping reforms, many employers and travellers are turning to expert facilitators for help navigating the shifting landscape. VisaHQ’s dedicated UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) offers step-by-step guidance across every visa category, automated status tracking and instant alerts when Home Office rules change, ensuring that applications remain compliant and on schedule.
Colleagues point to Morrison’s operational pedigree: he previously ran the 3,500-strong in-country migration case-work directorate and, more recently, led the Ukraine Humanitarian Task Force that issued over 200,000 visas at short notice. Corporate mobility advisers expect the new DG to accelerate automation of sponsorship compliance and to pilot data-sharing with HMRC to spot under-paid skilled workers.
In a brief statement Morrison said his priority is “a customer-focused, digitally enabled system that commands public confidence”. Industry groups, while welcoming the focus on efficiency, warned that sudden rule changes without sufficient transition time continue to create uncertainty for employers and international assignees.
