Lunar House is a 20-storey office block at 40 Wellesley Road, Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, in south London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. on the east side, that houses the headquarters of the UK Border Agency

UK Border Agency

The UK Border Agency is the border control body of the United Kingdom government and part of the Home Office. It was formed on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency , UKvisas and the Detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs...

, an executive agency of the Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

The building

The building was completed in 1970. In common with a neighbouring building Apollo House

Apollo House (Croydon)

The Apollo House is a high-rise building on Wellesley Road in the London Borough of Croydon, London, England.In common with a neighbouring building Lunar House, the building's name was inspired by the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969....

, the building's name was inspired by the landing of Apollo 11

Apollo 11

In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

 on the Moon in 1969. During the 1970s and 1980s the building housed some offices of the Property Services Agency

Property Services Agency

The Property Services Agency was an agency of the United Kingdom government, in existence from 1972 to 1993. Its role was to “provide, manage, maintain, and furnish the property used by the government, including defence establishments, offices, courts, research laboratories, training centres and...

.

Immigration service

The building's name has become synonymous with the UK Border Agency, and is perceived by the British public as the front line of Britain's immigration service as the main Public Enquiry Office (PEO) is based here.

Services and facilities at Lunar House have been criticised in the past. In the summer of 2004, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons conducted unannounced inspections of short-term holding facilities attached to immigration reporting centres, and found particular problems at Lunar House: "Lunar House is the main route through which families are detained at Oakington Reception Centre. In spite of this, it had inadequate child protection procedures, and staff were not alert to the need to ensure that agreed safeguards on the detention of children were implemented."

In 2005, a report by the South London Citizens enquiry into service provision by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate found that "It was perceived that minimum standards of comfort afforded to British citizens do not apply to migrants waiting for services at Lunar House. Areas of immediate concern include the quality of facilities for applicants, the quality and fairness of transactions, the quality of IT and record keeping and the working conditions of staff." Lunar House was subsequently refurbished in 2005.

Public Enquiry Office

The Public Enquiry Offices offer a same-day service, at a premium fee, for considering straightforward applications for permission to extend your stay in the United Kingdom or stay in the country permanently (known as 'leave to remain' and 'settlement'). They cannot consider complex applications.

Most applications can be considered with the leave to remain endorsed into the passport and returned on the same day in a process that normally lasts approximately 3 hours. However some applications cannot be considered on the same day due to complication that may arise.

It also provides a number of services including Return of Documents and general enquiry for the public.

External links

• Border and Immigration Agency
• A note on the recent refurbishment of the building
• 2005 Report - A Humane Service for Global Citizens - by South London Citizens Enquiry into Service Provision by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at Lunar House.
• List of all UK Public Enquiry Offices http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/contact/contactspage/peos/
• Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons Report on Communications House, Lunar House, Electric House and Dallas Court (June–October 2004. http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspect_reports/STHF-reports/2004_STHFsx4.pdf