33. Mr. Edmund Harveyasked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the hardship caused by the delay in obtaining visas at British consular offices in Germany owing to the great pressure of work upon the official staffs in England and abroad; and whether, to lessen this pressure and expedite decisions, the power of granting visas to certain carefully defined classes of immigrants and, in particular, to trans-migrants can be delegated to responsible British officials in Germany?
§ Mr. ButlerEvery effort is being made to minimise delay in dealing with applications for visas, and further measures ate under consideration to expedite decisions in cases where the applicant desires to come to the United Kingdom with the view to migrating eventually to some other country.
Mr. HarveyWill the hon. Gentleman state whether he has considered delegating the powers suggested in the question to certain responsible officials in the case of certain classes of immigrants?
§ Mr. ButlerFrom inquiries which we have made, the delay appears to be caused by the necessity of reference to this country, and in order to cope with that delay a new scheme to avoid such reference home has been worked out in regard to a limited class of cases.
Captain CazaletIs my hon. Friend aware that there are very long queues, and that owing to the delay in getting 2458 visas, in many cases permits given by the German Government to these people expire before the visas arrive?
§ Mr. ButlerI am aware of those difficulties. That is why arrangements have been made to increase the staff of certain Passport Control and Consular Offices abroad.
§ Mr. GrenfellWould it be possible to get an extension of the permits in order that the people might use the visas given by the Government?
§ Mr. ButlerI am sure my Noble Friend will give consideration to that question.