British Visa Applications: Moscow and Warsaw (Hansard, 18 July 1990)

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we have asked both the Soviet and the Polish Governments to assist in finding alternative accommodation for our entry clearance operations in Moscow and Warsaw. In the meantime, we have taken all possible steps, including the use of extra temporary accommodation in Moscow and local modifications to our offices, to reduce the inconvenience to those applying for British visas.

§ Lord Bethell
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that Answer. However, is he aware that individual Russians are now usually able to visit this country on a non-official basis for the first time since 1914? Does he agree that this is a tremendous step forward in relations between the Soviet Union and this country and that it would be a terrible shame if that was spoilt by a lack of resources, a lack of accommodation or any other bureaucratic problem?
Will he further agree that this is a two-edged sword and that in reply, as a reciprocal step, there may well be—and, indeed there are—delays imposed upon British citizens applying for Polish and Soviet visas? Will he do all that he can to remedy the situation?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we are, as I said in my original Answer, doing as much as we can to improve the situation in Moscow. Applications, which are welcome, as my noble friend said, have risen considerably. In 1988, 15,800 visas were granted; last year the number was 27,900; and in the first five months of this year it was 15,500. My noble friend will therefore see the scale of the problem. As I have said, we are trying to obtain better accommodation but it is not easy. Moscow is unfortunately still a bureaucratic place. We have increased our staff in Moscow by one 862 United Kingdom-based officer and four on summer relief. We are also trying to recruit more locally engaged staff.

§ Lord Rea
My Lords, do Her Majesty's Government intend to open a consulate in Leningrad, which has a great deal of contact with Britain? Is the Minister aware that 14 other nations have consulates there? Is it true, as I have been told as patron of the Britain/USSR Medical Exchange Programme, that no member of the consular staff in Moscow speaks Russian? Do the Government intend to remedy that position?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I do not believe that there are any present plans to open a consulate in Leningrad. We might well welcome the chance to do so. I am afraid that I cannot give the noble Lord a reply about the language knowledge of consular staff in Moscow.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that there would be a great deal of pleasure if we could speed up the issuing of visas in Warsaw and other Polish cities? In the meantime, could we do something to increase the number of Polish students allowed into this country as we do not seem able to recruit British students to pick fruit and carry out other harvest duties?

Noble Lords
Oh!

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is there not a possibility of increasing beyond 2,000 the number of Polish students who came here last year to undertake those functions?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we are allowing more young seasonal agricultural workers from Poland this year. We increased the number this year from 2,500 to 4,000. I gather that that is extremely popular with the Poles. We increased the staff of the visa issuing section in Warsaw from four last year to eight. We have provided five extra summer relief staff from March to September. We have 16 locally engaged staff. Our problem there is finding better accommodation. We are still wrestling with the bureaucracy in Warsaw to try to do so.

§ Lord Birkett
My Lords, is the Minister aware that at the recent Manchester Olympic Festival, of which I was a director, a huge Russian connection was made and that therefore a large number of visas were required for artistes, curators and other Soviet citizens? Since they were invariably forthcoming, in our diplomatic staff in Moscow there must be a considerable range of expertise, hard work and good will upon which future plans can be made.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for the compliment that he has paid to our staff in Moscow. I have recently visited the embassy in Moscow. Not merely the visa issuing staff but the entire staff work in extremely cramped conditions. That is why over the longer term we are negotiating with the Russians for a new embassy.

§ Lord Taylor of Blackburn
My Lords, how long does it take from the original application to the granting of a visa in Moscow and Warsaw?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, most applications for visit visas are issued on the same day in both Moscow and Warsaw. The problem is that applicants have to queue for some time before they can put in their applications.