§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the current delay (a) in the main queue for settlement in the United Kingdom and (b) in any other queue for entry clearance for settlement or as husband or fiancé who was interviewed at the end of the first quarter of 1983 in Islamabad, Karachi, Dhaka, Bombay and New Delhi;
(2) what are the projected waiting times before first interview for applicants for entry clearance for settlement who applied at the most recent convenient date in Islamabad, Karachi, Dhaka, Bombay and New Delhi.
§ Mr. WaddingtonInformation on the time waited by a person in the main queue interviewed at the end of each quarter is published for Dhaka, Bombay, New Delhi and Islamabad in the quarterly Home Office statistical bulletin "Control of Immigration: Statistics"; husbands and fiancés now wait the same time for interview as non-priority applicants for immediate settlement. The other information requested is given in the following table:
Months waited to interview, end-March 1983 Indian Sub-Continent Months Waited by a person interviewed Estimated time* a person applying may have to wait Main queue (including husbands and fiancés) Islamabad and Karachi 9½ 9½ Dhaka 18 18 Bombay 8 7 New Delhi 14 8 Priority queue Islamabad and Karachi 2 2 Dhaka patrial 7 7 first wife and children under 10 4 4 newly married wife ¾ 1 Bombay 2½ 3 New Delhi 1¾ 2 * The estimated waiting time depends upon assumptions about the rate at which applications will be processed, which may not be realised.
§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many applications for entry clearance by fiancés or by husbands were decided in the Indian subcontinent in the first quarter of 1982 and the first quarter of 1983, respectively; and how many were granted entry clearance, and how many refused;
(2) how many applications for entry clearance by fiancés or by husbands were decided in the Indian 685W subcontinent in the second quarter of 1982 and the second quarter of 1983, respectively; how many were granted entry clearance and how many were refused.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe quarterly numbers of applications for entry clearance by husbands and fiancés for leave to enter the United Kingdom which are granted in the Indian subcontinent are published in table 7 of the Home Office statistical bulletin "Control of Immigration: Statistics". The corresponding numbers of applications refused were 180 in the first quarter of 1982, 130 in the second quarter of 1982 and 180 in the first quarter of 1983. Figures for the second quarter of 1983 are not yet available.
§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the numbers of people awaiting a decision on an application for entry clearance for settlement—and as husbands and fiancés — in the United Kingdom at the end of the first quarter of 1983 in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe numbers in the Indian subcontinent awaiting a decision on their application for entry clearance for immediate settlement are published by country in the quarterly Home Office statistical bulletin "Control of immigration: statistics" (table 6 of issue 7/83). The same publication gives for the Indian subcontinent as a whole the number of husbands and fiancés awaiting a decision on their application for entry clearance (table 7); of the 2,800 awaiting a decision at the end of March 1983, 100 were in Bangladesh, 1,600 in India, and 1,100 in Pakistan.