§ Mr. HollandTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish details of the number of applications for student visas received at the British post in Colombo for the last five years for(a) Tamil and (b) Singhalese applicants and the numbers of visa applications refused and granted for the same categories.
§ Mr. RentonThe information available centrally is given in the following table.276W
Applications in Colombo for a student visa1 Number of persons Applications Newly received2 Granted3 Refused initially4 1985 30 May to December n/a 500 2404 1986 n/a 630 2004 1987 January-June n/a 180 70 July-December 440 320 120 1988 January-September 700 440 180 n/a = not available. 1 The visa requirement for Sri Lankan citizens was introduced on 30 May 1985. 2 Including applications subsequently Withdrawn. 3 Granted initially or on appeal. 4 210 applications were refused in the Period September 1985 to July 1986, of which 150 were from Tamils. Similar information is not available for other periods.