§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Attorney-General if he will give details of current times from application to hearing of an appeal against refusal of entry clearance for applicants appealing at different places in the Indian sub-continent.
§ The Attorney-GeneralStatistics about the time taken to complete individual appeals are not available. Neither are any statistics available on the time taken by the immigration appellate authorities to process appeals from different parts of the Indian sub-continent once they arrive at the appellate authorities' offices in London. It is, however, estimated that the current time taken from application to the hearing of appeals against refusal of entry clearance for appliants appealing at different places in the Indian sub-cpontinent is as follows:
(a) From receipt of the notice of appeal lodged at posts in the Indian sub-continent to preparation of the 343W entry clearance officer's explanatory statement and despatch of the papers to the appellate authorities in London:
months Dacca 2–5 Islamabad 3 Karachi 1–3 New Delhi 2–3 Madras 1 Bombay 3 Calcutta 1 (b) From receipt of the notice of appeal by the appellate authorities in London to despatch of the appeal papers to both parties' representatives in the United Kingdom: 4–8 weeks.
(c) From receipt of papers by both parties' representatives to the issue by each party of a certificate of readiness to proceed: this is in the hands of the parties, and times vary from a few weeks to several months. If no response is received within nine months the appeal is automatically listed for hearing.
(d) From certification of readiness to proceed to the hearing date: up to 6 weeks, but longer where the parties request adjournments.