§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding applications for(a) registration and (b) naturalisation are awaiting
Citizenship applications outstanding in caseworking groups Registration Naturalisation Total December 1987 n/a n/a 55,374 March 1988 45,723 28,674 74,397 June 1988 n/a n/a 79,143 September 1988 n/a n/a 95,971 December 1988 n/a n/a 119,276 March 1989 84,438 41,154 125,592 June 1989 86,452 52,318 138,770 September 1989 70,858 63,877 134,735 December 1989 55,239 64,930 120,169 March 1990 38,832 65,050 103,882 May 1990 33,755 64,273 98,028 n/a = not available
The average processing times for cases completed in May 1990 was 24 months for registrations and 29 months for naturalisations. We aim to reduce these waiting times as soon as practicable.