§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many explanatory statements, related to entry clearance appeals, were28W awaiting typing at each post in the Indian sub-continent, in Manila, Kingston, Bangkok, Lagos and Accra at the latest available date; how many staff are employed, both full time and part time, to type statements; and when he expects the backlogs to be cleared.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI am seeking the information requested.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how long a person, applying for entry clearance for settlement at the British post in(a) Manila, (b) Accra, (c) Lagos, (d) Kingston, (e) Nicosia, (f) Cairo, (g) Bangkok, (h) Rabat and (i) each post in each country of the Indian sub-continent on 31 March or the latest convenient date, could expect to wait for (i) interview, (ii) referral of the case to the Home Office and the requested information being received by the post, (iii) decisions and (iv) an explanatory statement prepared by the post in the event of an appeal against a refusal to be despatched to the immigration appellate authorities in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI am seeking the information requested.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for (1) single entry and (2) multiple entry visit visas were(a) received, (b) granted and (c) refused at each post in the Indian subcontinent, Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines and Jamaica in each quarter of 1993 and the first quarter of 1994; and what was the delay between application and interview for those whose applications were felt to need a second or long interview at each of the above posts in (i) June 1993, (ii) January 1994 and (iii) June 1994 or the nearest available date.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe total number of single and multiple visa applications received, granted and refused in 1993 is as follows:
29W
Applications 1993 Applied for Issued Refused Accra Single 10,466 6,364 3,883 Multiple 4,710 4,354 46 Bombay Single 16,354 13,366 2,774 Multiple 17,268 16,752 390 Islamabad Single 25,937 18,730 6,561 Multiple 8,313 6,568 81 Karachi Single 15,673 12,601 1,955 Multiple 8,150 7,697 174 Kaduna Single 4,307 2,649 1,139 Multiple 1,936 1,808 35 Manila Single 9,980 8,928 812 Multiple 2,508 2,329 87 Kingston Single 2,272 1,594 688 Multiple 148 147 1
Applied for Issued Refused Lagos Single 28,351 15,721 8,927 Multiple 14,266 12,697 481 Madras Single 4,754 4,568 182 Multiple 4,344 4,312 19 New Delhi Single 22,576 18,097 3,090 Multiple 12,558 12,053 102 Dhaka Single 10,406 7,125 3,187 Multiple 3,887 3,887 — Calcutta Single 3,259 3,048 186 Multiple 3,264 3,155 38 I am seeking the other information requested.
§ Mr. MillerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visa applications from residents of the republics of the former Soviet Union have been granted since April 1992.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydEntry clearances granted by British diplomatic and consular posts in the former Soviet Union were:
- 1992-49,732
- 1993-69,758
Precise information on how many of these were granted to residents of the FSU is not available, but no doubt the great majority would have been.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for entry clearance as(a) wives, (b) husbands, (c) fiancés, (d) fiancées in each British post in all countries for which figures are available apart from those of the Indian subcontinent were (i) granted and (ii) refused in each quarter since January 1993; how many such applications in each category, at each post and in each quarter were refused (1) wholly and (2) partly because of the primary purpose rule; what was the refusal rate at each post; and what percentage of those refusals were (x) wholly and (y) partly on primary purpose grounds.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe information could be provided in the form requested only at disproportionate cost. However, in 1993 a total of 15,228 entry clearances for settlement were issued and 2,759 refused by posts other than those in the Indian sub-continent.