§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the case of Mr. Vaja of Leicester, Ref. R/97/3541, who has been refused a visa in Bombay. [16756]
§ Mr. FatchettWe have asked our High commissioner in Bombay for a detailed account of the application and my noble Friend the Under-Secretary will write to my hon. Friend within one week of receiving that account.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the case of Mrs. Chauhan of 5 Rushey Close, Leicester, whose husband has been refused a visa in Bombay (Foreign Office ref. GV100/36904). [16846]
478W
§ Mr. FatchettI understand that the Migration and Visa Correspondence Unit wrote to my hon. Friend on 18 November about this case. I hope the reply has addressed my hon. Friend's concerns.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the average waiting time for an interview in respect of an application to join(a) a husband and (b) a wife in (i) Pakistan, (ii) Sri Lanka, (iii) India and (iv) Bangladesh in the last year for which figures are available. [16972]
§ Mr. FatchettThe average waiting times for interviews in respect of applications to join husband/wives in the last year for which figures are available (1996) are as follows (unless otherwise specified figures are the same for husbands and wives and refer to first time application):
Waiting time Islamabad 3.5 months, to join husband 4.5 months to join wife Karachi 16 weeks Colombo 10–12 weeks, depending on the conditions attached to the spouse's stay in the UK New Delhi 2.75 months Bombay 11 weeks Madras 6 weeks Calcutta 2 weeks Dhaka 6.7 months
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many(a) men and (b) women were waiting for an interview at British High Commission offices in (i) Pakistan, (ii) Sir Lanka, (iii) India and (iv) Bangladesh to join husbands or wives resident in the United Kingdom on 1 November. [16919]
§ Mr. FatchettOn 1 November, the numbers of men and women waiting for an interview to join husbands or wives in the UK were as follows:
Post Men Women Islamabad 610 665 Karachi 33 57 Colombo 1 121 New Delhi 33 73 Bombay 86 209 Madras 11 19 Calcutta 1 0 Dhaka 432 151