§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) British passports and (b) visitor's permits have been issued to (i) male and (ii) female Albanians in each of the last two years; what estimate he has made of the number of Albanians who are in this country illegally; and if he will make a statement. [92217]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe available information is on grants of British citizenship and the issue of non-settlement entry clearance at the British Embassies in Tirana, or in Rome and Istanbul which were the designated entry clearance issuing posts for applicants resident in Albania before the British Embassy in Tirana provided full entry clearance-issuing facilities in 1999. The data are given in the table. No information is readily available on the gender of the applicants.
There is no estimate of the total number of Albanian nationals currently living in the United Kingdom who have no lawful right to be here.
Year of grant 1997 1998 Albanian nationals granted British citizenship 3 9 Albanian nationals granted non-settlement entry clearance issued at the British Embassies in Tirana1, Rome and Istanbul 639 1,240 1 All issues, not necessarily to Albanian nationals