HC Deb 08 February 2000 vol 344 cc138-9W
Audrey Wise

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what data he collates relating to visitor visa applications in the Indian subcontinent in addition to information on numbers allowed and refused. [108689]

Mr. Vaz

Full details of all information collected centrally on non-settlement visa applications can be found in the Global Entry Clearance Statistics, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library for the years 1994–98. Statistics for 1999 are currently being compiled and will be placed in the Library in due course. Statistics collected in respect of applications in the Indian subcontinent do not differ from those collected elsewhere.

Audrey Wise

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for visitor visas have been (a) allowed and (b) refused, in each of the last two years, in (i) Islamabad, (ii) Karachi, (iii) New Delhi, (iv) Bombay and (v) Nigeria. [108688]

Mr. Vaz

The following are the figures for non-settlement visa applications in the countries requested.

19991 1998
Issued Refused Issued Refused
Islamabad 26,249 8,675 26,737 5,615
Karachi 21,763 3,682 22,270 3,116
New Delhi 53,890 10,547 50,538 7,742
Bombay 63,023 5,431 55,957 4,528
Lagos 37,454 8,138 29,480 8,351
Abuja 13,133 1,883 9,562 1,421
1 Provisional

The Global Entry Clearance Statistics for 1999 will be placed in the House of Commons Library in due course. The figures for 1994–98 are already available in the Library.

Audrey Wise

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will instruct immigration posts in Pakistan to allow applicants for visas to be accompanied at their interviews by a relative or friend. [108690]

Mr. Vaz

We recognise that it may be helpful in some cases for visa applicants to be accompanied at interview by a friend or relative. For this reason entry clearance posts have discretion to allow this. But in other cases the presence of a second person at an interview may make it more difficult for entry clearance officers to judge the applicant's intentions, which they are required to do under the Immigration Rules. I therefore believe that the current policy of allowing posts discretion to decide should be retained.