§ Keith VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long it has taken to deal with citizenship applications in the last 12 months for which figures are available; how many citizenship certificates were issued in each year since 1993; and what the total income from citizenship applications has been since 1993. [133463]
§ Beverley HughesThere are no data published on actual decision times to determine applications for British citizenship. Information on expected waiting times for citizenship applications are available on the IND website; www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk and is periodically updated. As at September 2003 the expected average processing times were:
Naturalisation 7.7 months Adult registrations 1.7 months Minor registrations 7.9 months Other registrations 1.3 months Delays arise in part because applications are not always accompanied by complete documentation. Thus, the time taken for a particular individual application may be significantly less than the average if all relevant documentation has been sent with the application form. Statistics on the applications for British citizenship granted since 1993 are shown in the table below:
Year Applications granted 1993 45,795 1994 44,035 1995 40,515 1996 43,070 1997 37,010 1998 53,935 1999 54,900 2000 82,210 2001 90,295 2002 120,145 Information on total income from citizenship applications before 1996 is unavailable. Information for 2000–01 is also unavailable. Total income from citizenship applications from 1996–2000 and after 2001 are shown in the table.
£000s Year Nationality applications
ROA applications 1996–97 800,000 Not shown separately 1997–98 869,000 Not shown separately 1998–99 6,491,068 56,656 1999–2000 7,146,783 63,248 2000–01 2001–02 10,691,823 115,281 2002–03 18,155,419 62,731 1.4.03–30.9.03 6,478,410 48,917