HC Deb 27 March 1974 vol 871 cc120-2W
Mr. Cyril Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many interviews were granted concerning applications for entry certificates and visas at Islamabad and at Dacca during 1973.

Mr. Ennals

Numbers of interviews granted are given below. The figures in brackets relate to interviews given to applicants seeking to join heads of household settled in the United Kingdom as their dependants.

Islamabad 11,657 (9,176)
Dacca 9,544 (4,168)

Mr. Cyril Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the applications dealt with in interviews in 1973 were found to involve bogus dependants or false documentation at Islamabad and Dacca.

Mr. Ennals

At Islamabad 4,238 entry clearances were granted and 643 refused to applicants claiming to be entitled dependants seeking to join heads of household settled in the United Kingdom. The comparable figures for Dacca were 1,573 and 474 respectively.

The entry clearances were refused in each case because the entry clearance officer was not satisfied of the bona fides of the applicant—i.e., as to his or her identity and entitlement to join the sponsor in the United Kingdom.

As regards applications from visitors, business visitors, students and others, 343 were refused at Islamabad and 241 at Dacca in 1973. Time has not permitted the scrutiny of records of these applications to discover how many of them were refused because fake documents were submitted in support of them.

Mr. Cyril Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many appeal notices were issued in 1973 at Islamabad and Dacca.

Mr. Ennals

Every person whose application for an entry clearance is refused is notified of the reasons for the decision by the entry clearance officer and is handed a form which, if completed by the applicant, constitutes a notice of appeal. Figures are given below for the number of applications refused and of appeal notices completed by unsuccessful applicants. The figures quoted in brackets relate to applicants seeking to join as dependants heads of household settled in the United Kingdom.

Applications refused Appeal Notices completed
Islamabad 986 (643) 403 (no breakdown available)
Dacca 715 (474) 155 (90)

Mr. Cyril Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for entry certificates or visas were received at Islamabad and at Dacca during 1973; and how many of these were successful.

Mr. Ennals

8,069 applications were received at Islamabad during 1973 of which 6,207 relate to applicants seeking to join as dependants heads of household settled in the United Kingdom. Applications at Dacca from persons other than those seeking to join heads of household settled in the United Kingdom as dependants totalled 5,376. Figures for applications from dependants are not available because, until November 1973 as a matter of practical convenience, such applications were received by Bangladesh Airlines and BOAC which allotted interview appointments on behalf of the British High Commission, and the volume of dependants' applications exceeded the rate at which they could be processed. Applications from dependants are now received and interview appointments allocated by the British High Commission direct.

It is not possible to say how many of the applications received in 1973 were successful because, due to the waiting period for interviews and other factors, many of the applicants would not have been interviewed by the end of the year. However, the numbers of entry clearances issued in 1973 were as follows:

Islamabad 5,674 (4,238)
Dacca 5,981 (1,573)