§ Miss Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the average period elapsing between application for and grant of entry certificates in respect of citizens of each of the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Yemen, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
§ Mr. TomlinsonVisas are not required by citizens or Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Portugal, Spain or, with effect from 10th April, citizens of the United Arab Emirates. The time taken to issue entry certificates to citizens of Bangladesh and India, for whom they are optional except for those seeking settlement, and visas to the other nationalities listed varies according to the circumstances of each application. The main problem arises in respect of settlement applications in the Indian Sub-continent where the waiting times for the main settlement queues in 33W Delhi, Bombay, Dacca, Islamabad and Karachi are five, 14½, 21, 17¼ and 18 months respectively.