HL Deb 15 January 1980 vol 404 cc85-7WA
Lord AVEBURY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will state the waiting period for which those interviewed at the end of June, September and December 1979 had waited in the priority, main settlement, husbands and fiances

fourth quarters of 1979, in a form similar to that of the reply to a similar Question on 19th July 1979.

Lord BELSTEAD

The numbers of persons detained at the Queen's Building (Heathrow Airport), and at Harmondsworth, together with the numbers of persons granted temporary admission at Heathrow during the period from 1st July to December 1979 are as follows:

queues respectively, at Dacca, New Delhi, Bombay, Islamabad and Karachi respectively, and what were the interview delays then being notified in each category at each post.

Lord BELSTEAD

The latest information available relates to the third quarter of 1979. The months waited by those interviewed in the Indian sub-continent who had applied for entry clearance for immediate settlement was published on 17th December in Table VI of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin,Control of Immigration Statistics—Third Quarter 1979 Issue 12/89, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The information available on the months waited by people interviewed from the other queues is given in the following Table 1. The estimated length of time that a person applying for entry clearance at the end of the third quarter 1979 may have to wait is given in the following Table 2 by category at each post. These estimated waiting times were little changed from those for applicants at the end of the second quarter 1979.

Table 1 Months waited by a person interviewed at the end of the quarter
1979 Priority queue Husbands Fiances
Bangladesh (Dacca) 2nd quarter 5 18
3rd quarter 3 24
New Delhi 2nd quarter 13 13
3rd quarter 15 15
Bombay 2nd quarter 12½ 12½
3rd quarter 3 12 12
Pakistan (Islamabad and Karachi) 2nd quarter 2 20 24
3rd quarter 2 21 24
— Not available.

Table 2 Estimated time a person who applied for a first interview at the end of the third quarter 1979 may have to wait
Main queue Priority queue Husbands Finances
Bangladesh (Dacca) 2 years 1 quarter 2 years 2 years
India (New Delhi and Bombay) 3 quarters 1 quarter 1¾ years 1¼ years
Pakistan (Islamabad and Karachi) 1 ¾ years 1 quarter 1 ¾ years 2 years