§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ensure that where a woman has applied to be registered or naturalised as a British citizen, and her husband has applied for leave to enter the United Kingdom as her spouse, the case papers nevertheless remain in the Nationality Division, and that priority treatment is accorded to those cases.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Elton)No. Case papers will continue to be sent wherever they are needed in the light of the circumstances of the individual case. Giving priority treatment to particular categories of application could only be achieved at the expense of the general body of applicants. We think it both more efficient and fairer to give priority instead to reducing processing delays generally while taking individual applications out of turn where there are exceptional and compelling circumstances.