§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has decided on changes to the immigration rules to comply with the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.
§ Mr. BrittanYes. In order to comply with the judgment it will be necessary to change the immigration rules so that the provisions for the admission of husbands and wives for settlement are brought into line with each other. The Government therefore propose to allow husbands to join women who, though not British citizens, have permanent residence here, and to apply to wives seeking admission for settlement (other than wives to whom the provisions of section 1(5) of the Immigration Act 1971 apply) the requirements, including the requirement to satisfy the entry clearance officer that the marriage was not entered into primarily for immigration purposes, which at present apply only to husbands. The opportunity will be taken to clarify and strengthen the provisions of the existing rules relating to maintenance and accommodation and the entry clearance officer will need to be satisfied that adequate accommodation will be
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Table 1 Husbands and fiances in the Indian subcontinent applying for entry clearance for leave to enter the United Kingdom under the 1983 immigration rules Number of persons‡ Husbands Fiances 1984 1984 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year Bombay Applications decided 90 70 100 60 300 130 90 110 70 400 of which, applications granted* 60 40 70 50 220 80 50 70 50 250 applications refused† 20 30 20 10 90 60 30 40 20 150 New Delhi (including Calcutta) Applications decided 50 40 40 40 160 140 120 100 80 440 of which, applications granted* 20 20 20 20 70 30 20 30 30 100 applications refused† 30 20 20 20 90 110 110 70 50 340 India Applications decided 130 110 130 100 460 270 210 210 140 830 of which, applications granted* 80 60 80 70 280 100 70 100 80 350 applications refused† 50 50 40 30 180 170 140 110 70 480 Pakistan Applications decided 70 80 70 70 290 200 210 200 200 820 of which, applications granted* 50 60 50 50 210 120 130 110 100 460 applications refused† 10 20 20 20 80 80 80 90 100 360 Bangladesh Applications decided 10 30 40 + + + of which, applications granted* 10 20 20 + - + applications refused† 10 20 20 + + + available for the partners to a marriage, and for any children, and that they will be able to maintain themselves without recourse to public funds.
Similar changes, including the introduction of an entry certificate requirement for fiancees, will be made to bring the provisions for the admission of fiances and fiancees into line with each other.
I am satisfied that these changes, taken together, will enable us to comply with the judgment in a way that preserves the firm and fair immigration control to which the Government remain fully committed. I intend to lay before Parliament on 15 July a statement of the necessary changes to the immigration rules to give effect to these decisions.
§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications from (a) husbands and (b) fiances have been (i) decided, (ii) granted and (iii) refused in the Indian subcontinent in each quarter of 1984; how many such applications in each category and for each quarter were refused; (1) wholly and (2) partly because of the primary purpose rules; what was the refusal rate in each instance and what percentage of these refusals was (x) wholly and (y) partly on primary purpose grounds; and if he will publish this information for each post.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 25 June 1985, c. 344–45]: The information requested is given in the tables. Where the numbers are small, the figures far individual posts and individual quarters have been combined. Information for the whole of the Indian subcontinent on husbands and fiances granted or refused entry clearance is given in table 9 of the quarterly Home Office statistical bulletin "Control of Immigration: Statistics—First Quarter 1985" (Issue 16/85).
429W* Including applications granted on appeal.
† Some of these are subsequently granted on appeal.
‡ Rounded to the nearest 10; '-' indicates nil and '+' five or fewer; components may not add to the total because they have been rounded independently.
Table 2. Husbands and fiances in the Indian sub-continent refused entry clearance for leave to enter the United Kingdom under the 1983 immigration rules* Number ‡ of persons or percentage≑ Bombay New Delhi (including Calcutta) Husbands Fiances Husbands Fiances 1984 1984 1984 1984 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year Number refused because primary purpose of the marriage was to obtain admission to United Kingdom Solely for this reason 30 20 60 60 40 110 40 40 80 170 100 270 Partly for this reason + + + 10 + 20 + + + 30 10 40 Primary purpose refusals as a percentage of all decisions Solely on primary purpose grounds 23 16 19 28 25 27 51 48 49 66 58 62 Partly on primary purpose grounds 2 1 1 5 2 4 4 3 3 11 8 10 Primary purpose refusals as a percentage of all refusals Solely on primary purpose grounds 67 68 67 68 77 72 86 92 89 80 86 82 Partly on primary purpose grounds 6 3 5 12 7 10 6 5 6 14 12 13
India Pakistan Husbands Fiances Husbands Fiances 1984 1984 1984 1984 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year Number refused because primary purpose of the marriage was to obtain admission to United Kingdom Solely for this reason 80 60 140 230 150 380 30 40 70 120 160 280 Partly for this reason 10 + 10 40 20 60 + — + 10 10 20 Primary purpose refusals as a percentage of all decisions Solely on primary purpose grounds 33 26 30 49 41 46 21 26 24 30 39 35 Partly on primary purpose grounds 3 1 2 9 5 7 1 — + 2 3 3 Primary purpose refusals as a percentage of all refusals Solely on primary purpose grounds 76 80 78 76 83 79 86 92 90 76 83 79 Partly on primary purpose grounds 6 4 5 13 10 12 3 — 1 6 7 6 430W431W
Bangladesh Total Indian sub-continent Husbands Fiances Husbands Fiances 1984 1984 1984 1984 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year Number refused because primary purpose of the marriage was to obtain admission to United Kingdom Solely for this reason 10 10 20 + + + 120 110 220 360 310 660 Partly for this reason — — — — — — 10 + 10 50 30 80
Bangladesh Total Indian sub-continent Husbands Fiances Husbands Fiances 1984 1984 1984 1984 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year 1st half 2nd half Year Primary purpose refusals as a percentage of all decisions Solely on primary purpose grounds 50† 39 42 ≑ ≑ ≑ 29 27 28 40 40 40 Partly on primary purpose grounds — — — — — — 2 1 1 6 4 5 Primary purpose refusals as a percentage of all refusals Solely on primary purpose grounds 100† 80 86 ≑ ≑ ≑ 80 85 82 76 83 79 Partly on primary purpose grounds — — — — — — 5 2 4 11 8 10 * Some applications refused are subsequently granted on appeal † Refusal rate based on fewer than 15 applications ‡ Rounded to the nearest 10; — indicates nil and + five or fewer ≑ not given because refusal rate for five or fewer applications or less than ½ per cent.