§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he takes to satisfy himself that the administrative arrangements in respect of those cases where a man's right to remain in the United Kingdom is dependent upon a successful application for citizenship by his wife do not result in delays in processing the woman's application, where both parties have the same reference number and file, which may be in use or required by different divisions of his Department simultaneously.
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§ Mr. WaddingtonI am satisfied that the arrangements for directing applicants' files to the point at which they are most urgently needed avoid unnecessary delay to those concerned.
§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the administration procedures for processing citizenship applications.
§ Mr. WaddingtonImprovements in the last year have already reduced delays. Average waiting times for all naturalisation cases fell from 21 months, in March 1984, to 12 months by the end of December. Over the same period average waiting times for entitlement registrations fell from 14 months to 10 months. We are satisfied that procedures are kept under continuing review and modified as necessary.