§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of applications for naturalisation were refused in 1986 and on what grounds.
§ Mr. RentonSome 8.4 per cent. of naturalisation applications completed in 1986 were refused on the grounds that the Secretary of State was not satisfied that the applicant had met the statutory requirements and should be naturalised.
§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for British citizenship under section 4(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 have been (a) made, (b) granted and (c) refused; and how many of those granted have been on the grounds of service in the armed forces.
§ Mr. RentonThe position on 22 July was as follows: 529 applications under section 4(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 have been received; 39 have been granted, of which 33 were from applicants who had served in the armed forces under the Government of Hong Kong in the second world war; and 481 have been refused.
§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his best estimate as to how many applications for (a) adult registration with entitlement, (b) naturalisation and (c) registration of minors his Department expects to (i) receive and (ii) grant in 1987–88.
§ Mr. RentonOur budget estimate is that in 1987–88 we will receive 64,000 applications for registration from both adults and minors and 26,000 naturalisation applications; we estimate that we should issue some 40,000 certificates of registration and 20,500 certificates of naturalisation.
§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for (a) adult registration with entitlement, (b) naturalisation and (c) registration of minors were (i) made and (ii) granted in each month from April 1985 to the nearest available date; and how many of the applications made (i) made and (ii) granted in (a) above were on the basis of (1) marriage to a British man and (2) on the basis of residence since before 1973.
§ Mr. RentonThe following is the information available for applications for British citizenship made under the British Nationality Act 1981 received in case-working groups in the nationality division and granted for each month from April 1985 to June 1987.
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British Nationality Act 1981: Applications Received Date Adult Registrations Minor Registrations Naturalisations 1985 April 2,075 985 1,683 May 1,793 1,008 1,588 June 1,656 805 1,302 July 2,128 995 1,674 August 1,967 902 1,644 September 1,846 821 1,414 October 2,326 983 1,788 November 2,401 1,047 1,897 December 1,744 809 1,684 1986 January 1,945 1,008 1,574 February 1,895 795 1,356
Date Adult Registrations Minor Registrations Naturalisations March 1,692 795 1,272 April 1,766 722 1,315 May 3,988 1,677 3,263 June 2,156 1,094 1,854 July 2,600 1,217 2,169 August 1,819 799 1,299 September 1,595 728 1,066 October 2,470 1,174 1,622 November 2,147 852 1,407
British Nationality Act 1981: Applications Granted Date Registrations—residence since before 1 January 1973 Registrations—marriage Registrations—other adult entitlements Registrations—Minors Naturalisations 1985 April 572 586 153 682 1,014 May 557 398 117 575 855 June 744 501 165 529 1,000 July 1,224 649 300 998 1,188 August 1,052 558 261 757 977 September 1,080 643 224 756 1,037 October 1,526 950 352 1,082 1,246 November 1,653 1,210 373 1,276 1,709 December 655 489 161 639 788 1986 January 998 564 181 760 1,123 February 1,133 680 223 920 1,545 March 1,320 968 249 1,123 1,839 April 1,705 971 320 1,378 2,036 May 1,172 736 150 867 751 June 1,059 635 163 820 844 July 1,220 693 195 787 880 August 715 455 110 560 723 September 619 386 83 587 739 October 489 298 51 304 559 November 893 411 102 576 1,091 December 1,026 413 133 606 995 1987 January 1,603 610 167 866 1,550 February 2,509 763 230 1,243 1,891 March 2,510 921 267 1,364 1,910 April 1,250 555 136 532 974 May 1,645 628 163 666 1,149 June 2,213 715 210 845 1,341 Notes:
(1) The figures for 1986 and 1987 are provisional.
(2) The figures for applications received for adult registration include both entitlement and non-entitlement applications.
(3) The figures for the registration of other adults relate to registration entitlements only in 1986 and 1987; those for 1985 include also some discretionary resumptions of citizenship following renunciation.
§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is his Department's best estimate of the time an applicant will have to wait if applying now for (a) registration and (b) naturalisation;
(2) what is the average length of time taken to process applications for (a) registration and (b) naturalisation.
§ Mr. RentonThe average time taken to complete applications granted in June 1987 was six months for registration and 17 months for naturalisation. It is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the average time likely to he taken to complete applications now being received.
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Date Adult Registrations Minor Registrations Naturalisations December 2,202 737 1,413 1987 January 2,368 662 1,557 February 3,306 777 420 March 3,677 759 587 April 2,649 473 430 May 1,394 500 2,401 June 2,003 610 2,256