§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time taken to process applications for(a) registration and (b) naturalisation; and how long those applying in both of those categories in December 1987 can expect to wait.
§ Mr. RentonThe latest available information about processing times was contained in the reply that I gave to the hon. Member on 30 November at column247. It is not possible to give a reliable forecast of how long applications for naturalisation received in the month of December 1987 will take to complete, but all applications for registration received by the end of 1987 will have been completed by April 1990 and many of them will have been completed well before then.
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§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for settlement by wives and children in (i) Dhaka and (ii) Islamabad were(a) received, (b) granted, (c) refused, (d) deferred at first interview, (e) lapsed and (f) outstanding and awaiting first interview for each quarter since the beginning of 1987.
Wives and children applying for entry clearance for settlement in the United Kingdom1 Number of persons Applicants Post Newly received Granted2 Refused initially Referred or deferred3 Withdrawn or lapsed Awaiting first interview at end of period Dhaka 1988 2nd quarter 1,370 1,290 280 640 250 3,500 3rd quarter 1,290 1,110 350 580 360 3,500 Islamabad 1988 2nd quarter 1,150 920 50 690 100 2,300 3rd quarter 1,020 930 50 690 90 2,300 1 Including persons considered for a certificate of entitlement to, or confirmation of, the right of abode in the United Kingdom. 2 Granted initially or on appeal. 3 Referred to Home Office for decision or deferred for further inquiries.
§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for entry clearance as(a) wives, (b) husbands, (c) fiancés and (d) fiancées in each British post in (1) Kingston, Jamaica, (2) Manila, (3) Hong Kong, (4) Washington DC, (5) Ghana and (6) Nigeria were (i) granted and '(ii) refused in each quarter since January 1987; how many such applications in each category, at each post and in each quarter were refused (a) wholly and (b) partly because of the primary purpose rule; what was the refusal rate at each post; and what percentage of those refusals were (x) wholly and (y) partly on primary purpose grounds.
§ Mr. RentonThe only data available centrally relate to Hong Kong and information up to the first quarter of 1988 was published in theOfficial Report on 20 July 1987 at column 649 in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden). Corresponding information for the second and third quarters of 1988 is given in the table.
Applications in Hong Kong for entry clearance to the United Kingdom Number of persons Applications Granted1 Refused initially Wives 1988 2nd quarter 40 3— 3rd quarter 50 4— Husbands, fiancés2 1988 2nd quarter 20 3— 3rd quarter 20 4— Fiancées 1988
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Husbands, finances, wives and fiancees in the Indian sub-continent applying for entry clarance for settlement in the United Kingdom Number of persons Husbands Financés Wives Fiancés 1988 1988 1988 1988 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter New Delhi (including Calcutta) Applications received1 60 50 60 60 160 130 70 60 Applications granted2 40 30 30 20 110 150 60 40
§ Mr. RentonInformation up to the first quarter was published in theOfficial Report, columns 647-50, in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 20 July 1988. Corresponding information for the second and third quarters of 1988 is given in the table.
Applications Granted1 Refused initially 2nd quarter 10 4— 3rd quarter 3— 4— 1 Granted initially or on appeal. 2 Data for husbands and fiancés separately are not available. 3 Five or fewer. 4 Nil.
§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for entry clearance from(a) wives, (b) husbands, (c) fianćes and (d) fianćees made at British posts in (1) New Delhi, (2) Bombay, (3) Calcutta, (4) Madras, (5) Dhaka, (6) Islamabad, (7) Karachi and (8) Colombo for each quarter since January 1987 were (a) received, (b) granted and (c) refused; how many refusals at each post were (a) wholly and (b) partly because the visa officer was not satisfied that the primary purpose of the marriage was not immigration; how many refusals at each post were (a) wholly and (b) partly because the visa officer was not satisfied that the couple could support and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds; what was the refusal rate at each post; and what percentage of those refusals were (x) wholly and (y) partly on primary purpose grounds.
§ Mr. RentonThe information available up to the first quarter of 1988 was published in theOfficial Report, columns 886-88 in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 19 October 1988. Corresponding information for the second and third quarters of 1988 is in the table. Information on refusal rates which take account of successful appeals is not available quarterly.
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Husbands Financés Wives Fiancés 1988 1988 1988 1988 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter Applications refused initially 20 40 50 50 3 10 20 10 Bombay (including Madras) Applications received1 60 60 50 50 230 200 50 30 Applications granted2 70 50 40 50 270 300 30 50 Applications refused initially 30 30 50 40 3 10 10 10 Dhaka Applications received1 60 70 3 3 340 300 10 3 Applications granted2 20 20 3 3 290 260 3 10 Applications refused initially 20 20 3 3 50 80 3 3 Islamabad (including Karachi) Applications received1 380 320 180 140 720 680 60 60 Applications granted2 70 60 50 40 710 640 80 40 Applications refused initially 90 100 80 90 30 20 3 — 1 Including applications subsequently withdrawn or lapsed. 2 Granted initially or on appeal. 3 Five or fewer.
§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for(a) single entry and (b) multiple entry visit visas were (x) received, (y) granted and (z) refused at each post in the Indian subcontinent, Ghana and Nigeria in each quarter of 1987 and the first quarter of 1988; and what was the delay between application and interview for those whose applications were felt to need a second or long interview at each of the above posts in (i) January 1987, (ii) June 1987, (iii) January 1988 and (iv) the nearest available date.
§ Mr. RentonInformation up to the first quarter of 1988 was published in theOfficial Report, columns 42-44, in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 25 July 1988. Applicants for a visit visa who required a lengthy interview at the end of September 1988 had waited two days in Bombay, 12 days in Accra and one day in Lagos; in other posts the interview was carried out on the day the application was received.