§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the length of time(a) taken or (b) expected to be taken for applications to be processed for British citizenship in regard to the deadline of 31 December 1987 for certain Commonwealth citizens; and, of those applications made, how many have yet to be given their initial consideration by his Department.
§ Mr. RentonAbout 134,000 applications which were subject to the 31 December 1987 deadline have been acknowledged and had their passports returned but have not yet been given initial consideration. The majority of these applications will be considered in the Liverpool nationality office, which will open in September. A substantial proportion of these applications will be decided by April 1989 and the remainder during the following year.