§ Mr. SternTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the demand, at the latest available date, for visas to visit the United Kingdom from eastern Europe; and what was the demand on the same date a year earlier.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe information requested is as follows:
Visa applications received for eight months January to August Country 1990 1989 Bulgaria 5,020 3,887 Czechoslovakia1 17,996 11,458 Hungary1 17,606 15,109 Poland 48,553 47,387 Romania2 6,450 1,899 Soviet Union 31,020 18,013 1 Figures are for period January to July. Visas were abolished for these countries on 1 October 1990. 2 Figures for 1990 are an estimate. Final figures for August not available but variation will be less than 2 per cent.