§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Attorney-General what is the average period between a visitor visa application being refused in Dhaka and an appeal against refusal to grant a visitor visa being heard before an immigration appeals tribunal in the United Kingdom.
The Attorney-GeneralThe appeal process does not start until an appeal is lodged with the entry clearance officer at the post overseas. This is the responsibility of the appellant and it is not therefore possible to give the average sought. However, it currently takes between nine and 15 months to process an average case from the date notice of appeal is lodged to the issuing of the immigration adjudicators' determination. This depends largely on the time taken for the parties to prepare for the hearing, over which the immigration appellate authorities have no control. If leave is granted, an appeal against an adjudicator's determination to the immigration appeal tribunal takes on average between four and six months, again depending on the length of time taken for the parties to get ready for the hearing.