HC Deb 14 June 1993 vol 226 cc438-44W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications from(a) husbands, (b) fiancés, (c) wives and (d) fiancées have been (i) decided, (ii) granted and (iii) refused in (A) Bombay, (B) New Delhi, (C) Madras, (D) Calcutta, (E) Islamabad, (F) Karachi, (G) Dhaka, (H) Colombo, (J) Manila and (K) Bangkok in each quarter since March 1992; how many such applications in each category and for each quarter were refused (1) wholly and (2) partly because the officer was not satisfied (I) that the primary purpose of the marriage was not immigration or (II) that the couple could support and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds; what was the refusal rate in each instance; and what percentage of these refusals was (v) wholly and (w) partly on primary purpose grounds, and (x) wholly and (y) partly on support and accommodation grounds.

Mr. Charles Wardle

Information for the Indian sub-continent for each quarter of 1992 and for the first quarter of 1993 is given in the tables. Where the numbers are small, figures for the individual posts have been combined. Information on refusals which takes account of

Table 1
Decisions on applications from Spouses and Fiance(e)s applying in the Indian Sub-continent for entry clearance for settlement in the United Kingdom
Number of persons or percentage Husbands
1992 1993
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1st quarter
New Delhi (including Calcutta)
Applications decided 70 60 120 100 360 90
Applications granted1 50 40 90 70 250 60
Application refused initially 30 30 40 30 130 30
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 28 n/a
Bombay (including Madras)
Applications decided 110 80 150 70 420 90
Applications granted2 50 50 150 60 320 70
Application refused initially 70 40 40 30 170 30
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 21 n/a
Dhaka
Applications decided 110 160 340 250 880 n/a
Applications granted 70 110 290 250 730 n/a
Application refused initially 50 70 90 60 270 n/a
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 15 n/a
Islamabad (including Karachi)
Applications decided 730 620 1,080 1,030 3,480 1,090
Applications granted2 340 470 840 730 2,370 660
Application refused initially 520 290 340 400 1,550 550
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 28 n/a

Number of persons or percentage Fiances
1992 1993
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1st quarter
New Delhi (including Calcutta)
Applications decided 60 20 30 40 160 50
Applications granted2 30 10 10 10 70 20
Application refused initially 30 10 20 30 100 30
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 54 n/a
Bombay (including Madras)
Applications decided 50 40 30 60 180 40
Applications granted2> 10 20 20 30 70 20
Application refused initially 50 30 20 40 140 30
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 61 n/a
Dhaka
Applications decided (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) n/a
Applications granted2 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) n/a
Application refused initially (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) n/a
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a (3) n/a
Islamabad (including Karachi)
Applications decided 40 60 40 40 190 40
Applications granted2 30 30 30 20 110 30
Application refused initially 30 50 30 30 140 30
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 42 n/a

Number of persons or percentage Wives
1992 1993
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1st quarter
New Delhi (including Calcutta)
Applications decided 200 170 240 230 830 00
Applications granted2 180 160 190 190 700 160
Application refused initially 30 30 50 50 150 40
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 15 n/a

successful appeals is not compiled for periods shorter than 12 months. Corresponding information for Colombo, Manila and Bangkok is not available centrally.

Number of persons or percentage Wives
1992 1993
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1st quarter
Bombay (including Madras)
Applications decided 370 290 320 290 1,270 210
Applications granted2 330 270 300 260 1,160 200
Application refused initially 50 30 30 40 140 20
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 8 n/a
Dhaka
Applications decided 260 180 220 350 1,000 n/a
Applications granted2 220 160 200 290 870 n/a
Application refused initially 40 30 30 60 150 n/a
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 12 n/a
Islamabad (including Karachi)
Applications decided 950 680 680 730 3,040 920
Applications granted2 830 620 590 630 2,670 780
Application refused initially 140 80 100 120 440 160
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 12 n/a

Fiancees
Number of persons or percentage
1992 1993
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1st quarter
New Delhi (including Calcutta)
Applications decided 50 40 50 50 170 50
Applications granted2 30 20 30 30 110 30
Application refused initially 20 20 20 20 70 20
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 35 n/a
Bombay (including Madras)
Applications decided 40 40 30 60 180 30
Applications granted2 30 20 20 50 130 30
Application refused initially 10 20 10 10 50 1—
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 25 n/a
Dhaka
Applications decided 1— 1— 1— 1— 20 n/a
Applications granted2 1— 1— 1— 1— 10 n/a
Application refused initially 1— 1— 1— 1— 10 n/a
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 46 n/a
Islamabad (including Karachi)
Applications decided 60 40 50 50 190 40
Applications granted2 40 30 40 40 150 30
Application refused initially 20 10 10 10 40 10
Refusal rate (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 20 n/a
1 Five or fewer.
2 Granted initially or on appeal.
3 Percentage not calculated for five or fewer applicants refused.
n/a = Not available.

Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 10 except percentages.

Table 2
Spouses and fiance(e)s in the Indian sub-continent refused2 entry clearance for settlement in the United Kingdom in 1992 on grounds of primary purpose or accommodation and maintenance
Number refused because primary purpose of the marriage was to obtain admission to the United Kingdom Number refused because couple could not accommodate and/or maintain themselves without recourse to public funds
Soley for this reason Partly for this reason Soley for this reason Partly for this reason
(a) Number of persons refused2 for year 1992
New Delhi (including Calcutta)
Husbands 70 10 1— 10
Fiances 70 10 1— 10
Wives 70 20 10 20
Fiancees 40 10 1— 1—

Number refused because primary purpose of the marriage was to obtain admission to the United Kingdom Number refused because couple could not accommodate and/or maintain themselves without recourse to public funds
Soley for this reason Partly for this reason Soley for this reason Partly for this reason
Bombay (including Madras)
Husbands 80 10 1— 10
Fiances 90 10 1— 10
Wives 50 20 10 20
Fiancees 20 10 1— 10
Dhaka
Husbands 50 40 30 30
Fiances 1— 1— 1— 1—
Wives 10 10 40 20
Fiancees 1— 1— 1— 1—
Islamabad (including Karachi)
Husbands 560 430 110 380
Fiances 60 10 10 10
Wives 40 40 200 40
Fiancees 1— 10 10 10
(b) Number of persons refused2 as a percentage of total refusals2 for year 1992
New Delhi (including Calcutta)
Husbands 69 12 3— 12
Fiances 82 11 3— 10
Wives 59 16 9 16
Fiancees 66 21 3— 3—
Bombay (including Madras)
Husbands 82 11 3— 10
Fiances 80 8 3— 7
Wives 50 14 11 14
Fiancees 46 18 3— 16
Dhaka
Husbands 35 29 20 20
Fiances 3— 3— 3— 3—
Wives 9 7 31 20
Fiancees 3— 3— 3— 3—
Islamabad (including Karachi)
Husbands 51 39 10 35
Fiances 65 13 7 12
Wives 10 10 54 11
Fiancees 3— 30 30 38
Notes: All figures are rounded to the nearest 10 except percentages.
1 Five or fewer.
2 Applications refused initially, minus applications granted on appeal.
3Percentage not calculated for five or fewer applications refused.

Mr. Fraser

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken or plans to take to adopt into domestic legislation the resolution concerning host third countries adopted in London on 30 November by the Ministers responsible for immigration.

Mr. Charles Wardle

The draft immigration rules on asylum that have been made available to accompany the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Bill are consistent with the principles of this resolution. A final version of the rules will be laid before Parliament following enactment of the Bill.

Mr. Fraser

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a draft convention parallel to the Dublin convention will be placed before the meeting of the Ministers responsible for immigration of the EC states at their meeting on 1 and 2 June in Copenhagen; and to which countries the draft convention will be opened.

Mr. Charles Wardle

Ministers have agreed that substantive negotiations with third countries on a draft convention parallel to the Dublin convention cannot take place until all 12 member states have ratified the Dublin convention. However, preliminary discussions have been conducted with Austria, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Canada and these are being extended to other interested European states.