HC Deb 29 June 1993 vol 227 cc428-9W
Mr. Churchill

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dependants have been admitted for settlement in each of the past 25 years from(a) Africa, (b) the Indian sub-continent, (c) the rest of Asia, (d) the Caribbean and (f) the rest of the world.

Mr. Charles Wardle

Information on the total numbers of spouses and dependants for settlement in the United Kingdom in the years of 1974 to 1992 is given in table 14 of Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 1984", table 9 of "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 1991" and table 3 of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 14/93 "Control of Immigration Statistics-Third and Fourth Quarters and Year 1992". Copies of these publications are in the Library.

A breakdown by the nationality regions requested of acceptances of spouses and children in the years 1981 to

Acceptance for settlement of spouses and children by geographical region, 1982–1992
United Kingdom Number of persons
Geographical region 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 11992
Africa 2,570 3,000 3,100 3,400 2,950 3,760 4,290 4,420 6,450 7,500 6,540
Indian sub-continent 17,230 14,380 12,900 15,310 12,360 9,580 9,930 9,530 10,360 11,190 11,820
Remainder of Asia 4,670 5,330 5,180 5,340 5,150 5,470 5,510 5,290 6,560 7,050 6,530
Caribbean countries2 400 490 490 600 650 710 830 640 1,120 1,640 1,400
Rest of the world 9,940 11,240 11,630 11,750 10,080 10,710 10,530 8,630 11,370 12,310 11,440
Total (all nationalities)3 34,810 34,440 33,300 36,400 31,190 30,230 31,090 28,510 35,860 39,690 37,730
1Provisional.
2Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and (for 1982 and 1983 only) West Indian Associated States. Information for other Caribbean countries is not separately identifiable in the statistics and is contained in the figures for "Rest of the world".
3The fall in acceptances after 1985 and 1988, and part of the increase in 1990 and 1991 reflects the temporary effect, and subsequent unwinding, of the introduction in 1985 and extension in 1988 of the requirement that wives serve a probationary year prior to settlement. Acceptances from 1986 were also reduced by an estimated 1,200–3,000 a year as a result of a determination by the Immigration Appeal Tribunal that those who apply for settlement but have the right of abode should be given a certificate or confirmation of that right instead of an entry clearance.

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