§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how long a person applying for entry clearance on 31 March or the latest convenient date at each post in the Indian sub-continent could expect to wait, in each queue, for(a) first interview, (b) referral of
Number of applicants for entry clearance visas waiting for first interview at 31 March 1994 Number of persons Bombay Delhi Islamabad Madras1 Dhaka2 Queue 1 Persons with a claim to the right of abode, dependent relatives over 70 years old, special compassionate cases — — 45 — 330 Queue 2 Spouses and children under 18 years 142 277 1,248 — 2,704 Queue 3 Fianc(es) and others applying for the first time for settlement 321 162 209 — 337 Queue 4 Reapplicants 292 95 629 — 337 Total 755 534 2,131 34 3,871 1 Madras does not operate a separate queueing system. 2 Only a proportion of applicants at Dhaka are listed as awaiting first interview. Other applicants will have their applications resolved without interview, where possible.