§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for residence documents or endorsements by third country national spouses of Community nationals exercising Treaty rights have been refused on the basis that the Secretary of State considered the marriage to be one of convenience since 1 February 1997. [28293]
§ Ms QuinThis information is not available. Statistics for the refusal of a residence document do not distinguish between reasons for refusal.
§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the length in time of residence documents or endorsements given to third country national spouses of EC nationals exercising Treaty rights who have been granted ILR. [28305]
§ Ms QuinWhere a European Economic Area(EEA) national has been granted indefinite leave to remain, the third country national spouse may apply either for leave to remain under the Immigration Rules on the basis of marriage to a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or for a residence document in accordance with European Community law. In the former case the applicant, if successful, would be granted 12 months' leave to remain in the first instance in the latter case, the third country national spouse may apply for a residence document which, if issued, would have the same validity as any extant residence permit issued to the EEA spouse. If the EEA spouse no longer holds a valid residence permit, one would be issued with five years' validity as the basis for the issue of a residence document of the same validity to the third country national.
§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate how many EC nationals have exercised Treaty rights of residence in the UK since 1 February 1997. [28307]
113W
§ Ms QuinEuropean Economic Area nationals who enter the United Kingdom in order to exercise a Treaty right are not required to apply for a residence permit. It is therefore not possible to provide an estimate.
§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for residence permits for EC nationals exercising Treaty rights have been issued for a period of less than five years in the last five years. [28295]
§ Ms QuinUnder European Community law, a residence permit is normally issued with a validity of five years. In the case of students and members of their family, however, a residence permit is issued with a validity of 12 months or, where the course of study is for a longer period, for the duration of the course. Information is not held as to how many residence permits with a validity of less than five years have been issued.
§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average time for consideration of applications for(a) residence documents for EU nationals and (b) residence documents or evidence of residence made by third country national family members of EC nationals exercising Treaty rights in the United Kingdom since 1 February 1997. [28299]
§ Ms QuinThe timeliness of completion of residence permits and residence document applications is expressed as a proportion of cases completed within one, two and six months. From 1 February 1997 to 31 January 1998, the averages were as follows:
Per cent. Residence permits within 1 month 26 within 2 months 48 within 6 months 73 Residence documents within 1 month 16 within 2 months 33 within 6 months 53
§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for residence documents by(a) EC nationals and (b) third country national family members of EC nationals exercising Treaty rights have been (i) made and (ii) granted since 1 February 1997. [28304]
§ Ms Quin
Made Granted Residence permit applications 2,848 1,819 Residence document applications 1,850 2,664 Note:
In the case of a residence document application an accompanying residence permit application is required, except in certain specific circumstances involving British or Irish nationals. Such residence permit applications are not separately recorded. The data for residence permit applications relate to those cases where an European Economic Area national applies for a residence permit without any application for a residence document being made by a third country national.