§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of persons subject to immigration control who (i) have overstayed for seven years or more since the expiry of their leave to remain and (ii) have otherwise overstayed for seven years or more. [87139]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienAs at January 1999, the number of overstayers against whom deportation action had been initiated, but not completed, stood at 20,700. Some of these cases are subject to legal challenge.
There is no reliable estimate of the number of overstayers against whom enforcement action has not yet been initiated, nor of those who have overstayed for seven years or more.