HC Deb 20 May 1999 vol 331 cc412-3W
Fiona Mactaggart

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people were waiting in each of the queues for settlement entry clearance at each of the British posts in the Asian subcontinent at the latest available date. [84655]

Mr. Hoon

The statistics requested are as follows. Figures are for the end of April 1999.

Post Applicants Q11 Q22 Q33 Q44
Bombay 633 0 427 110 96
Calcutta 1 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Colombo 56 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Dhaka 1,039 31 687 14 307
Islamabad 4,171 93 3,651 258 169
Karachi 114 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Madras 30 n/a n/a n/a n/a
New Delhi 709 6 467 199 37
1Right of Abode claimants; dependent relatives over 65; special compassionate cases.
2 Spouses, children under 18.
3 Fiance(e)s, other settlement categories.
4Re-applicants.

Note:

Calcutta, Colombo, Karachi and Madras do not operate separate queues.

Fiona Mactaggart

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the income from entry clearance fees in(a) 1997–98, (b) 1996–97 and (c) 1995–96 at (i) each British post in the Asian subcontinent, (ii) Lagos, (iii) Abuja, (iv) Accra, (v) Manila, (vi) Moscow and (vii) Bogota; and what is the estimatedentry clearance fee income at each of those posts for (1) 1998–99 and (2) 1999–2000. [84662]

Mr. Hoon

Income for the entry clearance posts in question for the three years since 1996–97 is as follows:

£
1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Abuja 301,397 382,986 497,693
Accra 831,432 877,599 1,101,338
Bogota 50,588 763,799 862,794
Bombay 2,644,376 3,128,548 3,330,583
Calcutta 380,253 412,918 412,869
Dhaka 1,459,555 1,657,039 1,606,508
Islamabad 2,635,300 3,483,264 4,317,212
Karachi 1,155,776 1,266,296 1,406,598
Lagos 2,108,116 1,816,027 2,071,149
Madras 765,364 954,617 1,091,499
Manila 916,781 920,567 882,930
Moscow 2,624,607 3,261,819 2,650,806
New Delhi 2,366,637 2,838,608 3,022,050

Details of income from entry clearance fees for the financial year 1995–96 are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Based on previous trends, we would expect to see an increase in worldwide demand for visas in 1999–2000 of around 3 per cent. We are currently forecasting an increase in global income of about 2.6 per cent. for that year to £67.9 million. Because of the differences in application profiles we do not make estimate of income for individual posts.