§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assistance his Department offers to applicants for driving licences whose identification documents are(a) held by or (b) have not been issued by Immigration and Nationality Department; and if he will make a statement. [106681]
§ Mrs. RocheWhere a request is made for the return of an applicant's identity documents for identification purposes, including applying for a driving licence, arrangements are made to return the documents as soon as possible, usually within five working days.
Asylum seekers who have no formal immigration status here and require their identity documents, for example, for obtaining a driving licence from the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), have hitherto been asked to send them back within 48 hours. However, as the DVLA are unable to process their applications within this timescale, this requirement has now been relaxed.
Where asylum seekers have no identity documents they are issued with a Standard Acknowledgement Letter (SAL) which confirms that an asylum application has been made and bears the holder's photograph. However, this document is only an acknowledgement that they have an outstanding asylum claim. We understand that the DVLA do not accept this document as a proof of identity but we are not able to issue any form of identity documents unless and until the asylum application has been favourably determined.