§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for(a) visitors' visas, (b) student entry clearance and (c) settlement have been made at the British Embassy in Lima in each of the last three years; and what proportion of each has been successful. [120744]
§ Mr. VazThe number of non-settlement visa applications for 1997, 1998 and 1999 were as follows:
Year Received Issued Refused 1997 3,347 3,257 90 1998 3,839 3,680 159 1999 3,581 3,567 189 These figures include the following number of student applications:
Year Received Issued Refused Student 1997 235 213 22 1998 266 219 47 1999 299 248 48 Settlement 1997 40 39 1 1998 45 43 2 1999 61 59 1 The 1997 and 1998 figures are available in the Library of the House in the publications "Entry Clearance Global Statistics". The 1999 figures will be placed in the Library soon.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff are employed at the British Embassy in Lima to deal with applications for entry clearance. [120743]
§ Mr. VazThe entry clearance section of the British Embassy in Peru is staffed by five officers of whom two are UK-based and three locally engaged. One officer is devoted full-time to entry clearance work; the remainder share entry clearance duties with other responsibilities.