Family Visitor Visa (Hansard, 19 July 2001)

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the effect of fees on the number of family visitor visa appeals. [4747]

§ Angela Eagle
An inter-departmental review of the operation of the family visitor appeal scheme is being conducted. One of the review team's tasks is to assess the impact of the fees, and independent research is being commissioned to investigate this. The team's report will be available early next year.

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many family visitor visa appeals have been funded by the Legal Services Commission in the last 12 months. [4593]

§ Ms Rosie Winterton
I have been asked to reply.
The Legal Services Commission is unable to produce this information. Responsibility for recording the number of cases funded by the Legal Services Commission is devolved to suppliers under contracts. They are only required to record and report the total number of asylum cases and the total number of immigration cases. Family visitor appeals are included within the number of immigration cases and cannot be identified separately.

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department will introduce a separate application form for family visitor visa applications which draws attention to the fact that any refusal will be subject to a right of appeal. [4748]

§ Mr. Bradshaw
I have been asked to reply.
We have no plans at present to introduce a separate application form for family visitor visa applications. However, a revised version of the existing visa application form is being prepared which includes an expanded section for visitors. This will allow applicants to 349W indicate their intention to visit a family member. The accompanying information leaflet outlines the appeal right for this category of visitor.

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the numbers of successful family visitor visa appeals(a) at oral hearings and (b) via paper only. [4750]

§ Ms Rosie Winterton
I have been asked to reply.
From October 2000 to June 2001, inclusive adjudicators at the Immigration Appellate Authorities decided:

(a) 406 oral appeals, 279 of which were successful; and

(b) 910 paper appeals, 323 of which were successful; with another 37 being successful on a further appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal.