§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 27 June 2001,Official Report, column 87W, on entry clearance, what guidance he has given about the exceptional circumstances required for the use of ministerial discretion to overturn an entry clearance officer's decision and about the factors used in deciding whether the entry clearance officer made a correct decision under the rules; and if he will place a copy of the guidelines in the Library. [5856]
§ Mr. BradshawAs my earlier answer set out, FCO Ministers' discretion may only be exercised within the terms of the Immigration Rules. Consequently, all such decisions must be consistent with the rules. Internal guidelines on the use of that discretion are in the process of being revised. I am currently looking at these and will consider whether they should be placed in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.
§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how long a person who applied for entry clearance for settlement in(a) April, (b) May and (c) June at (i) each of the posts in the Indian subcontinent, (ii) Lagos, (iii) Abuja, (iv) Accra, (v) Moscow, (vi) Bangkok and (vii) Manila had to wait for interview; and how long a person applying in July may expect to wait. [5405]
497W
§ Mr. BradshawThe waiting times for those persons who applied for entry clearance for settlement at the end of April, May and June (where available) is shown.
Statistics for July are not yet available.
Waiting time in weeks Post April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 Post using 4 queue system Islamabad Q1 3 3 Q2 12 9 Q3 16 12 Q4 20 18 Dhaka Q1 18 20 20 Q2 25 16 16 Q3 18 20 20 Q4 39 44 44 New Delhi Q1 0 0 0 Q2 12 11 10 Q3 13 14 11 Q4 13 14 11 Bombay Q1 0 0 0 Q2 6 6 6 Q3 6 6 6 Q4 6 6 6 Other posts Abuja 44 9.6 Accra 32.50 15 Bangkok 4.8 5.6 5.4 Calcutta 0 0 3 Colombo 8 9 9 Karachi 4 3 Lagos 12 10 Madras 2.5 4 3 Manila 20 25 Moscow 4.2 2.7 Q1 = Dependent relatives over 65: special compassionate cases Q2 = Spouses, children under 18 Q3 = Finance(e)s: other settlement categories Q4 = Reapplicants Note:
For those posts where figures do not appear we have not received their statistics.