§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visitors visas were granted to citizens of(a) India, (b) Pakistan and (c) Sri Lanka in each of the last three years. [32901]
§ Mr. BradshawWe do not maintain overseas statistics on nationalities of applicants received at Posts. Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan nationals are free to apply at any Post.
The numbers of visitor category applications granted in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are:
India Pakistan Sri Lanka 1999 152,040 47,968 15,215 2000 154,081 82,099 14,471 20011 177,756 275,746 17,156 1The collection of annual statistics on the breakdown of applications by category is currently moving from a calendar year to a financial year basis. So the best available 2001 statistics are for the total number of non-settlement type visas issued in 2001. 2We still await November and December 2001 statistics from Islamabad.