§ Mr. HeathTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion and number of immigration applications for(a) work permit holders, (b) people with UK ancestry, (c) EEA nationals and their families, (d) spouses, (e) fianceéand fianceés and (f) asylum seekers were decided upon in under (i) one month, (ii) two months, (iii) four months, (iv) six months, (v) 12 months and (vi) 18 months in each of the last five years; and what figures he predicts for the next two years. [30996]
§ Angela EagleThe information requested is not readily available.
There are currently no published data for the individual categories of immigration applications. However, our aim is to decide all straightforward applications within three weeks. Owing to the exceptionally high number of applications received in 2001, especially in recent months, and process changes which are being introduced to improve our longer term performance, it is at present taking up to eight weeks to decide an application. We are working to reduce this to three weeks as soon as possible. Information on expected processing times for straightforward cases is provided to applicants on the Immigration Nationality Directorate (IND) website at http://194.203.40.90/default.asp?PageId=113.
455WThe requested information on asylum applications is also not readily available; however the tables show the average time taken from an asylum application to an initial decision, for initial decisions made in each year.
Corresponding calendar year information for 2000 and for 2001 is not available.
Average time (in months) to initial decision1,2,4 Year of decision Months 19973 22 19983 17 19993,5 35 October 2000 to September 20016,7 14 1 Excluding dependants 2 Figures are estimates based on cases for which information is recorded 3 Based on data from Refugee Index 4 The average length of time (in months) is calculated from date application is lodged to the date of initial decision, and relates to the year in which the decisions were made 5 As at the end of December 1999, excluding cases waiting an initial decision 6 Based on data from A-CID (Asylum Cases Information Database) 7 Provisional figures I regret that information on predicted processing times for the next two years is not available.