§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long people granted naturalisation on grounds of(a) residence and (b) marriage in April or the latest month for which figures are available had waited before receiving the decision; and how long persons who have applied for naturalisation on each ground in 2002 can expect to wait for a decision. [56544]
§ Angela EagleThe information available relates to the average waiting time for citizenship (naturalisation and registrations). The most recent published data relate to March 2001, when the average waiting time was 11.6 months.
I regret that information on waiting times for naturalisation applications only is not available.
We aim to reduce the average time taken to grant citizenship to qualifying applicants to 4.5 months by March 2003. It is expected that performance on this target will be reported on in due course, after the end of the financial year.