§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time for the Home Office immigration department to process a settlement visa application for the spouse of a British citizen was over the last 12 months; and what the expected length of time is, as outlined in the Home Office guidelines, for the Department to process a settlement visa application for the spouse of a British citizen. [90120]
§ Beverley HughesThere is no published data on decision times specifically to determine applications for settlement of spouses of British citizens. We aim to screen all postal applications within three weeks and decide those that are straightforward at that point. However, because of the high number of applications in the latter part of 2002 this is currently taking around 10 weeks on average. Some that need further inquiries or more detailed consideration can take around 12 months to decide subject to how easy it is to obtain the information and how quickly applicants respond to such requests. We are taking measures to improve this situation and expect to make significant progress towards our three week target for initial screening over the next two to three months, and to reduce the turnaround time for deciding more complex cases. There are no guidelines on average processing times for specific types of application.