HC Deb 17 November 2003 vol 413 c683W
Keith Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long it has taken to deal with citizenship applications in the last 12 months for which figures are available; how many citizenship certificates were issued in each year since 1993; and what the total income from citizenship applications has been since 1993. [133463]

Beverley Hughes

There are no data published on actual decision times to determine applications for British citizenship. Information on expected waiting times for citizenship applications are available on the IND website; www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk and is periodically updated. As at September 2003 the expected average processing times were:

Naturalisation 7.7 months
Adult registrations 1.7 months
Minor registrations 7.9 months
Other registrations 1.3 months

Delays arise in part because applications are not always accompanied by complete documentation. Thus, the time taken for a particular individual application may be significantly less than the average if all relevant documentation has been sent with the application form. Statistics on the applications for British citizenship granted since 1993 are shown in the table below:

Year Applications granted
1993 45,795
1994 44,035
1995 40,515
1996 43,070
1997 37,010
1998 53,935
1999 54,900
2000 82,210
2001 90,295
2002 120,145

Information on total income from citizenship applications before 1996 is unavailable. Information for 2000–01 is also unavailable. Total income from citizenship applications from 1996–2000 and after 2001 are shown in the table.

£000s
Year Nationality

applications

ROA applications
1996–97 800,000 Not shown separately
1997–98 869,000 Not shown separately
1998–99 6,491,068 56,656
1999–2000 7,146,783 63,248
2000–01
2001–02 10,691,823 115,281
2002–03 18,155,419 62,731
1.4.03–30.9.03 6,478,410 48,917