HC Deb 06 January 2004 vol 416 cc243-4W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average time taken in the last 12 months was between the lodging of an appeal in Pakistan against the refusal of entry clearance for settlement and the completion of processing by UKvisas.[145393]

Mr. Mullin

Appeals against the refusal of entry clearance for settlement are processed in the UK by the Appeals Processing Centre of the Home Office. The current average time between receipt of an appeal at our high commission in Islamabad and its dispatch to the appeals processing centre is approximately four months.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how long he estimates that it will take for UKvisas to process the backlog of appeals in Pakistan against the refusal of entry clearance for settlement.[145394]

Mr. Mullin

Appeals against the refusal of entry clearance for settlement are processed in the UK by the appeals processing centre of the Home Office. Our high commission in Islamabad estimates that the average time between receipt of an appeal and its despatch to the appeals processing centre will be reduced to three months, in line with UK visas best practice guidelines for the processing of appeals, by the end of January.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the earliest date of an appeal in Pakistan against the refusal of entry clearance for settlement which has yet to be processed is.[145397]

Mr. Mullin

The earliest date of an appeal against the refusal of entry clearance for settlement from our high commission in Islamabad awaiting despatch to the appeals processing centre of the Home Office is 15 August 2003.