HC Deb 17 June 2004 vol 422 cc1071-3W
Keith Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people applied in 2003 for a visa under the Commonwealth working holidaymaker scheme; and from which countries they came. [178778]

Mr. Mullin

There are 53 Commonwealth Member countries, including the United Kingdom. Zimbabwe is no longer a Commonwealth Member. However, for immigration purposes Zimbabwean nationals continue to be treated as Commonwealth nationals. Zimbabwean nationals remain, therefore, eligible to apply working holidaymaker visas No applications from Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu or Vanuatu nationals were received in 2003. The following table shows the number of applications made for working holidaymaker visas during 2003, broken down by nationality.

Number of applications
Antigua and Barbuda 2
Australia 32,614
Bahamas 2
Bangladesh 217
Barbados 45
Belize 6
Botswana 192
BNO's and BOC's1 87
Brunei 3
Cameroon 72
Canada 6,612
Cyprus 25
Dominica 15
Fiji 30
Gambia 8
Ghana 4,684
Grenada 7
Guyana 81
India 10,860
Jamaica 894
Kenya 173
Lesotho 15
Malawi 125
Malaysia 3,469
Maldives 4
Malta 96
Mauritius 125
Mozambique 10
Namibia 1,824
New Zealand 8,796
Nigeria 331
Pakistan 128
Papua New Guinea 3
Seychelles 19
Sierra Leone 16
Singapore 247
South Africa 34,242
Sri Lanka 5,184
St. Kitts and Nevis 4
St. Lucia 33
St. Vincent 24
Swaziland 228
Tanzania 28
Tonga 1
Trinidad and Tobago 749
Uganda 68
Zambia 111
Zimbabwe 996
1 British National Overseas (BNO) and British Overseas Citizen (BOC).
Source:
These statistics are obtained from UK visas Central Reference System.

David Davis

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications under the working holidaymaker scheme from(a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) Sri Lanka, (d) Nigeria, (e) Ghana, (f) Sierra Leone, (g) Jamaica and (h) all new Commonwealth countries have been (i) received, (ii) refused, (iii) granted and (iv) appealed against since 25 August 2003. [178782]

Mr. Mullin

There are 53 Commonwealth member countries, including the United Kingdom. The following table provides the figures requested between 25 August 2003 and 28 May 2004. These statistics are obtained from UK visas central reference system. The figures in the table may not add up due to some applications received in 2003 overlapping into 2004 and equally the same applies for some received in 2002 but processed in 2003. Some applications are also withdrawn by the applicant before a decision is made.

Received Refused Issued Appealed
India 9,995 5,276 1,728 1,445
Pakistan 96 29 56 4
Sri Lanka 4,935 3,873 1,075 638
Nigeria 220 97 114 42
Ghana 3,143 987 1,977 161
Sierra Leone 13 11 3 2
Jamaica 442 145 269 30
All CC1 73,468 13,287 53,476 2,763
1 All Commonwealth countries, including those broken down within the table.

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