§ Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of(a)British passport holders and (b)British journalists who visited the USA in each of the last five years; if he will make a statement on the new visa arrangements for travel from the UK to the 1534W US; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the new arrangements on the timescale for issuing US visas to UK citizens. [159156]
§ Mr. MullinThe Office for National Statistics estimates the number of UK residents visiting the US in each of the last five years as:
Number of UK residents (million) 1999 4.73 2000 5.06 2001 4.66 2002 4.21 2003 3.8 It is not possible to break these figures down between British Citizens, other British Nationals and others resident in the UK, or give figures for British passport holders who travelled to the US from another country in which they are normally resident.
The US embassy in London issued the following numbers of five-year multiple entry visas to 'representatives of the media':
Number of visas issued 1999 1,906 2000 2,034 2001 2,078 2002 1,816 2003 2,001 My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has expressed concern to US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the effect of changes to the US Visa Waiver Programme due to come into effect on 26 October 2004. Discussions are under way with the US authorities. It is too early to predict the outcome.