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1472013

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Ukraine
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that Ukrainian people fighting in the war in that country are able to access the UK during their 10 days' leave if they have family members in the UK under any refugee scheme; and whether she has had discussions with her counterparts in (a) Poland and (b) other countries on allowing their travel.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	22485
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2022 answer text <p>Home Office officials continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government on our measures to date to ensure our measures respond directly to their needs and asks. We will continue to consider their requests and respond to meet their needs.</p><p>It should also be noted Ukrainian Law places significant restrictions on men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country at this time, which must be borne in mind by anyone planning travel to the UK.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 28/06/2022 14:58:24 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1472053

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for (a) Skilled Worker visas, (b) study visas, (c) family visas, and (d) visitor visas.
tabling member constituency	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
tabling member printed	Yvette Cooper
uin	22352
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office is currently prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are communicating directly with customers to explain applications for study, work and family visas are taking longer to process at this time.</p><p>Current average processing times:</p><p>Standard visitor visas - 6 weeks</p><p>Student visas - 4 weeks</p><p>Work visas - 6 weeks.</p><p>Spouse visas – up to 24 weeks</p><p>As the number of outstanding applications from Ukraine has reduced significantly decision makers are being returned to their normal work, with a focus on reducing processing times for visit and work visas being the initial priority.</p><p>Data is not published on the number of applicants which wait more than 100 days for a decision on their application. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fcollections%2Fmigration-transparency-data%23uk-visas-and-immigration&amp;data=05%7C01%7CSheffieldWorkRoutes.PQandFOI%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C7b5c532297124d5598dc08da543e7bc7%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C637914924575469585%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pMCuS6P7RCWq%2FxEuw0rUBxxwGNoewq8bCOigh7Ke3uQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 22353 question first answered 27/06/2022 14:43:27 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	420 label Biography information for Yvette Cooper

1472054

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applicants for (a) Skilled Worker visas, (b) study visas, (c) family visas, and (d) visitor visas wait more than 100 days for a decision on their application.
tabling member constituency	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
tabling member printed	Yvette Cooper
uin	22353
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office is currently prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are communicating directly with customers to explain applications for study, work and family visas are taking longer to process at this time.</p><p>Current average processing times:</p><p>Standard visitor visas - 6 weeks</p><p>Student visas - 4 weeks</p><p>Work visas - 6 weeks.</p><p>Spouse visas – up to 24 weeks</p><p>As the number of outstanding applications from Ukraine has reduced significantly decision makers are being returned to their normal work, with a focus on reducing processing times for visit and work visas being the initial priority.</p><p>Data is not published on the number of applicants which wait more than 100 days for a decision on their application. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fcollections%2Fmigration-transparency-data%23uk-visas-and-immigration&amp;data=05%7C01%7CSheffieldWorkRoutes.PQandFOI%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C7b5c532297124d5598dc08da543e7bc7%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C637914924575469585%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pMCuS6P7RCWq%2FxEuw0rUBxxwGNoewq8bCOigh7Ke3uQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 22352 question first answered 27/06/2022 14:43:27 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	420 label Biography information for Yvette Cooper

1472055

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	HM Passport Office: Secondment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Civil Service staff have been seconded to the Passport Office to resolve application backlogs; and how much those secondments have cost the public purse.
tabling member constituency	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
tabling member printed	Yvette Cooper
uin	22354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2022 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Passport Office routinely uses flexible resource from HMRC to support with peaks in passport demand. In May 2022, 82 full-time equivalents from HMRC were supporting passport services.</p><p>Staffing costs, including the use of flexible resources from other government departments, are met by passport fee income.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 27/06/2022 16:15:49 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	420 label Biography information for Yvette Cooper

1472137

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrants: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of children living in poverty in the UK with parents who are subject to No Recourse to Public Funds.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	22445
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office is committed to further exploring data availability on No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and migrant poverty, including children in poverty, while recognising the challenges posed in identifying and gathering the relevant data.</p><p>Published correspondence between the Home Office and UK Statistics Authority sets out our proposals for further work to investigate data on migrant poverty:</p><p><a href="https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/jon-simmons-to-ed-humpherson-enhancing-data-on-statistics-about-those-subject-to-no-recourse-to-public-funds-nrpf-update/" target="_blank">https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/jon-simmons-to-ed-humpherson-enhancing-data-on-statistics-about-those-subject-to-no-recourse-to-public-funds-nrpf-update/</a></p><p>There are no plans to amend the regulations governing NRPF to enable emergency access to Universal Credit for parents who become unable to work due to ill-health or caring responsibilities.</p><p>Temporary immigration status holders are generally required to support themselves and any accompanying family members, including children, in the UK without recourse to public funds. This is a well-established principle which prevents access to taxpayer-funded public services from being the basis of migration to this country. The general expectation is temporary immigration status holders who can no longer financially support themselves and their families in the UK will return to their home country.</p><p>Safeguards exist to ensure people receive support where they are destitute, at risk of destitution, or have community care needs, including issues relating to human rights or the wellbeing of children. For example, people with leave under the family and human rights routes, and those who have been granted leave on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa route as a British National (Overseas) status holder or a family member of a British National (Overseas) status holder, can apply, for free, to have their NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of condition’ application if they are destitute or at risk of destitution, if the welfare of their child is at risk due to their low income, or where there are other exceptional financial circumstances. Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support, regardless of immigration status, if it is established there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution.</p><p>People who have made the necessary national insurance contributions can also claim contributory benefits such as contribution-based Jobseekers Allowance, statutory sick pay and state pension.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 22446 question first answered 28/06/2022 15:15:44 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1472140

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrants: Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on amending the immigration regulations governing No Recourse to Public Funds to enable emergency access to Universal Credit for parents who become unable to work due to (a) ill-health or (b) caring responsibilities.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	22446
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office is committed to further exploring data availability on No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and migrant poverty, including children in poverty, while recognising the challenges posed in identifying and gathering the relevant data.</p><p>Published correspondence between the Home Office and UK Statistics Authority sets out our proposals for further work to investigate data on migrant poverty:</p><p><a href="https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/jon-simmons-to-ed-humpherson-enhancing-data-on-statistics-about-those-subject-to-no-recourse-to-public-funds-nrpf-update/" target="_blank">https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/jon-simmons-to-ed-humpherson-enhancing-data-on-statistics-about-those-subject-to-no-recourse-to-public-funds-nrpf-update/</a></p><p>There are no plans to amend the regulations governing NRPF to enable emergency access to Universal Credit for parents who become unable to work due to ill-health or caring responsibilities.</p><p>Temporary immigration status holders are generally required to support themselves and any accompanying family members, including children, in the UK without recourse to public funds. This is a well-established principle which prevents access to taxpayer-funded public services from being the basis of migration to this country. The general expectation is temporary immigration status holders who can no longer financially support themselves and their families in the UK will return to their home country.</p><p>Safeguards exist to ensure people receive support where they are destitute, at risk of destitution, or have community care needs, including issues relating to human rights or the wellbeing of children. For example, people with leave under the family and human rights routes, and those who have been granted leave on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa route as a British National (Overseas) status holder or a family member of a British National (Overseas) status holder, can apply, for free, to have their NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of condition’ application if they are destitute or at risk of destitution, if the welfare of their child is at risk due to their low income, or where there are other exceptional financial circumstances. Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support, regardless of immigration status, if it is established there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution.</p><p>People who have made the necessary national insurance contributions can also claim contributory benefits such as contribution-based Jobseekers Allowance, statutory sick pay and state pension.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 22445 question first answered 28/06/2022 15:15:44 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1472142

registered interest
date	21/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Serbia
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing visa free travel for people wishing to visit the UK from Serbia.
tabling member constituency	South Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Alberto Costa
uin	22464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2022 answer text <p>The UK keeps its visa system under regular review. Decisions on changes reflect a range of factors. These will vary globally, but often include security, compliance, returns and prosperity.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 28/06/2022 15:19:18 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4439 label Biography information for Alberto Costa

1471655

registered interest
date	20/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	UK Visas and Immigration: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the UKVI MP Urgent Inquiries line closed at least 20 minutes early on 17 June 2022.
tabling member constituency	Bournemouth East
tabling member printed	Mr Tobias Ellwood
uin	21114
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2022 answer text <p>Due to an unexpected spike in calls a large queue of callers built. To ensure those in the queue were able to speak with an agent before 5pm the line closed to NEW callers at 3.15pm (45 minutes earlier than normal). Agents continued to assist queued callers up until 6pm. We continue to closely monitor and review call volumes to match staffing capacity to anticipated demand.</p><p>Analysis of the spike on 17<sup>th</sup> June is currently being undertaken to ensure a closure of this nature is not required in the future.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 23/06/2022 10:26:40 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood

1471674

registered interest
date	20/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Members: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare of 18 May and 30 May on behalf of his constituent, Ms Fiona Wilson, on passport applications.
tabling member constituency	Weston-super-Mare
tabling member printed	John Penrose
uin	21149
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 21 June 2022.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 27/06/2022 14:33:41 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	1584 label Biography information for John Penrose

1471728

registered interest
date	20/06/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Graduates
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason international students who graduated from British universities prior to September 2020 are unable to apply for the UK post-study work visa.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Lloyd Russell-Moyle
uin	21253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2022 answer text <p>The Graduate route demonstrates our commitment to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world to study and work in the UK.</p><p>The route was introduced in 2021 to help new graduates who have successfully completed a relevant qualification in eligible UK universities get a head-start on their career by allowing these graduates to work or look for work for up to three years immediately following their graduation.</p><p>Those who graduated and whose leave expired before the Graduate route was introduced do not meet the requirements of the route. Most of these students had commenced their course prior to the announcement of the route, and therefore had no expectation of benefitting from such a route when they applied to study in the UK. However, these students are able to apply for other routes from overseas, including the Skilled Worker route, if they meet the requirements.</p><p>The expansion of the Skilled Worker route to include roles at RQF3 and above in December 2020 significantly increased the number of roles they could consider applying for in the UK which would qualify.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 28/06/2022 11:32:18 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4615 label Biography information for Lloyd Russell-Moyle