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1608509

registered interest
date	29/03/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Biometrics: Visas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to provide support to people who are required to visit a third country for biometric checks to apply for a UK visa.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	176583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2023 answer text <p>An individual must, in most circumstances, provide their biometrics, in the form of a facial image and fingerprints, when applying for a visa or a biometric immigration document before they come to the UK. This is to ensure we can confirm their identity and fix them to it, and to conduct background security checks to establish whether they pose a threat to public safety.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Office contracts two commercial partners, VFS and TLS Contact, to operate its global network of Visa Application Centres (VACs) who provide application centres in over 230 locations across 138 countries. It is not economically viable for UKVI to have VACs in every city or country across the world and it may not be sustainable to open new locations where volumes are lower.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals who are unable to travel to a VAC should not normally make an application until they are able to do so. We have a robust escalation process in place for very exceptional cases where a customer has a compelling reason why they are unable to travel to a VAC.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 21/04/2023 13:41:48 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1599830

registered interest
date	28/02/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of illegal crossings of the English Channel; and if she will increase the number of patrols in the channel.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	155119
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>The small boat crossings are dangerous, illegal and unnecessary and the Government is committed to working with our European partners to stop them.</p><p>On 10 March 2023, the Prime Minister and President Macron announced the biggest package with France yet to tackle small boats. Initiatives include a significant uplift of the number of personnel deployed to tackle small boats across northern France, as well as a package of new cutting-edge surveillance technologies and equipment, including additional drones, aircraft, and other vehicles and embedded observers to step up our capabilities to detect and respond to small boat crossing attempts.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 21/03/2023 13:36:52 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1584299

registered interest
date	06/02/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Syria
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of Syrian refugees in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	140138
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release" target="_blank">Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release</a>’. Data on grants of refugee status and resettlement for Syrian nationals can be found in table Asy_D02 of the ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-applications-decisions-and-resettlement" target="_blank">asylum and resettlement detailed datasets</a>’. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relate to the year ending September 2022. Data for the year ending December 2022 will be published on 23 February 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&amp;content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&amp;organisations%5B%5D=home-office&amp;order=relevance" target="_blank">Research and statistics calendar</a>’.</p><p>The Home Office does not hold information on the number of people resettled or granted refugee status who are still living in the UK, or their location within the UK. This is because the Home Office does not track the addresses of those resettled or granted refugee status, and refugees are free to move around the UK or leave.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 13/02/2023 12:36:54 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1567947

registered interest
date	18/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to resolve the backlog in processing asylum applications; and whether her Department has plans to hire more staff to process applications.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	126646
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2023 answer text <p>We are taking action to rapidly speed up processing times and eliminate the backlog of people waiting for initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023.</p><p>On 13 December 2022 the Prime Minister delivered an oral statement setting out a number of updates on the work ongoing to ease pressure on the asylum system. The aim is to clear the c.92k initial asylum decisions relating to claims made before 28 June 2022, when the Nationality and Borders Act measures came into force, by the end of 2023.</p><p>We are continuing to increase and aim to double the number of asylum decision makers, whilst improving productivity, volumes and speed of decision making so that people spend less time in asylum accommodation.</p><p>We are also streamlining and modernising the end-to-end process, with improved guidance, more focused and fewer interviews, enhancing use of digital technology, and we are introducing a more efficient approach to how claims are handled by decision makers.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 25/01/2023 14:33:35 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1550936

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Somaliland: Passports
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of having a passport assessor in Hargeisa.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	109557
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2022 answer text <p>All applications for British passports are conducted by His Majesty’s Passport Office in the UK. This has removed the fraud risk of transporting blank books to, and safekeeping them in, overseas posts, as well as aligning security checks and fraud assessment processes to those conducted on applications made in the UK.</p><p>Through economies of scale and use of new technology, HM Passport Office substantially reduced processing costs. This has been passed on to the customer, with an adult overseas passport costing £33 less than when the transition from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office completed in March 2014.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 22/12/2022 14:56:02 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1549288

registered interest
date	07/12/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help protect people who have fled from (a) Hong Kong, (b) Taiwan and (c) authoritarian regimes.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	105351
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/12/2022 answer text <p>On 31 January 2021 the UK Government opened the BN(O) route for BN(O) status holders in Hong Kong. As of 30 September, over 1️4️4️,0️0️0️ visas been granted so far on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route (BN(O)). The route gives them and their eligible family members the opportunity to live, study and work in the UK on a pathway to citizenship. On 30 November 2022 the BN(O) route was expanded to allow the adult children of BN(O) status holders who were born on or after 1 July 1997 and are aged 18 or over the ability to apply to the route independently of their BN(O) parents. They will need to meet all remaining requirements of the route.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 14/12/2022 15:52:17 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1542764

registered interest
date	16/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Hotels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from (a) Afghanistan, (b) Eritrea, (c) Iran, (d) Sudan and (e) Syria are accommodated in hotels under Part 5 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	88870
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2022 answer text <p><a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_United_Kingdom&amp;data=05%7C01%7CRASI-BriefingCorrespondence%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C00ac9c3c56f44e525e9308dac95bb49a%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638043692953309081%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=JZbAY0VJtpU6Y%2BdFgChO2BjXpOjuahbvMMhWIcRtvm4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">The United Kingdom</a> has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The Home Office publishes quarterly data on the number of asylum seekers and their dependents who are supported including a breakdown by support type, nationality and location of accommodation in table Asy_D11 of the Immigration Quarterly statistics asylum and resettlement datasets. The latest published data tables can be found at: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fstatistical-data-sets%2Fasylum-and-resettlement-datasets&amp;data=05%7C01%7CRASI-BriefingCorrespondence%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C00ac9c3c56f44e525e9308dac95bb49a%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638043692953309081%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=%2FSKQtiKdD72V5HlboKapKnHfCubo%2BzSAn76QEmBV5xQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p>The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers accommodated by specific accommodation setting. These figures are not available in a reportable format and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 24/11/2022 14:55:00 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1542765

registered interest
date	16/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Families
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Refugee Family Reunion are awaiting decision.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	88871
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2022 answer text <p>The average time it takes to decide or the impact of processing this information is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. The Home Office are unable to report how many applications for Refugee Family Reunion are awaiting a decision.</p><p>We are currently working outside the 60 day service standard for refugee family reunion visa applications and processing times are approximately double the expected service standard timeframe. We are working hard to recover our decision-making timescales and are looking to streamline our processes and secure additional resource to support this work. We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 88872 88873 question first answered 24/11/2022 15:24:43 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1542766

registered interest
date	16/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Families
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the average time it takes to decide Refugee Family Reunion applications.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	88872
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2022 answer text <p>The average time it takes to decide or the impact of processing this information is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. The Home Office are unable to report how many applications for Refugee Family Reunion are awaiting a decision.</p><p>We are currently working outside the 60 day service standard for refugee family reunion visa applications and processing times are approximately double the expected service standard timeframe. We are working hard to recover our decision-making timescales and are looking to streamline our processes and secure additional resource to support this work. We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 88871 88873 question first answered 24/11/2022 15:24:43 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1542767

registered interest
date	16/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Families
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 impact of the processing time for applications for Refugee Family Reunion on refugees and their families.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	88873
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2022 answer text <p>The average time it takes to decide or the impact of processing this information is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. The Home Office are unable to report how many applications for Refugee Family Reunion are awaiting a decision.</p><p>We are currently working outside the 60 day service standard for refugee family reunion visa applications and processing times are approximately double the expected service standard timeframe. We are working hard to recover our decision-making timescales and are looking to streamline our processes and secure additional resource to support this work. We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 88871 88872 question first answered 24/11/2022 15:24:43 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon