Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1564610

registered interest
date	06/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
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 has taken recent steps to ensure that family groups are not prevented from entering the UK because one or more family members has not yet been issued with a visa.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	117609
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2023 answer text <p>UK Visas and Immigration Decision Making Centres process overseas applications for entry clearance in date order from when documents were uploaded, or after customers have provided their biometrics at a visa application centre. Where UK Visa and Immigration Decision Making Centres receive applications from family groups at the same time and the customer includes details of this on their form, UKVI would look to group decisions together so families receive decisions wherever possible at the same time.</p><p>We encourage customers to continue to refer to these updates as our processing times change on a regular basis. The link to this guidance for in country applications is: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Fvisa-decision-waiting-times-applications-inside-the-uk&amp;data=05%7C01%7CKelly.Humphries%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C74a59619230540b4914508daac4514bd%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638011709934849952%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=AxwVcWefBq2iClW%2FyRP9G1oQPdkacB0NpwdAfayHQTQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a> and out of country applications is: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Fvisa-decision-waiting-times-applications-outside-the-uk&amp;data=05%7C01%7CKelly.Humphries%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C74a59619230540b4914508daac4514bd%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638011709934849952%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=nnr%2FIcP%2Bq1T4JTrA4A71n%2Be6qcRJQmcJal4FqlzvJsI%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 12/01/2023 17:58:02 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1548924

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: 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 and what proportion of Family Visa applications from outside the UK have not been processed within the 24-week standard processing time since January 1 2022; what is the current average wait time for these visa applications; and how many of these visa applications are currently outstanding past standard processing time deadline.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
uin	104410
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2022 answer text <p>Numbers and proportions of Family Visa applications from outside the UK not processed within the 24-week standard processing times have not yet been published for this period. They will be published as part of transparency data in due course.</p><p>Average decision wait times or data on the number or proportion of family visa applications which have taken more than 24 weeks to process, do not form part of any current transparency data and are not published.</p><p>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%7CSheffieldFamily.PQandFOI%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C68baeb4cb470480dc90608da47a2e699%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C637901062213241689%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pD9T%2Bmx2%2FMyxOHRWsrOirYLvh1pmqYgqjTuQnf%2FAjH0%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 20/12/2022 16:19:36 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1543867

registered interest
date	21/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 9 November (HL2942 and HL2943), what assessment they have made of reports that TLScontact in St Petersburg is no longer offering applicants the option of purchasing the 'Keep My Passport' service pending decisions on family visa applications.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL3626
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2022 answer text <p>Added Value Services, including the Keep My Passport service, are currently unavailable in Russia. Where applicants are required to keep their passport in their possession to evidence their right to reside in Russia whilst their Family Migration application is under consideration, they can inform the Visa Application Centre staff who will work with UKVI to consider this. Applicants can choose to withdraw their application should they wish to do so, but will not receive a refund<em>. </em></p><p>Family members of British Nationals in Russia, who need to make an urgent visa application, can contact TLS via the link on their website for support.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 05/12/2022 16:42:30 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1538119

registered interest
date	01/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration entitled Inspection report on family visitor visa applications July 2015, published on 16 July 2015, what steps her Department has taken to (a) help increase consistency in processing family visitor visas and (b) ensure that decision notices are balanced and clear.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	75856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2022 answer text <p>Since 2015, the Department has undergone a number of significant changes and improvements to help increase consistency in decision making and ensure that visit visa decision notices are balanced and fair.</p><p>The Department has:</p><p>o Moved to thematic visa decision making centres, focussed on specific routes so decision makers are not making decisions on multiple routes during a working day and can build up expertise.</p><p>o Brought in modular training by immigration route which all decision makers must undertake.</p><p>o Refreshed its risk strategy which focusses on the individual attributes of the customer and ensures that they are at the heart of everything it does.</p><p>o Increased the use of technology to help drive consistency and feedback through more detailed data.</p><p>The Department continues to review existing processes and develop new approaches in line with best practice and welcomes reviews of its processes and procedures from independent agencies and external bodies.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 09/11/2022 13:37:21 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1536609

registered interest
date	26/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the speed with which the foreign spouses and children of British citizens can complete their UK Family Visa applications in the event of them needing to leave a country without delay.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL2941
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2022 answer text <p>Priority services for UK Family Visa applications made outside of the UK are temporarily suspended. We are keeping this under review and will reintroduce the priority service as a consequence of steps taken to facilitate visas arising from Ukraine conflict when possible.</p><p>In exceptional circumstances, requests to expedite UK Family Visa applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and take a range of factors into consideration.</p><p>The Super Priority Visa (SPV) service is available to applicants applying for a UK Family Visa from within the UK. Applicants who choose to use the SPV service should get a decision by the end of the next working day after attending their biometrics appointment.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 09/11/2022 17:44:04 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1536610

registered interest
date	26/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delays by TLScontact processing UK Family Visas in (1) Russia, and (2) other countries; and what steps they intend to take to address those delays.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL2942
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2022 answer text <p>TLS Contact and VFS Global operate the network of overseas Visa Application Centres (VACs) on behalf of UKVI. Whilst the collection of biometric data is outsourced to commercial partners, they have no involvement in visa decision-making, which are made by British Government officials, and are unable to influence a visa decision outcome in any way.</p><p>Customers attending a VAC overseas will have their passport retained by the commercial partner whilst a decision is made on their application by the Home Office. Once a decision has been made, the commercial partner will contact the customer to invite them to attend the VAC to collect their passport and decision. Customers have the option of purchasing the ‘Keep my Passport’ service, which allows them to retain their passport whilst a decision on their application is being made.</p><p>TLS only oversee biometric appointments and document decision and do not have any involvement in visa decision making. (1) Family members of British Nationals in Russia, who need to make an urgent visa application, can contact TLS via the link on their website for support. There is sufficient appointment availability in (2) other countries to allow customers to attend an appointment elsewhere.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth grouped question UIN HL2943 question first answered 09/11/2022 16:57:01 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1536611

registered interest
date	26/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to stop TLScontact retaining applicants' passports for up to eight months whilst UK Family Visa applications are being processed.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL2943
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2022 answer text <p>TLS Contact and VFS Global operate the network of overseas Visa Application Centres (VACs) on behalf of UKVI. Whilst the collection of biometric data is outsourced to commercial partners, they have no involvement in visa decision-making, which are made by British Government officials, and are unable to influence a visa decision outcome in any way.</p><p>Customers attending a VAC overseas will have their passport retained by the commercial partner whilst a decision is made on their application by the Home Office. Once a decision has been made, the commercial partner will contact the customer to invite them to attend the VAC to collect their passport and decision. Customers have the option of purchasing the ‘Keep my Passport’ service, which allows them to retain their passport whilst a decision on their application is being made.</p><p>TLS only oversee biometric appointments and document decision and do not have any involvement in visa decision making. (1) Family members of British Nationals in Russia, who need to make an urgent visa application, can contact TLS via the link on their website for support. There is sufficient appointment availability in (2) other countries to allow customers to attend an appointment elsewhere.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth grouped question UIN HL2942 question first answered 09/11/2022 16:57:01 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1536612

registered interest
date	26/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to address expedited UK Family Visa applications, and (2) to provide early right to remain for those applicants.
tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
uin	HL2944
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2022 answer text <p>Requests to expedite UK Family applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and take a range of factors into consideration.</p><p>An applicant applying in the UK to extend a family visa (spouse or partner on a 5-year route to settlement) should get a decision within 8 weeks.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 09/11/2022 13:57:38 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1525078

registered interest
date	21/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Families
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the processing time for Family Visas.
tabling member constituency	Glenrothes
tabling member printed	Peter Grant
uin	68560
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office had been prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As such earlier this year the service standard for family entry clearance applications was changed from 60-days to 120-days as a direct result.</p><p> </p><p>The bulk of resource has now returned to the route, along with an additional investment of new staff.</p><p> </p><p>We are keeping the service standard level under review.</p><p>Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 26/10/2022 16:23:59 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4466 label Biography information for Peter Grant

1524181

registered interest
date	19/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: 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 and what proportion of family visa applications had passed the six month timeframe for a response as of 19 October 2022.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	67094
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2022 answer text <p>Data on the number or proportion of family visa applications which have taken more than six months to process does not form part of any current transparency data and is not published.</p><p>The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing and service standard data and 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%7CSheffieldFamily.PQandFOI%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C68baeb4cb470480dc90608da47a2e699%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C637901062213241689%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pD9T%2Bmx2%2FMyxOHRWsrOirYLvh1pmqYgqjTuQnf%2FAjH0%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 24/10/2022 14:47:03 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson