Baroness Smith of Basildon
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average time taken to assess and process an overseas visitor’s application for a visa.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Taylor of Holbeach)
My Lords, in the financial year 2012-13, on average, visit visa applications were processed in under 10 working days—the exact figure is 9.17 working days. We measure this from the time that the customer submits their biometric information to when the application is ready for collection by the customer.
Baroness Smith of Basildon
My Lords, the president of the China International Travel Service has criticised the Government’s changes to the visa system as making little difference in encouraging Chinese tourists to the UK and complains that the system is even more complicated than that to get into the US. Does the Minister accept that the potential loss of income to the UK economy remains at £1.2 billion? What urgent discussions will Ministers have with the Chinese authorities and tour operators to make it easier to apply for UK visas without compromising security, as other countries seem to be much more successful at doing this?
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
My Lords, I read the article containing Miss Yu’s comments. It is vital that the UK is seen as being open for visitors and business. That is very much the case as far as China is concerned. The President of China has talked about there being 400 million visitors from China by 2018. We need to recognise the need for a customer focus in our visitor offer. That is why the Government have broken up the UK Border Agency into two parts, one of which deals with immigration enforcement. The other, UK Visas and Immigration, is dedicated to delivering a high-quality customer service to those wishing to enter the UK.
Lord Naseby
Is my noble friend aware that the new fast-track system introduced in Colombo for prospective visitors, particularly from the business sector, is working well and is greatly to be welcomed? On behalf of those who are using it, I say a huge thank you to the Home Office for listening and implementing this new system.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
I thank my noble friend as brickbats are often flung on Questions such as this. I emphasise that the Government are actively looking at ways in which we can improve the focus of UK Visas and Immigration. I have met Sarah Rapson, the new director-general of the service. The whole point behind the creation of this new service is to make sure that our offer to visitors is competitive and customer-oriented.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, may I ask the Minister particularly about business users? I declare an interest as the chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. Is he aware that we are getting an increasing volume of complaints from the countries of the Arab League about the delays in getting visas? Would he be kind enough to meet those of us who have concerns on this issue to discuss why this is the case and what can be done to ameliorate the position?
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
I certainly would be prepared to meet the noble Baroness and any people she wishes to bring along. As I have emphasised, we want to expedite visa processing. Ninety-four per cent of visas are processed within 15 days. That is a pretty good figure. It can be improved but 94% are processed within 15 days and, in the case of China, the figure is 99%.
Lord Dholakia
My Lords, what arrangements are in hand to review the decisions of entry clearance officers? My noble friend will be aware that in the past immigration adjudicators overturned the decisions of entry clearance officers in many cases. How do we ensure that there is no bias in the way decisions are taken, particularly as regards family visits and visits to attend marriages and funerals, when people wish to be in the country for a very short period?
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
I am grateful to the noble Lord. He has a strong focus on this issue. Indeed, the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, is presenting a report, which we will be debating shortly, on the whole question of family visas. We need to make sure that we have a proper balance between safeguarding our own position and our commitments within the wider communities here in the United Kingdom and, at the same time, facilitating visits to this country.
Lord Lea of Crondall
My Lords, one of the concrete points made by the Chinese authorities in this article to which reference has been made is that a decreasing proportion of Chinese visitors to Europe—the European Union, broadly—are coming to this country, because they can get a Schengen visa for all of the continent, in effect, and the extra hassle of getting a visa for Britain deters people from adding Britain to the European tour, as it were. Will the Minister carry out a study as to whether our documentation could not be nearer in line with what is done for the Schengen countries without our sovereignty being impugned so that, as a result, a bigger proportion of the Chinese would be able to come to this country?
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
I think the noble Lord is very perceptive in anticipating future debates on this subject. This is clearly one of the difficulties that we have in not being party to the Schengen agreement. Given that the House, I am sure, would not welcome our incorporation into the Schengen agreement, we are seeking to discuss with others, including the Schengen countries, ways in which we can maximise the opportunities for visitors to come to this country.
Lord Avebury
My Lords, since the Secretary of State rightly disbanded the UKBA, what steps has she taken to address the dysfunctionality, not only in terms of immigration visas for visitors but throughout the whole system, to ensure that the immigration service universally provides an adequate service to people entering the United Kingdom?
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is in Liverpool today addressing former UK Border Agency staff, and I have given a pretty clear indication that we want to make sure that, in future, this service reflects the needs of the customer.