Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made since the UK–France Joint Leaders' Declaration on 10 March 2023 regarding the simplification of travel arrangements for French schoolchildren visiting the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
UK Border Force was not involved in the decision to refuse boarding to this group and is in touch with the relevant carrier about this case and who did not grant them permission to travel.
Anyone wishing to travel to the UK on an ID card must submit accurate information in advance for approval and present the same identity documentation on the day to comply with UK immigration checks, and to ensure the safeguarding of children
The UK will continue to work with partners in the UK and France to ensure this process is fully understood, and that travel between our countries for school groups can be as smooth as possible.
In addition, the government agreed that children aged 18 and under travelling as part of a French school group will be temporarily exempted from the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirement until a group solution is developed. This will allow EU, EEA and Swiss children to continue to use their identity cards on organised French school trips to the UK as long as they meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by Border Force to deny a group of French schoolchildren entry into the UK due to an administrative error on the France–UK School Trip Travel Information Form.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
UK Border Force was not involved in the decision to refuse boarding to this group and is in touch with the relevant carrier about this case and who did not grant them permission to travel.
Anyone wishing to travel to the UK on an ID card must submit accurate information in advance for approval and present the same identity documentation on the day to comply with UK immigration checks, and to ensure the safeguarding of children
The UK will continue to work with partners in the UK and France to ensure this process is fully understood, and that travel between our countries for school groups can be as smooth as possible.
In addition, the government agreed that children aged 18 and under travelling as part of a French school group will be temporarily exempted from the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirement until a group solution is developed. This will allow EU, EEA and Swiss children to continue to use their identity cards on organised French school trips to the UK as long as they meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 24 January (HL1408 and HL1409), how many visas for relocation to the United Kingdom have been issued since 8 November 2023 to Afghans eligible under (1) the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, and (2) the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes. We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.
The data published within the immigration system statistics release (month ending September 2023, published 23 November 2023) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 11,684 individuals under ARAP, 9,699 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 70 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 70 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan operational data is viewable on Gov.UK.
Afghan operational data is released quarterly with the next publication due around the 22 February 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 18 December 2023 (HL Deb col 2048), on what date they announced that housing in the UK need not be secured before a visa for relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy or Afghan citizens resettlement scheme can be issued.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 8 November 2023, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs gave an oral statement to the House of Commons stating that those eligible under ACRS and ARAP no longer needed to be matched to suitable accommodation prior to their arrival.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether visas for relocation to the UK under (1) the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, and (2) the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, include a date of issue.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Vignettes that are issued under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) include a date of issue.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the new immigration salary thresholds announced by the Home Secretary on 4 December will apply to language assistants in schools and universities.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Once the Immigration Rules have been laid in Spring 2024, only those occupations on the Health and Care Visa and on education national payscales will be exempt.
Until then, the current salary thresholds remain in place at the current levels. Those already in the Skilled work route, and applications made before the rules change, will not be subject to the new £38,700 salary threshold when they change employment, extend, or settle.
Full details of transitional provisions will be set out when further policy details will be announced.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Home Secretary on 7 December announcing the changes to travel document requirements for school groups visiting the UK from France (HCWS106), whether they will extend those changes to school groups visiting the UK from Spain and Germany.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
At the Leaders’ Summit in Paris on 10 March 2023, as part of an overall agreement on migration reached with France, the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. The agreement we have is specific to France.
We would consider negotiating with other countries should they approach us with an interest in making similar arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the average waiting time between application, being granted security clearance and entering the UK is for Afghan interpreters who worked with the British armed forces in Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Since 2015, just over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK. This includes those from country-specific schemes from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, in addition to global routes through the UNHCR and family reunion schemes.
There are a number of complex issues that can impact how swiftly individuals can relocate to the UK, and as such, individual timeframes for decisions can differ considerably. Government departments continue to work collaboratively in order to make casework decisions and ensure visas are issued as soon as is practicable, following appropriate checks including security.
More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghan interpreters who worked with the British armed forces in Afghanistan that have relocated to the UK have eligible family members remaining in Afghanistan awaiting security clearance; and if any, when they expect the security clearance process to be completed.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Since the launch of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme in April 2021, we have received over 141,000 applications, and have relocated over 12,200 eligible individuals and their family members to safety in the UK. We are unable to breakdown our figures by specific job role.
We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications. We prioritise all applications where the application has been made by an unaccompanied child, under the age of 18. We will also prioritise applications where there is an evidenced urgent or compelling reason.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require written asylum applications to be submitted in English.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
12,000 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria, Yemen, and Libya who lodged asylum claims before 28 June 2022 will be considered through a Streamlined Asylum Process. This will involve eligible claimants being sent a questionnaire asking them to provide all the necessary information so claims can be considered more quickly. This will speed up decisions for those in genuine need, ending the uncertainty over their future, and help us remove people with no right to be here.
It is standard practice for the Home Office to issue correspondence and questionnaires to asylum claimants in English. This is to avoid responses being received in other languages.
Asylum claims will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis against published Immigration Rules, policy guidance and country information. These five nationalities had a grant rate of over 95% in the year-ending September 2022, therefore it is right to accelerate the processing of these claims where appropriate. An automatic grant of protection status for these countries is certainly not guaranteed – all individuals will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and an interview will follow the questionnaire if more information is needed.
All individuals will have already undergone a screening interview, including criminal checks and will have their biometrics, such as their fingerprints, taken before they can be considered for a grant of protection status.
If individuals do not reply to the questionnaire, and the Home Office is unable to trace them, their claim could be withdrawn.
We will respond to the correspondence from the Chartered Institute of Linguists and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting in due course.