Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they keep records of how often, following a visa application being authorised, the documents are returned to the applicant to allow for travel in time for the start date for which the visa has been sought; if so, (1) how often the authorised documents are returned within this period, and (2) what proportion of all visa applications this represents; and if they do not maintain such records, whether they will do so.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
This information is not published.
TLS Contact and VFS Global operate the network of overseas Visa Application Centres (VACs) on behalf of UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). Customers are notified that their visa decision is ready for collection as soon as the decision is received at the VAC.
Decisions on visa applications are made by Home Office officials. The length of time it takes for a decision to be made varies depending on the route in which a customer has applied, however, UKVI aims to process decisions within published service standards. The date the customer puts on the visa application form as the date of travel may be in advance of the published service standard for that route, which may result in the travel date not being met.
UKVI encourages all customers to apply in good time ahead of intended travel dates, and customers can also make use of UKVI’s optional priority visa services in certain locations if they need a quicker decision.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their approach to air passengers who have had their flight cancelled but do not hold a valid visa to remain or re-enter the UK.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Border Force have processes for decontrolling passengers whose outbound flight has failed to leave for some reason. It depends on whether the flight has left UK airspace and if they should be classified an International arrival.
Passengers will be treated either as International arrival and subject to the entry process as such i.e. on merit or secondly if their flight did not leave UK airspace and they are not subject to home office checks and have been securely segregated from any other international arrivals they do not need to be checked through the PCP and can enter the UK.
Any passengers in transit will be treated as an arriving passenger and again each case will be treated on its own merits.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the current waiting times for (1) spousal, and (2) dependant, visa applications.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office had been prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Staff from other government departments, including DWP and HMRC, have been surged into the department to help with Ukraine work and enable normal visa routes to return to normal service levels in due course.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their definition of (1) a refugee, and (2) a migrant; and what are the practical consequences of the distinction between them.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Refugee status is granted when an individual has a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention. Those who are not in need of protection are required to leave the UK or apply for leave to remain on another basis.
Paragraph 334 of the Immigration Rules sets out the circumstances in which an asylum applicant will be granted Refugee Status in the UK. 334(ii) confirms that an individual must be a refugee as defined in regulation 2 of The Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006.
The 2006 Regulations refer to individuals who fall within Article 1(A) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28 July 1951 and the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 and to whom regulation 7 (Exclusion) does not apply.
The Nationality and Borders Bill is aiming to make the definition of a refugee even clearer, improving the consistency of decisions across all decision makers (including the Courts).
The conditions of refugee leave which a person will be granted if they qualify for refugee status under the Immigration Rules is broadly five years’ limited leave, access to the labour market and welfare support, and a route to apply for settlement after five years.
The term migrant is not routinely used in legislation – it is more common to refer to “a person subject to immigration control”. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002A does include a definition of a migrant for the purposes of section 59(3)(a) being “a person who leaves the country where he lives hoping to settle in another country (whether or not he is a refugee within the meaning of any international Convention)”. However, that definition is used in a specific context and not more broadly in terms of legislation.
In practical terms, an individual subject to immigration control requires specific permission to stay in the UK and will usually be subject to conditions attached to that permission. These conditions vary depending on the type of leave for which an individual applies.