Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether British citizens with residency in a Schengen Area country will be required to register biometrics and fingerprints on their first visit to the Schengen Area after the EU’s entry / exit system is introduced.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of any of the participating European countries.
However, non-EU nationals that hold a residency card or permit in a Schengen Area country and those holding documents showing they qualify as Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries will not be required to register for EES, this includes British citizens.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Border Force have a list of democratically elected heads of state, heads of government and ministers to ensure that inappropriate questioning does not occur when such persons enter or transit through the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force are legally mandated to carry out checks on 100% of scheduled arrivals into the UK, including diplomats, ministers and VIPs. Border Force do not retain a list of all Heads of State and other government diplomats, however work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on any official visits.
There is specific guidance on the way Border Force handle government travel available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exempt-exm/exempt-exm
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have a record of any head of a state that is a close ally of the UK being subjected to questioning by Border Force when transiting through a UK airport.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force does not hold the data in an easily accessible format on Heads of State being subject to questioning.
There is specific guidance on the way Border Force handle government travel available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exempt-exm/exempt-exm
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the government of Rwanda has requested the extradition of individuals associated with genocide-related activities; if so, whether those individuals have been extradited; and, if not, why.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In July 2017, extradition requests from Rwanda for five individuals accused of involvement in the genocide were refused by the High Court. The Government does not interfere in these judicial decisions.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to law enforcement agencies regarding actions to pursue on Interpol Red Notices issued by Russian authorities.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has a long-standing policy to neither confirm nor deny (NCND) the existence of a Red Notice or Diffusion against any named individual. This includes how individual Notices or Diffusions are handled by law enforcement officers. This is in order to support the functioning of our judicial processes. This policy is also applied by the National Crime Agency.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants are accommodated in hotels in each upper tier authority for the latest date on which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Asylum Accommodation service providers identify suitable hotels and ensure that they conform to the accommodation standards and provision set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC). The Home Office will then assess the recommendation, undertaking a site visit if needed to ensure the suitability of the site. The Home Office will work with the service provider and the hotel owner to bring the site up to a suitable standard if necessary.
In addition to meeting the necessary standards, other factors in the sourcing of contingency hotels are important to note. The hotel needs to be agreeable to contract and be able to accommodate sole use for the duration of the contract. Many hotels do not wish to enter into a contract and some have offered partial use which we cannot allow.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each region and local authority area. These statistics can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis, with the latest information published on 24 November, correct to end September.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they use to identify hotels that are suitable to accommodate migrants.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Asylum Accommodation service providers identify suitable hotels and ensure that they conform to the accommodation standards and provision set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC). The Home Office will then assess the recommendation, undertaking a site visit if needed to ensure the suitability of the site. The Home Office will work with the service provider and the hotel owner to bring the site up to a suitable standard if necessary.
In addition to meeting the necessary standards, other factors in the sourcing of contingency hotels are important to note. The hotel needs to be agreeable to contract and be able to accommodate sole use for the duration of the contract. Many hotels do not wish to enter into a contract and some have offered partial use which we cannot allow.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each region and local authority area. These statistics can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis, with the latest information published on 24 November, correct to end September.
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 - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
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 - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
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.