Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to allocate funding to support (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers from budgets other than Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The UK reports ODA spending consistent with internationally agreed OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rules, which includes certain basic support costs for refugees and asylum seekers. The Home Office uses non-ODA funding for all other costs not permitted by the DAC rules.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to work with Cabinet colleagues on visas for representatives of international NGOs to take part in (a) advocacy meetings and (b) other UK-hosted events.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
UKVI routinely works with colleagues across Government, including the Cabinet Office, to ensure attendees to UK supported events are able to proceed legally and securely.
Employees of certain international organisations based in, or with offices in, the UK who have been recruited overseas, as well as representatives and officials of the international organisations listed when travelling to the UK in their official capacity on the official business of that organisation, are exempt from immigration control. Employees of the international organisations listed on the following site would qualify for exempt entry clearances: List of International organisations whose employees qualify for exempt entry clearances (accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
When a visa is required, UKVI works towards a 15 working day customer service standard, which includes options for priority (5 working days) and super priority (24 hours) decisions where available.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of reports of intimidation and attempted forced extradition of Uyghur Muslims living in UK.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated.
All extradition requests to the UK are subject to the safeguards contained in legislation and the full scrutiny of the UK courts. The UK does not have a bilateral extradition treaty with the People’s Republic of China.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding for the development, processing and integration costs for the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be classified as Overseas Development Assistance.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The funding for the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is separate from, and additional to, the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of the foreign aid budget was spent on migrant processing (a) centres, (b) facilities and (c) procedures in the South East in the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Home Office have not used any Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds on migrant processing centres or facilities such as Manston and Western Jet Force.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department provides to at-risk (a) third sector and (b) non-governmental organisation staff in Afghanistan with resettlement in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. It is designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, such as women and girls. The scheme is not application based. Instead, eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways set out in the Statement to Parliament of 6 January 2022:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/oral-statement-on-the-afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.
Further details on the ACRS referral pathways can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.
Under Pathway 3 of the ACRS, in the first year, we will offer resettlement places to up to 1,500 people from the three identified cohorts (British Council, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni) and their eligible family members in Afghanistan and the region.
The online referral process for this pathway closed on 15 August 2022. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will be in touch with those eligible to support them through the next steps.
Beyond the first year of Pathway 3, the Government will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk.
Further information on this can be found here:
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department provides to people considered at-risk in Afghanistan who have family naturalised in the UK with resettlement in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We recognise that the situation in Afghanistan is complex and presents significant challenges, including securing safe passage to another country for those who are eligible for resettlement in the UK.
The Government welcomes its responsibility to those who have worked for, and alongside, British forces in conflict zones. They worked in dangerous and challenging situations, and we would not have been able to carry out our work there without them.
Any current or former staff directly employed by, or for, the UK Government and assessed to be at serious risk of threat to life are eligible to apply for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). To support eligible people in Afghanistan in applying for the ARAP, we have made information available at:
The Government provides a safe and legal route to bring families together, through its family reunion policy. This allows a partner, or spouse, and children under 17 of refugees granted protection in the UK, to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. To support people in Afghanistan, with family who have been granted protection in the UK, to understand their options, we have provided information on family reunion online, at:
Family reunion - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Those who are not eligible for protection under our resettlement schemes or family reunion policy, will need to apply to come to the UK under our existing economic or family migration rules, which can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration
To bolster the support we’ll offer to those eligible for relocation or family reunion in the UK, we intend to establish a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan as soon as the security and political situation in the country allows.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department provides to former serving Afghan military personnel who are still in Afghanistan with resettlement in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We recognise that the situation in Afghanistan is complex and presents significant challenges, including securing safe passage to another country for those who are eligible for resettlement in the UK.
The Government welcomes its responsibility to those who have worked for, and alongside, British forces in conflict zones. They worked in dangerous and challenging situations, and we would not have been able to carry out our work there without them.
Any current or former staff directly employed by, or for, the UK Government and assessed to be at serious risk of threat to life are eligible to apply for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). To support eligible people in Afghanistan in applying for the ARAP, we have made information available at:
The Government provides a safe and legal route to bring families together, through its family reunion policy. This allows a partner, or spouse, and children under 17 of refugees granted protection in the UK, to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. To support people in Afghanistan, with family who have been granted protection in the UK, to understand their options, we have provided information on family reunion online, at:
Family reunion - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Those who are not eligible for protection under our resettlement schemes or family reunion policy, will need to apply to come to the UK under our existing economic or family migration rules, which can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration
To bolster the support we’ll offer to those eligible for relocation or family reunion in the UK, we intend to establish a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan as soon as the security and political situation in the country allows.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2022 to Question 8024 on Visas: USA, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of fees charged by VFS to UK visa applicants in the US on people's ability to visit the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
US nationals are not required to apply for a visa before travelling to visit the UK.
US nationals applying in other visa routes do not need to pay to access a biometric appointment, instead they can use the free service run by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which is available in 136 locations in the US.
If customers wish to opt for additional priority services, they can use one of the 10 Premium Application Centres (PAC) run by our commercial partner, VFS, in the US to provide an enhanced visa service which comes with an associated fee. The PAC service is entirely optional and a customer’s visa decision will not be impacted if they choose not to use this service.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2022 to Question 8024 on Visas: USA, if her Department will amend its online application system to allow the family members of British citizens to access the VFS premium services in the USA.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Work is underway on the Home Office’s online application system, Access UK (AUK), to allow them to access the VFS premium services in the United States and we would expect this to be implemented by Autumn this year, subject to successful testing.
The PAC service in the United States is an entirely optional premium service and a customer’s visa decision will not be impacted if they do not use this service and apply at a United States Application Support Centre.