Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help ensure that UK visa offices in (a) China and (b) India process visa applications for students planning to study at UK universities in the academic year 2020-21; what estimate his Department has made of the number of days those offices have been closed since 28 March 2020; and what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring that overseas student applications for the academic year 2020-21 are not disrupted by closure of those offices during the covid-19 outbreak; and if she will have discussions with the Home Secretary on prioritising visa applications of overseas students with travel, reception and quarantine arrangements in place.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Visa applications are processed by UK Visas & Immigration in the Home Office. All visa applications for students planning to study in the UK are processed by the student immigration case working team based in the UK, this includes those submitted overseas and in the UK. Immigration case-working operations have been impacted by COVID-19, with most locations going into lockdown at the end of March although we have continued to make decisions where we have been able to.
Students, like other visa applicants, are required to attend a visa application centre (VAC) to provide documents and enrol their biometrics. VACs in China and India have been closed since January and March respectively, but as restrictions continue to be lifted by host governments, overseas VACs are reopening, enabling students to apply for the required visa to study in the UK. Our Visa Application Centres in China began to open on 2nd June 2020 and all centres currently have available appointments. Our Visa Application Centres in India will reopen from 6 July.
As centres reopen, details of these will be published on our commercial partner websites. Unless exemptions apply, all travellers to the UK are required to comply with the border health measures. UKVI operations and the Education sector are working closely to ensure that student applications are not impacted by earlier closures as a result of Covid-19.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to revise the requirements of routes to post-study work for international students.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Migration Advisory Committee recently published its report on the impact of international students in the UK. The report makes several recommendations regarding the current post-study work offer. The Government is carefully considering the recommendations and will be setting out its full response in due course.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many primates have been used in animal research in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office publishes Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to phase out the use of primates in animal research.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office has no plans to phase out the use of primates in animal research.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many breaches of the regulations controlling the use of primates in research have been identified in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office publishes all cases of non-compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act on an annual basis. The reports are available in the Home Office Regulator’s Annual Report at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have applied to come to the UK to work as (a) doctors, (b) engineers, (c) teachers, (d) in IT, (e) healthcare professionals and (f) in professional services have been turned down for visas under the Tier 2 Cap in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The available information on applications and outcomes (i.e. grants, refusals, withdrawn and lapsed cases) of entry clearance visas in the ‘Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent’ category are published quarterly in ‘Immigration Statistics’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2018/list-of-tables#visas.
Neither a breakdown by profession, or applications and outcomes, is available in the published entry clearance visas data.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have applied to come to the UK to work as (a) doctors, (b) engineers, (c) teachers, (d) in IT, (e) healthcare professionals and (f) in professional services have been turned down for visas under the Tier 2 Cap in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The available information on applications and outcomes (i.e. grants, refusals, withdrawn and lapsed cases) of entry clearance visas in the ‘Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent’ category are published quarterly in ‘Immigration Statistics’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2018/list-of-tables#visas.
Neither a breakdown by profession, or applications and outcomes, is available in the published entry clearance visas data.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who have claimed to be a victim of torture have been detained at immigration centres.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Specific information on the number of those who have claimed to be a victim of torture who have been detained at immigration centres is not currently published.
However, all officials making decisions on asylum claims receive a dedicated five-week foundation training programme which incorporates all relevant aspects of international and domestic law. Within this programme there are specific sections on torture and medical reports, and how they should be considered and analysed in asylum claims. Medical reports will be considered together with other written and oral evidence in determining an asylum claim to ensure alleged victims of torture have their claims assessed fairly and sensitively.
The Adults at Risk policy came into effect on 12 September 2016 and governs the detention suitability considerations of all cases where vulnerability in immigration detention may arise. The policy can be viewed in full in the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/.../adults-at-risk-policy-guidance_v2_0.pdf
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to review its policy on detention for asylum seekers who have made an application on the grounds they were victims of torture.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government is considering how it can address the Court’s findings in relation to the statutory guidance covering the adults at risk in immigration detention policy. This includes consideration of the definition of torture that should apply in the policy. The policy already covers asylum seekers who claim to have been the victim of torture and will continue to do so.
The Court did not find that the definition of torture currently in use in the policy was unlawful. It did, however, find that the definition used between September 2016 and December 2016 had been unlawful.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to revise the definition of torture used in the Home Office's at risk policy in light of that definition being ruled unlawful by the High Court.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government is considering how it can address the Court’s findings in relation to the statutory guidance covering the adults at risk in immigration detention policy. This includes consideration of the definition of torture that should apply in the policy. The policy already covers asylum seekers who claim to have been the victim of torture and will continue to do so.
The Court did not find that the definition of torture currently in use in the policy was unlawful. It did, however, find that the definition used between September 2016 and December 2016 had been unlawful.