Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make changes to the Immigration Rules to permit certain persons to apply for a visa to come to the UK for the purpose of making an asylum claim; and whether a person can already seek a visa for such purposes.

We sympathise with the many millions of people facing difficult situations around the world, yet there is no provision in the Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to claim asylum as it would simply not be practical or sensible to offer a visa to the UK for everyone who might be in this situation.

It is more effective to focus opportunities for resettlement in the UK on the most vulnerable people in need of protection through our resettlement schemes. These schemes have provided safe and legal routes for tens of thousands of people to start new lives in the UK, alongside the many who may also arrive via our family or skilled work routes where they are eligible for them.