Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of his contingency arrangements for tackling the situation in which former Tier 1 visa holders successfully apply for the passport of another nation to circumvent UK visa restrictions; and if he will make a statement.

All non-EEA nationals coming to the UK are assessed against the Immigration Rules and an individual’s immigration history is considered as part of this assessment.

Those coming to the UK for longer than 6 months (which includes Tier 1), or for a purpose other than a visit, are required to apply for entry clearance and provide their biometric details (face and fingerprints) as part of the application process.

We carry out 100% checks on passengers arriving on scheduled services at the border in order to identify any criminal, security and immigration concerns. and, whilst EEA nationals have a right of admission, this right is not absolute and in certain cases admission can be refused or the individual can be excluded.