Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time was for replacement biometric cards to be issued in each of the last 24 months.

UK Visas and Immigration have different service standards for all Biometric ResidenceCards, these are dependent upon the immigration leave that an individual may have.

Published service standards for all Indefinite Leave to Remain applications are to complete 100% of straightforward applications within six months. For those applying for temporary leave in the UK, including replacement Biometric Residents Permits (BRPs), the published service standards are to complete straight forward applications within 8 weeks, UKVI service standards can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about-our-services.

The average waiting time for issuing Biometric Residence Permits Replacement Card applications (BRP RC) is not specifically included in statistics published by the Home Office. However, the overall processing times for applications made to UKVI are published.

Published information can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Where an application is defined as non-straightforward, due to complexity, the customer will be written to within the normal processing time to explain why it will not be decided within the normal standard, and to explain what will happen next.