Visas: Afghanistan

(asked on 17th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in foreign governments on allowing UK visa applications for Afghan nationals to be completed in neighbouring countries.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 27th June 2022

This government is committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and is taking a leading role in the international response. Since the end of Op PITTING, we have brought c.4,000 Afghans to the UK from a neighbouring country.

The UK is working with international partners, including non-governmental organisations and other countries, to secure safe routes out of Afghanistan as soon as they become available, starting with those in most need. We also intend to establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul as soon as the security and political situation in Afghanistan allows. We are coordinating this effort with allies.

Biometrics must be provided before entry clearance is granted, to confirm identity and complete performance of national security checks.

There is currently no option to enrol biometrics in Afghanistan. Yet Afghans who have already reached a third country and are able to get to a Visa Application Centre to enrol their biometrics can make an application to resettle in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, or to come to the UK through our wider economic and family routes, in the usual way.

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