Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delays in issuing tourist visas on the UK’s tourism industry.

The Home Office publishes data on its performance against its service level agreement for Visitors, which can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) recognises the impact of delays to customers can be significant. UKVI resources are focussed on reducing the current processing times and will continue to prioritise urgent compelling or compassionate cases across all workstreams. UKVI encourages all customers to apply in good time ahead of intended travel dates.

The Department is also continuing to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up and simplify decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision.

Additionally, UKVI has recently reintroduced a limited priority service in all markets where the service can be offered, which customers can also make use of.

In addition, our Electronic Visa Waiver scheme was expanded in June to include Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. This means most nationals of these countries wishing to visit the UK as a tourist can now do so without applying for a full UK visa