Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British Council contractors in Afghanistan who submitted their Expressions of Interest via the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme have received confirmation of their eligibility; and when he expects the remainder to do so.

Under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 3, the FCDO received over 11,400 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) before the window to submit EOIs closed on 15 August 2022. We are in the process of assessing their eligibility and have started notifying individuals of the outcome, and contacting those eligible with details of the next steps. We are working to process cases as soon as is practicably possible. However, we are not yet in a position to provide numbers for each of the 3 cohorts who meet the eligibility criteria. In the first year, we will offer up to 1500 places to eligible at-risk British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors, and Chevening alumni, including their eligible family members.