Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what sliding scale her Department will use to impose visa penalties.

The Home Office keeps the returns cooperation of all its international partners under close and regular review and will not hesitate to take action where needed. Countries which do not cooperate on returns must demonstrate rapid and sustained improvements in their returns cooperation, to allow for the swift and frictionless return of their nationals who have no right to be in the UK, in order to avoid visa penalties.

If a country does not cooperate on returns, that country should no longer expect a normal relationship on visas, and this government will not hesitate to impose Visa Penalties as set out in Sections 70-74 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. This could include: requiring that entry clearance is not granted pursuant to an application before the end of a specified period; suspending the power to grant entry clearance pursuant to an application; requiring an application to be treated as invalid for the purposes of the immigration rules; or requiring an applicant to pay £190 for an application.