Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps has she taken to ensure Home Office casework involving allegations of domestic abuse linked to spousal visa arrangements is investigated with appropriate (a) sensitivity and (b) cultural awareness.

We are committed to reducing Violence against Women and Girls and this means continuing to support migrant victims of domestic abuse on spousal or partner visas.

That is why we offer immediate settlement for migrant victims of domestic abuse, under the Immigration Rules (Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (Appendix VDA)) for those granted permission to stay as a spouse or partner under the family Immigration Rules.

We consulted with a range of expert stakeholders including refuge service providers, specialist migrant domestic abuse charities, and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner when we published the first version of the Appendix VDA casework guidance in January 2024 to capture the significant cultural and language barriers that exist for migrant victims.

All applications under Appendix VDA are made directly to a specialist and experienced decision-making team to consider all the information and evidence provided to decide whether, on the balance of probabilities, the applicant can be granted settlement as a victim of domestic abuse. They are explicitly instructed to deal with cases sensitively, flexibly and cooperatively giving applicants support to demonstrate their eligibility where this is needed.