Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have worked under the poultry Seasonal Worker visa scheme in each year since 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of grants of Seasonal Worker visas is published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Data on visa grants by occupation can be found in table Occ_D02, of the Sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
The latest data relates up to the end of December 2023.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applicants have secured a Seasonal Worker visa in each year since 2019.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of grants of Seasonal Worker visas is published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Data on visa grants by occupation can be found in table Occ_D02, of the Sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
The latest data relates up to the end of December 2023.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues on whether people living in the UK on a Graduate visa can start a Master’s degree while waiting for a decision in relation to their application for a Family visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The UK government website has guidance on all our immigration rules and criteria, including the requirements of the Student route and the study conditions of the Graduate route: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Mentions:
1: Seema Malhotra (LAB - Feltham and Heston) “Diplomatic visa arrangement” visitor visas are being introduced to replace DVWs. - Speech Link
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting a visa waiver for Ukrainians visiting relatives and friends (a) displaced by the war in Ukraine and (b) temporarily resident in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Visit visas are an important part of securing the UK’s border.
Waiving visa requirements for a specific cohort of Ukrainian nationals would not be consistent with the purpose of the visa requirement. There is no obvious mechanism for delivering the utility of a visa application and biometric enrolment, which underpin the role visas play in securing our border, whilst also distinguishing a cohort of Ukrainian nationals who have the requirements waived. Identifying those individuals and enrolling their biometrics would require a process which would be, in practice, nearly identical to a visa application.
Ukrainians who want to visit relatives and friends in the UK can apply for a standard visitor visa, including multiple-entry visas. The UK has a visa application centre (VAC) in Kyiv, and a VAC network in neighbouring countries, enabling Ukrainians to access these services and apply for visas.
This is in no way a reflection on our support for Ukraine which remains, and will always remain, steadfast. The Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme remains open for new applications from those wishing to come to the UK, seeking temporary sanctuary from the conflict.
To provide future certainty, we recently announced the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, which is a new visa scheme for existing Ukraine scheme visa holders who have made the UK their temporary home. It will provide permission to stay in the UK for an additional 18 months and is due to open early in 2025.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to grant visa extensions to Ukrainian nationals under the age of 18 on the Ukrainian Sponsorship Scheme that want to pursue higher education.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Ukrainian nationals and their families granted under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme have the right to work, rent or study and access to benefits and services for the duration of their permission. Ukrainian nationals who wish to pursue higher education are free to do so while seeking sanctuary in the UK under the scheme.
The Ukraine Permission Extension scheme is due to open for applications in advance of the expiry of the first Ukraine scheme visas in early 2025, providing the same rights to study and access to benefits and services that individuals on the existing schemes have.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to raise the minimum income requirement for family immigration visas to £34,000; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of such an increase on (a) Leicester and (b) other low average income areas.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The financial requirements for the Family Immigration Rules include the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) which is currently set at £29,000 and is intended to maintain the economic wellbeing of the UK whilst respecting family life.
The Home Secretary has announced her intention to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the financial requirements in the Family Immigration Rules.
Conducting a review of the financial requirements across the family routes will ensure we have a clear and consistent system. There will be no changes to the current threshold of £29,000, or the ways in which the MIR can be met, until the MAC review is complete.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken for visa applications to be processed for (a) adults and (b) children.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We are seeking to ensure visa applications are processes as quickly as possible. Customer service standards exist for all types of visa applications, however the time taken to process a visa application may take longer under certain circumstances such as if the information provided is not accurate or further evidence is required.
If there is a delay, the applicant will be notified of this within the current processing times.
Data relating to the performance against visa service standards for all types of applications are produced as part of the Migration Transparency publication.
These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab)(opens in a new tab).
Mentions:
1: Lord Oates (LD - Life peer) However, they are repeatedly being refused visas for their children. - Speech Link
2: None The issue I want to dig into in my remarks is the question about visas that were issued for jobs that - Speech Link
3: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab - Life peer) The changes the Government have made regarding access to and cost of visas, including family visas, have - Speech Link
4: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con - Life peer) Building on that, we added care workers to the shortage occupation list and health and care visas on - Speech Link
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle barriers to (a) accommodation, (b) employment and (c) education for people on Ukraine scheme visas unable to (i) enter into contracts and (ii) start courses beyond their existing visa.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Ukrainians in the UK under the Ukraine schemes will be able to apply for permission to remain in the UK through the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme due to open in early 2025. UPE will provide an additional 18 months’ permission, and will provide the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as the existing schemes.
The STEP-Ukraine programme continues to provide access to English language courses and employment support for up to 12,500 Ukrainians. Ukrainians can access the Adult Education Offer through their Local Authorities (LAs) which provide ESOL classes. People on Ukraine scheme visas seeking to start educational courses which extend beyond their visas will likely be eligible for a further extension under UPE to complete the course.
Local authorities continue to receive a tariff of £5,900 per Ukrainian arrival. This is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding to support households as best suits the local area, including measures to support access to accommodation and education.