Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have dependent visas associated with a holder of a (a) Religious Worker and (b) Minister of Religion visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa route, including Religious Worker, and applicant type in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset.
Please note that Religious Worker dependants are grouped into the 'Dependant - Temporary Worker' category.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
To calculate a refusal rate, we recommend that you take the number of refusals and divide by the total number of outcomes in a given period.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of visa applications were rejected by visa type since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa route, including Religious Worker, and applicant type in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset.
Please note that Religious Worker dependants are grouped into the 'Dependant - Temporary Worker' category.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
To calculate a refusal rate, we recommend that you take the number of refusals and divide by the total number of outcomes in a given period.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have a (a) Religious Worker and (b) Minister of Religion visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa route, including Religious Worker, and applicant type in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset.
Please note that Religious Worker dependants are grouped into the 'Dependant - Temporary Worker' category.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
To calculate a refusal rate, we recommend that you take the number of refusals and divide by the total number of outcomes in a given period.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to vet for public safety and security students and dependants from Gaza who are on expedited visas and are offered temporary leave to remain in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As set out by the Home Secretary in her oral statement to Parliament on 1 September 2025, the Home Office has put in place systems to issue expedited visas, with biometric checks conducted prior to arrival for all the Chevening scholars from Gaza.
The Home Office is in the process of doing the same for students in Gaza who have been awarded fully funded scholarships and places at UK universities so they can start their studies in autumn this year (no later than 31 December 2025).
All visa applicants are required to provide their biographic and biometric data to enable a range security checks to be completed, including criminality checks.
The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by terrorists, by criminals and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists. The Home Office works with both law enforcement and wider government partners to ensure appropriate action is taken before travel or at the border when individuals of concern are identified.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of Student Visa holders who have overstayed their visa in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government has launched a direct messaging campaign to remind students their visas are expiring. The first-of-its-kind communication comes during the autumn period where asylum applications typically spike and is part of continued Home Office measures to improve visa compliance.
Nearly 10,000 students and dependants received the guidance, with thousands more expected to receive it over the coming weeks as their visa expiry dates approach. It warns that claims without merit will be swiftly and robustly refused, and those without a legal right to remain in the UK must leave or face removal.
Information on completeness of exit checks data are found within the statistical reports and the ‘Home Office statistics on exit checks: user guide’. The most recent developments are found in the ‘Developments in Exit Checks’.
The Home Office does not compile statistics on the number of people who overstay their visa. The Home Office has previously published statistics on the number of visa holders who have left the UK prior to expiry of their visa in the Reports on statistics relating to exit checks. This release covers the period from the year ending March 2017 to the year ending March 2020.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of visa holders who have left the UK prior to the expiry of their visa in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government has launched a direct messaging campaign to remind students their visas are expiring. The first-of-its-kind communication comes during the autumn period where asylum applications typically spike and is part of continued Home Office measures to improve visa compliance.
Nearly 10,000 students and dependants received the guidance, with thousands more expected to receive it over the coming weeks as their visa expiry dates approach. It warns that claims without merit will be swiftly and robustly refused, and those without a legal right to remain in the UK must leave or face removal.
Information on completeness of exit checks data are found within the statistical reports and the ‘Home Office statistics on exit checks: user guide’. The most recent developments are found in the ‘Developments in Exit Checks’.
The Home Office does not compile statistics on the number of people who overstay their visa. The Home Office has previously published statistics on the number of visa holders who have left the UK prior to expiry of their visa in the Reports on statistics relating to exit checks. This release covers the period from the year ending March 2017 to the year ending March 2020.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of excluding (a) family members and (b) dependents from student visas.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Student route already restricts most students from bringing their dependants to the UK. Partners and children are the only family members which can be sponsored by students as dependants and only if the relevant student meets certain relevant criteria, such studying for a PHD or other doctoral qualification, or a research-based higher degree.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for how many evacuations to the UK of Palestinians in Gaza with visas that are valid for more than six months his Department has sought permission from the Israeli authorities since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has helped 505 people to leave Gaza since October 2023. 306 are British nationals and their Palestinian dependants; 38 are Palestinian nationals who qualified for assistance under the extended eligibility criteria for Gaza published on 14 December 2023. Israeli exit clearance was sought and received in each of those cases. The extended eligibility criteria are published on FCDO Travel Advice and provide for the UK Government to try to support the exit of Palestinian nationals who have a spouse, partner or a child aged 17 or under living in the UK; and who hold valid permission to enter or remain in the UK for longer than 6 months. Border crossings out of Gaza have been closed to civilians since Israel took control of Rafah crossing in May 2024. Nevertheless, the FCDO has helped 21 people to leave Gaza, mostly children, since October 2024.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to dependant rules for health and social care visas on closures of care homes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing health and social care workers to bring dependants subject to the requirement to pay the health surcharge.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In December 2023, the Home Office published their estimated immigration impacts of the announced legal migration changes, including the restriction on bringing dependants for care workers and senior care workers. These are available at the following link:
This was followed by the 2024 spring Immigration Rules: impact assessment published in September 2024, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visas were issued where the sponsoring (a) spouse or partner, (b) fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, (c) child, (d) parent and (c) relative providing long-term care was resident in Scotland in 2023.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Home Office publishes data on Family, Work, and Study visas granted in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. However, this information is not broken down by place of residence or UK region.
The published statistics can be found in the entry clearance visa data tables.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 2024 Q2.