Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of visa processing times for Ghanaian nationals applying to visit or study in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on its performance against its service level agreement for visas, which can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We are currently operating within published service standards for both tourism and study routes and continue to prioritise urgent compelling or compassionate cases across all workstreams. Where applications are complex and we require further information or checks, decisions may take longer.
UKVI encourages all customers to apply in good time ahead of intended travel dates.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is a quota for the number of tourist visas granted within a given time period.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
No. There has been no change in policy towards tourism from that in place under the previous government.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of the (a) mechanisms and (b) grounds for appeal of an Entry Clearance Officer's decision to refuse a tourist visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There is no right of appeal against refusal of a visit visa as this was removed by Parliament in 2013. Where someone applies for a visit visa and is refused, it is open to them to make a new application, in which they can address any reasons given in the refusal and provide any new evidence.
There is also the ability to seek judicial review of a refusal decision or to use the complaints procedure by which applicants can raise concerns about the service provided to them. The complaints procedure is set out on the UK Visas and Immigration pages on gov.uk: Complaints procedure - UK Visas and Immigration - GOV.UK.
The Home Office publishes further guidance on immigration appeals, which is available here: Current rights of appeal.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking through the immigration system to support the ambition of 50 million inbound tourism visitors by 2030.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The UK continues to welcome tourists from across the globe, who make an important contribution to the UK economy and enrich British culture. The UK Standard Visitor route offers individuals the ability to visit the UK for a temporary period, (usually for up to a maximum period of 6 months), for purposes such as tourism and visiting friends or family. Visitors may enter multiple times and regular travellers to the UK have the option of applying for longer term validity visas of 2-, 5- and 10-years duration.
As part of our border transformation programme, we are creating a streamlined, digital immigration system which will be quicker and more secure for the millions of people who pass through each year and will enhance the security of the UK. This will include a digital approach to applying for permission to travel, proving identity and immigration status, crossing the border, and demonstrating entitlements in the UK. eVisas are a key part of this, enhancing applicants’ experience, delivering excellent value, and increasing security and efficiency.
We are also introducing our Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme which applies to those passengers visiting the UK who do not currently need a visa for short stays and do not have a valid UK immigration status prior to travelling. People providing their information in advance of travel paves the way for increased automation at the border, with security at the forefront.
The ETA scheme currently applies to all eligible non-European non-visa nations. From 5 March, it will be extended to all eligible Europeans and will be a requirement for travel for this cohort from 2 April.
Alongside British and Irish citizens, nationals of an EU/EEA country, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA, who are over the age of 10 are normally eligible to use eGates to enter the UK. Frequent travellers who are members of the Registered Traveller service are also eligible to use eGates. We encourage all eligible passengers to make use of our e Gates where possible as they provide a safe, secure and efficient way of crossing the UK border.
We continue to keep our borders and immigration system under review to ensure that it works in the national interest.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a comparative assessment of the cost of tourism visas in (a) the UK and (b) international competitors.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS closely monitors factors that may influence inbound tourism, including the cost of electronic travel authorisations (ETAs). We recognise the importance of balancing secure and efficient border processes with the need to remain competitive as a global tourism destination.
DCMS continues to engage with the Home Office to ensure that any changes to the cost of ETAs are proportionate and informed by robust evidence on their potential impact on tourism. Supporting the UK's tourism industry remains a priority, and we will continue to review any challenges to its growth.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the lack of an appeals process for Visitor Visa's on tourism numbers coming to the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department has not conducted an assessment of tourism numbers and appeals. When appeals for family visitors were abolished in 2013, the assessment was that the quicker and more cost-effective remedy for those refused was a fresh application, with judicial review available where necessary. These options are open to tourists, who therefore have no reason to be deterred by the lack of an appeal. In 2023, the number of visitor visas issued was up by 40% on 2022.
In 2014, the immigration appeals system was reserved for cases raising issues of fundamental rights, and in those rare cases where a visit engages human rights an appeal is still available.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what position they took during discussions between the Spanish acting Minister of Industry, and Foreign Office officials in November in which the 90-day cap on the stay of British tourists in Spain was discussed; and whether any agreement was reached.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Spanish Tourism Minister met with Foreign Office officials in November to discuss tourism. British tourists in Spain are treated as third country nationals under the EU's Schengen Borders Code. As such, they are able to travel visa-free for short stays of up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period. UK travellers applying for visas to visit or stay in Spain for longer periods of time are processed according to Spanish domestic law, reflecting the UK's position as a non-EU Member State. Whilst the UK government would welcome any changes to visa systems that benefit UK nationals, this is a matter for national governments and parliaments. We are not currently negotiating any reciprocal agreements.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 195882 on Visas: Tourism, how much his Department spent on contracts with Teleperformance Ltd for (a) visa processing and (b) contact centre services in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office does not categorise the information in a way that groups together Visa Processing spend with Teleperformance Ltd from 2021 to 2023, therefore we are unable to answer part of this question.
Contractual information in Contracts Finder is available for the second part of the question.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was for processing (a) an average tourist visa application and (b) all tourist visa applications in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The estimated cost of processing visit visa applications for the years 2021 – 2022, is published on gov.uk as part of the Home Office’s transparency publications Visa fees transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many tourist visa applications were made to UK Visas and Immigration in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
According to the Home Office published data on visit visa applications in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ and in the Entry clearance detailed dataset of the quarterly publication, for 2021 there were 613,741 visit visa applications and in 2022 there were 1,795,963 visit visa applications.