Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many tourist visas were refused in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The available information relates to total visitor visas, and is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, Visas volume 1 table vi_01_q, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2018/list-of-tables#visas
The standard visit visa has replaced:
• Family Visitor visa
• General Visitor visa
• Child Visitor visa
• Business Visitor visa, including visas for academics, doctors and dentists
• Sports Visitor visa
• Entertainer Visitor visa
• Prospective Entrepreneur visa
• Private Medical Treatment Visitor visa
• Approved Destination Status (ADS) visa
https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will respond to EDM 876 on visitor visas for people from India.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The UK continues to work with India to develop our bilateral relationship to deliver real benefits to both countries.
Visitors from India are important to our tourism market and the Government is committed to offering the most efficient and customer focused visa service in India.
Since January 2016 the UK has offered a two-year validity visit visa to Chinese nationals for the same price as a six-month visa. This is a pilot scheme, which we are running to assess the benefits and impacts of such an approach, and which will be subject to proper evaluation. There are currently no plans to extend this pilot to any other countries.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will respond to EDM 876 on visitor visas for people from India.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The UK continues to work with India to develop our bilateral relationship to deliver real benefits to both countries.
Visitors from India are important to our tourism market and the Government is committed to offering the most efficient and customer focused visa service in India.
Since January 2016 the UK has offered a two-year validity visit visa to Chinese nationals for the same price as a six-month visa. This is a pilot scheme, which we are running to assess the benefits and impacts of such an approach, and which will be subject to proper evaluation. There are currently no plans to extend this pilot to any other countries.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on how many UK nationals have been issued with visas for the purpose of visiting North Korea in a (a) professional and (b) tourism capacity since 1 January 2017.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
It is for the North Korean authorities to issue visas to British Nationals visiting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The UK does not hold details of the number of visas they issue to British Nationals.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the tourism industry of the introduction of visa charges on travel to and from the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There will be no immediate changes to our relationship with the EU. This means that EEA, Swiss and UK nationals continue to have the same rights and status that they had before the referendum.
The government will provide strong and proven leadership as Britain begins its negotiations to leave the European Union and forge a new role for ourselves in the world. We will work hard to get the right deal: one that is unique to Britain and not an ‘off the shelf’ solution. This must mean controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe - but also a positive outcome for those who wish to trade in goods and services.
We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out further positions in advance. We are also not going to provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of these negotiations. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the British-Irish Visa scheme on tourism.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The number of visitor visas issued to Chinese and Indian nationals has continued to increase year on year since 2012. This upward trend would appear to support the positive effect of the British-Irish Visa Scheme for visitor visas, as such visa holders are entitled to visit both the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether representatives from the entertainment industry have been consulted on proposed changes to the rules and guidance relating to visitor visas to the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Bates
We consulted with a wide range of sectors on our proposals to streamline the visitor routes and produce new, clearer Immigration Rules and guidance for visitors. These included business groups, tourism bodies and representatives from the arts and creative sectors which included organisations that work in the entertainment industry.
The new Immigration Rules for visitors will be laid in Parliament on 26 February and will come into force in April. More details will be available then.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will propose that the European Union makes adherence to the International Criminal Court a necessary condition for both Israel and Palestine in any negotiations concerning trade, tourism or visas.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
It is normal practice now for the EU to seek the inclusion of a standard text on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in agreements with third countries. We would therefore expect this to be the case for any new third country agreement which the EU entered into with either Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. These clauses usually require parties to agreements to assist in strengthening the position of the ICC and to respect the principles underpinning the Court but do not require membership per se. The EU has no means to compel either Israel or the Palestinians to become parties to the ICC.Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Chinese nationals visited the UK on tourist visas in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Chinese Nationals can visit the UK using a number of visit visas including business, student and other. The number who visited the UK in the last 3 years using an ordinary visit visa, who are most likely to be tourists, is given in the table below:
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The Home Office publishes annual statistics on persons entering the UK as visitors by nationality in table ad_03_o (Admissions) within the ‘Immigration Statistics’ release. It is not possible to say how many of these visited for the purpose of tourism.
A copy of the latest release, ‘Immigration Statistics April - June 2014’ is available from the Library of the House and from https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release