Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will be affected by the retrospective changes to Turkish business visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Immigration Rules and guidance for Turkish business person visas remain unchanged for all applications submitted by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.
The global points-based immigration system introduced from 1 January 2021 prioritises what a person has to offer the UK, rather than their nationality. It provides Turkish nationals the same opportunities to live and work in the UK as nationals of any other country, including those seeking to establish themselves in business in the UK.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the impact on communities of the new retrospective changes to Turkish business visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Immigration Rules and guidance for Turkish business person visas remain unchanged for all applications submitted by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.
The global points-based immigration system introduced from 1 January 2021 prioritises what a person has to offer the UK, rather than their nationality. It provides Turkish nationals the same opportunities to live and work in the UK as nationals of any other country, including those seeking to establish themselves in business in the UK.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that people who have been granted Turkish businessperson visas can request a national insurance number without having to provide evidence which has already been provided for their visa application.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The arrangements for processing National Insurance number (NINo) requests are the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions. It no longer requires a face-to-face interview as part of the process and will accept the Biometric Residence Permit of Turkish business persons as evidence of self-employment.
It is not mandatory for Turkish business persons to provide a NINo as part of their immigration application and the Home Office will ensure they are not penalised for any previous delays in issuing one.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Turkish Businessperson visas were (a) submitted, (b) successful and (c) refused in 2020; and how many of those applications are still to be processed.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on ECAA Business Persons in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on applications for ECAA Business Persons are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset. Data on the number of ECAA Business Persons issued and refused are included in table Vis_D02. These data may be selected using the ‘ECAA Business person’ visa type subgroup.
Information on how to use the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending March 2021.
Home Office Migration Statistics do not capture the number of Turkish Businessperson visa applications which are still to be processed.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to negotiate a replacement scheme for the Turkish Businessperson Visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Our new points-based system prioritises what a person has to offer the UK, rather than their nationality. It provides Turkish nationals the same opportunities to live and work in the UK as nationals of any other country, including those seeking to establish themselves in business in the UK.
The Government is not seeking to introduce any country-specific elements to these arrangements at this stage.
The entry of Turkish nationals for the purposes of trade and investment may be considered in the context of any future trade negotiations between the UK and Turkey, but no such negotiations have yet commenced.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2020 to Question 73764 on Visas: Turkey, when she plans to publish guidance for ECAA applicants who have been unable to return to the UK or renew their leave because of illness or travel restrictions due to covid-19.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government remains committed to ensuring people are not unfairly impacted in terms of their immigration status as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further guidance for European Communities Association Agreement (ECAA) applicants who have been unable to return to the UK or renew their leave because of illness or travel restrictions due to Covid-19 will be published shortly.
Under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the UK’s commitments to Turkish nationals exercising rights under the ECAA will continue throughout the transition period. Turkish workers, business persons and their family members will be able to apply for entry clearance or extension of their stay in the UK until the end of 2020 under existing arrangements.
All applications, provided they were submitted before 11pm GMT on 31 December 2020, will be decided in accordance with the existing rules and guidance.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that ECAA entry clearance applications received prior to 31 December 2020 are processed in accordance with the rules in force prior to 31 December 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government remains committed to ensuring people are not unfairly impacted in terms of their immigration status as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further guidance for European Communities Association Agreement (ECAA) applicants who have been unable to return to the UK or renew their leave because of illness or travel restrictions due to Covid-19 will be published shortly.
Under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the UK’s commitments to Turkish nationals exercising rights under the ECAA will continue throughout the transition period. Turkish workers, business persons and their family members will be able to apply for entry clearance or extension of their stay in the UK until the end of 2020 under existing arrangements.
All applications, provided they were submitted before 11pm GMT on 31 December 2020, will be decided in accordance with the existing rules and guidance.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to enable people with European Community Association Agreement visas to (a) renew and (b) extend those visas whist outside the UK in the event that they cannot travel back to the UK during the covid-19 outbreak prior to their visa expiring; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is committed to ensuring that people are not unfairly impacted in terms of their immigration status as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those who are outside the UK when their European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) visa expires can apply, free of charge, for entry clearance as an ECAA business person so that they can return to the UK. On their return, they can seek to extend their leave where they are eligible for this.
Further guidance for ECAA applicants who have been unable to return to the UK or renew their leave because of illness or travel restrictions due to Covid-19 will be published shortly
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme have been issued to applicants that hold a Turkish Businessperson visa.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Applications for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) opened on 13 May. By 11 June 2020, HMRC had received:
HMRC have published tables showing the number of individuals claiming the SEISS by 31 May 2020 which can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/self-employment-income-support-scheme-statistics-june-2020.
HMRC do not hold data on whether SEISS applicants hold a Turkish Businessperson visa and so cannot provide this information.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people subject to the ECAA-2 Visa will have access to the (a) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, (b) Small Business Grant Fund and (c) Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is committed to ensuring people are not unfairly impacted in terms of their immigration status as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. To this end, an individual who holds valid leave under the Turkish EC Association Agreement as a business person can benefit from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Small Business Grant Fund and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme if they meet the eligibility criteria for those schemes.