Written question asked by Anne Campbell (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 9 March 2005. It was answered by Chris Mullin (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 March 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of changes in the numbers of student visa applications from China in recent years. - Inc table and ref to UK visas website at www.ukvisas.gov.uk-"Entry Clearance: Facts and Figures".

Answer: Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of changes in the numbers of student visa applications from China in recent years. [218579] Mr. Mullin: The information requested is in the table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. As at 1 April to 31 March: Student visa applications 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 received Guangzhou 4,829 6,554 6,193 Beijing 19,581 22,161 22,828 Shanghai 4,928 5,762 6,487 Total 29,338 34,477 35,508 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The table shows the number of visa applications received from students at our visa issuing posts in China over the three most recent years has increased. Statistics for the period April 2004 to March 2005 are not yet available. When they are, they can be found, along with further entry clearance statistics, on the UKvisas website at www.ukvisas.gov.uk--"Entry Clearance: Facts and Figures".

Secondary information