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Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Tuesday, 19 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 January 2010. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Wednesday, 27 January 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Passports: Forgery

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many forged passports have been seized each year since 1997.
Answer

The following table details the detections of false passports encountered by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (before 31 March 2007), the Border and Immigration Agency (between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008) and the UK Border Agency (since 1 April 2008).

Number
1997 4,411
1998 6,338
1999 5,516
2000 5,394
2001 7,320
2002 10,125
2003 9,546
2004 10,620
2005 7,712
2006 7,354
2007 6,939
2008 5,960

Figures for 2009 are not yet available. Figures from 1997 to 2000 inclusive represent detections at the border only. Those from 2001 to 2008 inclusive detail detections at the border and those made in country by caseworking offices and enforcement officers. They do not include the numbers of inadequately documented passengers denied boarding by commercial carriers overseas working in conjunction with UK Immigration Liaison Officers and Managers (formerly Airline Liaison Officers) from the Risk and Liaison Overseas Network. Some of these passengers will have held false documents but precise figures for the numbers denied boarding for this reason are unavailable.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
504 c910W; 312760
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Forgery Passports
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk