Written question asked by Adrian Sanders (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 23 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 February 2010. It was answered by Alan Campbell (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Domestic Violence: Immigrants

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects his Department's scheme to grant women victims of domestic violence indefinite leave to remain in order to receive support to commence; and how much funding will be allocated to the scheme in its first year of operation.

Answer: Since 1999, victims of domestic violence who entered the UK on a spouse or partner visa have been able to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK under the domestic violence rule.Since 30 November 2009, the Home Office has been running a pilot to support victims of domestic violence while their applications for ILR under the domestic violence rule are processed.The costs of the pilot relate directly to the number of victims, and their children, who apply and are accepted under set criteria, therefore, we will not know the total cost until completion of the pilot.

Secondary information